Here are a few of my writing tips:

Tip 1: Read everything you can! A great way to learn more about a genre, what works and what doesn’t, is by reading a really wide variety of books by different authors.

Tip 2: Apparently, a reader often connects with the first character they meet in a book, so don’t wait too long to introduce them. I was told by a bookseller that they had just received a book from a publisher, which began with the viewpoint of one main character in the first print run and then changed to start with the viewpoint of the second main character, in the next print run, to see if this was true!

Tip 3: Write what you would like to read yourself. You are more likely to enjoy the writing experience if the endless re-reads when writing a manuscript, are on a topic you are interested in.

Tip 4: Don’t panic in the middle of your story, when things often slow down in momentum. Either walk away and have a change of scenery for a short while to clear your mind, or write through the pain! I was given a great tip when I began writing, which was to JUST WRITE IT! You can’t edit a blank page, but you can always go back and edit something you have written.

Tip 5: Another tip I was given early on, was to build my characters in depth and to think about:

What they might like to eat? Do they eat smoked salmon and caviar, or chip sandwiches with gherkins?

Do they always wear the same things? Do they stalk about in super skinny jeans and tight t-shirts, or prance around in frou-frou pastel dress with sparkles?

What they smell like? Do they wear perfume or have smelly armpits and bad breath!

Do they have unusual physical attributes that make them stand out? Like pink hair, a stoop, rainbow tattoos, big teeth or a stunning smile.

All of this conjures a clearer mental image of the characters in your story.

 

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