My Advice for Writers just starting out.

Hello, readers! As you know I am a writer, not published, but a writer none the less, and I have taken on the task of giving you advice for creating the best story you can. All while doing this I realized I have forgotten that some of you may just be starting out or need more advice than character traits and the differences of plot structures.

And quite honestly I am getting tired of this so called “advice” I have been hearing. Lets get one thing straight… DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE!!! Alright? Myself included. My only hope of giving you advice is to inspire you not influence you.

In the words of the YA author Abbie Emmons, “creative writing is treated like an industry when it should be treated like an art form.” (The kate and Abbie show, podcast).

• If you’re writing, you’re a writer. This is a controversial topic. There are some who believe you have to be published to be a writer, but I strongly believe that being published only makes you an author. As long as you are practicing writing you are a writer.
• Avoid cliches like the plague but don’t let anyone bully you into thinking you need to be ‘original.’ There is no such thing as an original idea. If you are going to share your project with people be prepared for feedback, especially the negative kind. Lots of the time that talk will just be out of arrogance or jealousy. As long as you are happy with your story don’t listen to what others are going to tell you.
• Write what you are interested in. Writing takes passion, and you can’t be passionate about something you’re not interested in.
• Don’t worry about anything. Just Write! You’ll never be good if you aren’t practicing. Don’t worry if it’s good or not, don’t worry about publishing, all you need to do is write your story.

Now that we have covered that area, lets move on to the actual writing advice.

• Every character needs a Goal (an aimed or desired result) and a Motivation (a reason for doing something).
• One key aspect to writing a good story is character arcs, which is the inward journey your characters take though out the story. To put it simply, it usually occurs when the lie your character believed about themselves or their world view is shaken and they see the truth. (This is only one way to go about character arcs. It’s the easiest and most common way, but don’t worry, I’ll be covering this in the near future).
• The first draft won’t be perfect, but as I always say, the first draft is the bones of your story, you’ll add the flesh later.

Well, I hope this helped you take the first steps. Feel free to ask me any of your writing questions in the comments!

Thanks a bunch!

— Nerd