Tips for new writers
You’ve heard the writing tips from famous authors, but the truth is—you need writing tips from me. I’m Elle Lavendelle, and I am publishing my first novel on August 31st. I’ve been through the weird place you’re stuck in.
You know, that place where you have a ton of ideas, but can’t finish? Or, that place where you write a novel, but you worry it’s not good enough? Or, that place where you’re second-guessing whether you want to go forward with self-publishing or keep your books forever hidden in the attic of your mind?
I’ve been all the places, all right?
Good news: that means I am exactly the person to help get you out of them. Bad news, you’ll have to take a few seconds of your time to read these actually useful writing tips.
F*CK PERFECTION. Be a (cute) mess.
You’ve heard it before, but I won’t shut up about it!
Your rough draft is for you. It’s for word-vomiting your story so it can live somewhere other than your pretty mind. It’s for getting the junk out of your head and onto the page. You should not have lovely prose in a first draft. There’s no need to worrying about formatting—I know, it’s tempting, but…don’t!
You definitely shouldn’t worry about the people who may—or may not—read it! On second thought, don’t show it to anyone. Trust me!
Instead of worrying about those things, worry about:
A cohesive story with no plot holes.
A solid, gripping plot.
Knowing your character arcs.
That’s it! That’s all that matters in the first draft.
Use an outline. The Save the Cat outline is my favorite!
Some people hate it, but I don’t care. It works! And, it is so fun to see how this outline fits so many good books and movies.
It doesn’t have to be Save The Cat, but IMO having an outline is a non-negotiable. If you take only one tip from this, new writer, let it be the outline.
It doesn’t need to be 10,000 words long. It needs to show the progression of the story, and give you something to work with.
Where does your character start?
What is the big thing that changes their life and gets them out of their comfort zone?
What do they go through that changes them?
What is the big thing at the mid-point (false high or false low)?
What is the grand finale?
How does it resolve?
Bam, you’re ready to write.
Do not feel trapped by the outline.
If you don’t give your brain a little wiggle room, you’re bored. If you don’t have an outline at all, you’re lost. Find a happy medium, whatever that means for you.
I make outlines. Then, I change the outlines. I move chapters around. I add things as I go. I delete characters. I change characters. Have fun with it! It’s still an art!
Set realistic writing goals and fake deadlines.
I’m not even joking, this is the big thing that helped me write a novel. I gave myself a month on the rough draft, and I set a 2,000 word (or more!) word count goal per day. My rough draft was 60,000 words (the final draft was 74,000!) and I finished that draft in a month.
I even took a few days off. I know, it’s a lot! You don’t have to write like me. You can set a goal of 500 words per day, and a deadline of four months. How you write is none of my business!
This is a little mystical, I know, but you want to be an author. Act like an author! Have goals, and have deadlines.
Prepare for many rounds of revisions.
Remember when I said your first draft is allowed to suck?
That’s because you’re going to do a ton of revisions. I recommend not doing too many. I see people doing 11 and getting stuck on the same story forever. Maybe it works for them, but I do…
Overall revisions, addressing plot/character, adding more descriptions, adding extra scenes (or taking away, if you’re an over-writer!).
Line revisions, making my prose prettier.
Proofread, as in addressing all of the grammar things.
One last read-through, preferably read out loud.
And, you’re done! I did these four and had one of my editors tell me my manuscript was beautiful, soooo…there’s no need for 11, but you can’t abandon the book entirely either! It’s your baby. Nourish it!
All right, that’s enough tips for today. Stop distracting yourself! Go write!