A newspaper in the Philippines asked me for my top ten tips for newer writers so I thought I'd share them here as well:
1: Pick one thing to write and stick with it all the way to the
end. It's tempting to keep jumping to a new project when the first one gets
difficult.
2: Schedule a specific time to write. If you don't build it into
your schedule, it won't happen.
3: Avoid the temptation to show your work while you're still
writing it. Wait until you have completed it, then get feedback.
4: Pick a genre to write that you enjoy as a reader.
5: While you're writing, don't get obsessed with whether or not it
will sell. Focus on writing it as well as you can, marketing it comes later.
6: Experiment with what works best for you in terms of how
completely you outline something before writing, where to write, when to write,
etc. Each writer develops their own methods for success.
7: Don't get hung up on spelling and grammar during writing the
first draft. You can go back and correct it when you do the second draft. If
these are not your strong points, find someone who is good and have
them go over your work.
8: Find a writing buddy, either locally or online, with whom you
can exchange work and constructive feedback. Make sure it's someone who has a
positive outlook, not just someone who is looking for a partner to complain to.
9: Learn from everything you read. Even bad writing is instructive--you'll learn what not to do! If you read something that really
works, read it a second time to analyze how and why it works.
10: Read good books on writing both for practical instruction and
for motivation. Of course I recommend my own book, "Your Writing
Coach," :-) but also Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way," and
Stephen King's "On Writing," and there are a lot of other good ones
out there.
