11 Things New (and Old) Writers Need to Know

At one point or another we enter into the magical, and rough, world of writing. When we first start, we are naive, little word makers and, to be blatantly honest, have no idea what we are doing, and most of us still don't. While there are a million tips and tricks for writers, these are some of the things I wish someone had told me before I started writing.

1. You Need to Outline at Least a Little

When I started drafting for Gray Slave, which was my first writing project, I had no idea what I was doing. I watched countless writing videos and read a number of books on the topic, but I was failed before I even started when I decided to pretty much wing it. Little did I know how much more work I was making for myself when the time came to edit. So please, I know there are plotters and pansers, but if you are new to writing watch some videos or read some articles on outlining because while you might change up how you plot your books later on, this is going to be a tremendous help if you are just starting out.

2. Stop Planning, and Start Writing Already!

Now this kind of contradicts my last point, but let me explain. You should have at least a basic outline of your book and you should do some research on plotting, creating characters, grammar, etc. But, and this is what I wish I knew when I first started, you can only research so much. No matter how much information you absorb, you're still going to one; suck when writing your first draft, and two; waste your time researching when you should be writing. You can gain wisdom from research, but you can’t gain experience. You have to write if you want to get better.

The reason I did this, and I spent so much of my early writing months researching instead of writing is because I was scared. When you're planning your book out the idea is brand new and you're excited as all of the pieces come together, but that's just a plan. We all know that things rarely, make that next to never when writing, go along with the plan. As a newbie writer, the outline was my safe place. It was where I was in control, but the minute I started typing that story onto paper, a million things could go wrong and they did.

3. Things Will go Wrong, and That's Okay

When I first started writing, I didn't hit my really big struggle until about a year after I started my book, which surprisingly, was not an advantage. The sooner you come across a problem in your writing, the sooner you realize just how normal it is. If you learn to overcome it and move onto the next step, that's even more comforting because you're showing yourself that you can move past those struggles. I didn't have many big problems when I first started writing, so that made me a bit arrogant and clueless to the many struggles I would eventually face. The faster you realize that there will be times during your writing career where you'll want to quit and rip your book in half and never want to write another word, the better off you'll be. You'll be prepared and more confident in yourself because you've made it through past struggles.

4. Work Hard

Since you have been warned about the real struggles of writing and have an inside scoop on all of the dramatic moments, you're going to need some tips on how to overcome those struggles. The first one is you need to work hard. You need to take writing seriously and make time in your schedule to write. When things don't go your way learn to preserver. Perseverance is a writer's best friend. If you really want something, you need to work hard at it, and writing is no exception.

5. Know Your Audience

This piece of advice has been given by every influencer, entrepreneur, writer, creator, and business person on the face of the earth, which means you’ve probably heard it. This was one of the first tips I got as a newbie writer, but in my experience, it was a very hard thing for people to explain and I didn’t really get it at first. As I started my instagram and started to develop my platform on social media, I finally began to understand what this piece of advice is really saying. Getting to know your audience is a consistent cycle of trial and error. You are constantly interacting with them and getting to know what kind of posts they like, the kinds they dislike, the ones they laugh at and the ones they can’t relate to.

I recommend picking a community that you want to saturate either on a social media platform or in a genre. Pick a smaller category. Don’t just say “My posts are made for writers.” Well what kinda of writers? (Old, young, new, fantasy writers, romance writers, etc.) Start with a very specific group of people and focus on creating all of your content for them. What is the main focus for you as a writer/brand? For me I lean towards teen and Christian writers. I then study other accounts that are run by teen authors and writers to see what they’re doing and what their audience likes about their posts. You don’t want to copy them, but you want to get an idea of what people in your target audience like.

You can even come up with a list of things you like about books or instagram posts or authors because if you’re penetrating a market that has people in it who are similar to you. Then they’re probably going to like a lot of the same things you like.

Another thing I realized is that if you can find a niche in the community you are trying to get into, something that you think is missing or would be very helpful for the people in it to know, go for it. Do everything you can to produce old content in a new way. Put your own spin on things, be unique, and separate yourself from the crowd.

For example I really want to get in with teen writers and Christian writers because those are my target audiences for the kind of content I produce.

I know that was a lot of information, but I’m going to sum it up in five sentences:

Pick a specific market/community to saturate.

Study the people in that community and see what they are doing.

Create content for those people based on your research.

Find a niche and put your spin on that content.

And the most important one; getting to know your audience is a consistent cycle of trial and error.

6. Know Your Genre/Topic

This is similar to the last tip, but has to do with less about your audience and more about knowing the content you’re actually writing. Research the genre you want to write. Read the genre you want to write. If you don’t know what genre you'd like to write, than experiment! Practice with some different genres. Maybe write a chapter or two in one genre or write a short story in another. If you write non-fiction, write about topics that interest you or things you have experience in. If you want to write about training a dog, but have never trained a dog in your life then take a class or use the internet and do your research!

One of the biggest tips I heard when I started writing was, “Write what you know.” or,“Write what you like to read.” But I write contemporary books and read fantasy novels! I write about being an authors and getting published and what it takes to make your writing dream come true when I’m still working on those things for myself!

You don’t have to be an expert to help people or create content and stories people love. You just have to do your research and try your best. At first your best might fail you, but you’ll get better with practice and you’ll grow.

Be smart and be realistic. Don’t write about swimming if you can’t swim. You might kill someone. Instead learn how to swim and document it, but don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t write about

7. Practice

“I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same. In each, it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit. One becomes, in some area, an athlete of God. Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.” ― Martha Graham

Like everything else in the world, if you want to get good at something you practice. I think practicing isn't something usually talked about in writing because we are always so focus on the future and the overarching goals we have for our books and ourselves as writers that we often forget that to attain those goals we must first practice and give ourselves the time and creative freedom to learn.We are too focused on getting published we forget that writing the first draft is the first step and that the first draft is guaranteed to be terrible.

Stop rushing through edits and really focus during those times because that's where you're going to learn the most. Work on short stories or poems or essays when you're in between edits that way you always have something to work on and you're always improving your writing skills.

"Well, Lexi. I don't want to work on three projects at a time. I want to work on my novel."

I'm not implying that you work on three novels at the same time. Heck I'm not even implying that you work on one! It's so important as a writer that you enjoy what you're writing whether it's a short story, novel, poem, novella, essay. etc. You need to have a project to unleash your creativity into and constantly exercise your imagination because that's how you practice! Writing is how we build our skills. There's no other way to be a writer than to write.

Now maybe you really want to be a great writer, but you don't have a lot of time because of school, work, activities, etc. When you aren't working on your story, you can still practice some of the more technical sides of writing like grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary. How many papers and essays and reports do you have to write for school and work? You may not particularly enjoy writing them, but those are all opportunities to become a better writer.

8. Read

This is another very common piece of advice given to new writers, but I can not stress this point enough! I would not be the same writer I am today without reading. Reading opens us up to other stories that have made it to publication. It gives an insight on what stories you like, and what writing techniques you like to see. It can also teach you new ways to write characters and sentences. So next time you're reading, look for things that jump out at you and make note of them. Don't copy them, but put your own twist on things. Look for new words and learn to use them, Research concepts you find interesting because they might just end up in your next book, and you'll have reading to thank for those new ideas.

9. Think like a Writer

You've probably heard of most of the tips on this list so far, and then you came across this one and asked yourself, "What does this mean?"

One thing I've noticed about writers over the years, myself included, is sometimes we don't treat ourselves as writers.We underestimate ourselves and our ability to write, which in the end doesn't help our confidence or our books. We need to start thinking like writers and look at our work from a different point of view. When you run into a problem when you're writing, don't say, "Oh my gosh I suck!" And slam your laptop. Instead look at your work and ask yourself, "How can I make this better?"

Be practical. This is your book and no one knows the story better than you. Start acting like the boss of your story.

You are a real, one of a kind, writer, so act like one.

10. Let Others Read Your Work and get Feedback

This is a piece of advice I don't see much, but in my opinion, it's the most important one on this list. As writers we all learn from each other and from reading each other's work. I've learned more from having people read my work and give me feedback then I have watching videos, reading books, and writing combined. You need to have someone read your work!

Have multiple people read it to get different opinions and perspectives. Don't take all the advice you get to heart, but listen to it, and try to understand where the reader is coming from.We all learn different things as we write, and reading each other's work is how we share that knowledge. I know it's scary to let someone else read your book, but do a couple of edits and give it to someone you trust and someone who is going to be honest with you and give you constructive criticism. You will thank them in the future.

11. Become a Word Master

Know your Grammar!

I've beta read a lot of books---(Beta reading or being a beta reader is usually what you are called when you read other writers books prior to them being published. This is the kind of feedback I was talking about in the last tip) and so I've seen my fair share of typos, missed used commas, and ugly sentences.

There are parts of writing more important then misspelled words like plot and building great characters, but grammar and punctuation are often overlooked by writers, especially young writers. Please take a grammar class or do some research on grammar. Buy a grammar book because while you shouldn't be focused on grammatical errors during the first few drafts, it is a subject every writer should be familiar with. It drives editors and publishers crazy to see countless typos, and while your book doesn't have to be perfect, you should do your best to get rid of as many errors as possible. It saves your editor and yourself a lot of time. Learn the rules now so you don't have to fix your work later.

Thank you for reading this post! I hope you learned something. If you had to give one tip to a new writer, what would your tip be? Share it in the comments below.

It's been a pleasure writing for your, and until next time---stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi