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Whether you do it professionally or not, writing is an important skill that all educated people master to the degree they need it. If you have to write essays, emails, captions to your Instagram posts, or find relief in writing your own blog, here are some tips from remarkable and popular writers.
Learn to observe
“Observe strangers. Let your own version of their life story shoot through your head — how they got where they are now, where they might be going — and fill in the blanks for yourself.”
~Virginia Woolf
The ability to be observant is the core of understandable and relatable writing. First, everyday life is a bottomless source of inspiration in little things about us. You can always find something unusual in the way people around you walk, speak, fix their hair, talk on the phone, or read while having a morning coffee, for example. Second, it is a great practice of imagination: you see a stranger for a few moments, but you can elaborate his or her story before or after this moment. Finally, the observation of the world around you will connect you with the reader.
The more you read, the better you write
“Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad; see how they do it. When a carpenter learns his trade, he does so by observing. Read! You’ll absorb it. Write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”
~William Faulkner
It is impossible to be good at writing if you do not like to read. Of course, this tip comes from a writer who did not have even a television, let alone a social media feed. However, reading is good for your vocabulary and imagination. It is more engaging than learning the entire dictionary in terms of vocabulary. Yet, reading is more challenging for your imagination than watching a movie (on screen, you watch someone’s vision of a story). Additionally, it makes you think better. Apparently, reading a book activates the same area in your brain that thinking or problem-solving does.
Do not question your audience’s intelligence
“Your audience is smarter than you imagine. Don’t be afraid to experiment with story forms and time shifts.”
~Chuck Palahniuk
If you are not writing a textbook, in which everything must be clear and unambiguous, you are free to experiment with writing. If you have an idea and want to impress or engage your readers, make them think at least a little. However, make sure your delivery is approachable by allowing your friends to read your piece of writing first.
It is alright if somebody doesn’t like you
“You can’t please all the readers all the time, you can’t even please some of the readers all the time, but you should always please some of the readers some of the time.”
~Stephen King
As not all the people get the canonical guys, like Dostoevsky, Joyce, and Dreiser, not everyone gets the best-selling guys, like King, Rowling, and Pratchett. People have different values, backgrounds, and interests, so you just have to communicate your ideas, and you will reach those who share them.
Tone matters
“The tone should reflect the theme.”
~Edgar Allan Poe
This tip comes from the macabre gothic narrator, who knows how to make something scary even when the story is about a bird. The tone is as important in the delivery of an idea as the words you choose and the events you incorporate. If the tone does not match with everything else, your writing will not be cohesive.
You should like what you write
“Laugh at your own jokes.”
~Neil Gaiman
Sometimes, a simple and benevolent joke is more effective than a complex postmodern reference. It is alright to laugh at your own jokes. First, it ensures you enjoy what you do and what you create. Second, laughter is the ultimate result of making a joke. Thus, if you cannot your story funny, understandable, and smart at the same time, you should compromise its complexity.
See all the facets of your idea
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”
~F. Scott Fitzgerald
To present something in an interesting way, it is sometimes not enough to just state it. You should be aware of the different standpoints and perspectives on the matter you are writing about and be able to use it in your writing. In fact, knowing the different aspects of your topic applies to creative and academic writing, but it is the delivery that makes the difference between these two.
Inspiration is overestimated
“Don’t sit down in the middle of the woods. If you’re lost in the plot or blocked, retrace your steps to where you went wrong.”
~Margaret Atwood
It is a great piece of advice about overcoming writer’s block. The problem may not be with inspiration. The need to make a new cup of tea or switching the place you work at might be the issue. Indeed, retracing your narrative can help you to overcome the block or even changing some elements to move on freely. Thus, try to find the solution in the writing—not in external factors.Writing may not always be easy. Paradoxically, the more personal it is, the more difficult it feels. However, if it is not your personal blog and the task is due tomorrow, you can get help from an expert FastEssay.com writing service, so you can focus on the things that matter.
