Creative Writing Tips

Many people are too scared to take the risk of writing stories. However, I am here to encourage you that writing is a good thing.

Writing is an excellent way to express your feelings. It can also be a good way to forget about reality and join the new world you are creating. If your feelings influence your story, it can be great for your story, making it more personal! This is often a good thing, as many professional authors use events that occur around them in their books to make them more realistic.

In summary, writing is good because it allows you to create a whole new world, with whatever rules you want it to have. It is also an excellent way to express your imagination and feelings.

Ever since the age of 4, I've always been into books. From timeless classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to modern day classics such as the ever-popular Harry Potter series, I've always been amazed at how an author of a book can take me into a completely different world - worlds with magic and super powers and extra terrestrials. It was when I hit the age of 13 that I made myself a promise - when I grew up, I would publish my own story!

Like many people today, I had no idea where to start. Luckily, I had people around me with writing experience who helped me out - teaching me the basics of creative writing and helping me get started with my first story.

My first story, if I remember correctly, was about a soccer player who had super powers, and with these powers he led his soccer team into the national championships. He ends up losing his powers in the tournament and has to play fairly - but because he is so used to have super natural abilities, he is unable to perform.

Not great, but hey, everyone needs to start somewhere, right?

For the next five years, I used every minute of spare time I had to write short stories. Looking back upon them now, they all had the same concept - a small boy realises he had super powers and has to use them to save the world.

It was when I was told this critique at the age of 19 that I learnt a vital piece of advice - use your own ideas, and be original. This is now the first thing I ever tell anyone if they ask about creative writing. If your story is original, it may not necessarily make your book better, but you will honestly be able to say that all ideas were your own. That is always a great achievement - I still feel extremely excited today when I finish a short story without using any ideas apart from those of my own.

At the age of 28, I have not given up on the promise I made to myself 15 years ago. In fact, I am working on a novel right now.

Remember, always use your imagination when writing a story, and never be afraid to take the risk of writing one. Believe me, it pays off.

Okay, so you're set - you'd like to write a story. But where to start..? Well, before you write, you have to know what you want to write about! So, how do you choose a genre?

Well, first, you must think about what type of story you most enjoy. What type of book do you normally read? This is important, as this will often be the genre you have most knowledge of - therefore making writing a little bit easier.

While doing the above is easier, never be afraid to take a step out of your comfort zone. It's always good to see authors stepping into another genre - it provides a fun challenge for the author, too.

So, you know what you want to write about! Now it's time to think about your plot.

Okay, you've started by choosing your genre. Now it's time to create that Whodunnit (murder mystery) you always dreamt of creating!

Start with what you want to happen in the start - do you want a man of great power to be killed quite violently? What problems do you want to arise when the police/FBI try and solve the case? Always be ready to throw in a few plot twists - these always make the story much more exciting for the reader.

Don't worry about naming anything yet - just write down what you want to happen. After you've done this, you can name your places/characters more easily, and you can adjust them to fit the story. More detail below.

Alright, you're finished with what you want to happen. You know the exact order you want all your problems and resolutions to occur in. What's left? Well, naming all your characters and your story itself! Here are some tips on doing just that!

Never feel as if your names have to be out there - even if it is a fiction novel. Using real places and names in fictitious stories is usually a positive thing, as it helps the reader connect to the story more easily.

Never call your characters a name that doesn't suit them. For example, if in your story your characters have nicknames, don't call one Hurricane Harry if you describe him as fat and slow.

Finally, stick to one set of names - Either stick with real names of people and places, or use only made up names. Mixing the two can be confusing for your reader, and can seem a bit stupid in yourself.

Now, you've written your story and named every single character and place in it. What could possibly be left now, you ask? Well, go back over your story - proofread it. Try and make it follow some of the tips that I have listed below - some can dramatically change your book for the better!

Alright, so you've gone and written your book. Congratulations! Writing your first story is a hard task, but it really is a great achievement! There's one thing you can do now to increase the quality of your book.

I have listed some tips below for you to use in your story - many of them can assist in heightening the quality of your story - and the better your story, the more your readers want more books. This is great, as one main goal of writing is to entertain! So go on, polish off your story and tell it to the world!

There are many different strategies authors may use to write their piece, but I have a couple favourites. In the end, it comes down to what suits you best, but I have chosen two of my favourite strategies to share with you.

Strategy #1: Backwards!
Not the most versatile strategy, however this strategy can really help you out.
So you know how you want to end your story - you want the prince to rescue the helpless lady from the tower of the dragon. Excellent! Now, you decide what the problem was, and how he overcame it.

By working backwards, for the whole story or just for the start, we are able to identify what we are working towards, and when we do this, we can come up with a plot, characters etc. more easily.

Strategy #2: Solid Plot
This is the strategy I use for most of my stories - and the strategy you have followed if you have written your story with the guidance of this page - it allows me to think up exactly what I want to happen in the story (the plot) and adjust everything to suit what is happening in the story.

For example, I know I want to have a criminal rob a bank and become involved in a 5000 mile police pursuit before getting caught just 100 yards away from safety. I don't name my characters or places yet, I simply wait until the whole outline of the story is done so that I can change the names to suit the story.

I also have some shorter tips, that, while they seem small, help improve the quality of your story immensely!

Tip #1: Original
Always make your stories as original as possible - even if your stories seem a little bit 'out there', you will be able to say you did everything on your own, and who knows, maybe your story is the exact type of thing that all 12 year olds enjoy!

Tip #2: Punctuation
One of the most overlooked things in novels! Simply changing that '.' into a '!' can entirely change the way a reader interprets your story, and can add a lot of value to the story.

Tip #3: Short.
What people sometimes do not realise is that with short sentences - often with less punctuation - the reader interprets a passage as exciting. Using this to your advantage can really draw a reader into your story.

Tip #4: Long
Just the opposite of short here, really. If something is happening slowly in your book, you can use long sentences with lots of punctuation to make the reader interpret a passage as slow-going, peaceful etc. Again, using this to advantage does wonders for your story.

Tip #5: Connections
Try and make your characters have some sort of connection to the audience your novel targets - doing this will make them care and want to know what happens to characters in your book.

Tip #6: Gradual
Don't be afraid to be very gradual in revealing plot twists: in fact, if done well, this will make the reader go on and on to see what happened as a result of a previous action, etc. This insures that readers read as much as they can to find out what happens in your story.

Tip #7: Description
Sometimes, you have to alter the amount of description you give on someone or something. For example, give less description on a shady criminal who tries to rob a bank, and more on the main character. This again can affect how a reader reads your story, and can change how they feel about a certain situation (for example, if you reveal less about one character at one moment you can reveal who he is after time. This keeps the reader reading!).

Tip #8: Mystery
People may often regard you as a better writer if you leave a little bit of mystery unsolved at the end of the story. This gets readers thinking even more, and gives the perfect opportunity for you to create a sequel to your previous story.

There you have it, some of the most important tips when it comes to creative writing. Use these tips and strategies as often as possible as they can dramatically affect the quality of your story.

Unfortunately, I don't have any more tips for you. However, as linked to on this page, there are many books about writing that should be able to give you a generous amount of help - I suggest giving them a look.

Do your best to use these tips - they can dramatically affect whether or not a reader enjoys your story. Always proof read your work, it will do wonders for you.

Keep at the writing! You never know, you could be the next James Patterson...