Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Hello and 3 basic tips

Hello readers of my blog! Thank you for logging on and checking out my page. I am new to blogging but am not new to writing. Although I am young, I am filled with knowledge, tips, links, and lots of time! Please visit this site to see some of my writings. I may not be experienced, but I think my advantage is that I'm young and ready to learn, so please enjoy the blog. Some quick tips for this week to get you started, basic things (and maybe a little obvious) that every writer should do and follow.

1) Write! For goodness sakes, every chance you get write down a feeling, an observance, a story idea, a crappy poem! I always carry a few notepads and a pen around with me but if that’s not your style, okay. Maybe I’m exaggerating. You don’t have to be writing constantly, but set aside some time maybe once a week and just put pen to paper. I always hated journals, but if that’s your thing do that, if you like poetry, do that, if you just saw a bird write that. An important thing to remember is that you’ll never get better without practice (major duh but seriously).


2) Read! Many people complain about reading when they are writing and say that it influences their 'writing style.' While this may be true, you need to see how an author constructs a sentence, makes their writing flow, uses description. It is always a good idea to study other's writings to better your own. Am I say plagiarize? Certainly not! You should definitely come up with your own style, but seeing other people's can help you better your writing.


3) Share and have people critique your work. I don't mean just your mother who will always love it, but perhaps a brutally honest friend or some other person you know will give you the truth. Make sure you tell them that you want
constructive criticism, because sometimes people just want to make you feel badly. I understand that it feels good to hear 'Marvelous' and 'You will win the Pulitzer for this masterpiece' but a developing writer needs to know what needs improvement. This is not to say that you cannot share it with people who will never say a bad word, but don't steer away from criticism, it is your lifeblood. It's okay if you want to keep your writing bottled up and never share, but it is harder to improve like this.


Those are my basic starting tips! I hope they are helpful and I'll post soon with my first writing exercise.
Until then, keep writing!

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