Beginner Writing Tips

This is probably the number one question all authors get asked: what tips do you have for new writers?

For so long, I was the new writer. I didn't have tips or tricks or advice to give. How should I know? Even now, I hesitate giving any kind of sales related advice, because I don't have the numbers to back up my own nonsense.

As I've been thinking about it lately, I realized there were some things I did right and a lot I did wrong, but mostly what I would do over if I got the chance. So, here they are, the Beginner Writing Tips:

1. Start Young

I cannot begin to express just how beneficial it is to start writing at a young age–especially while still in school! When I began, I was ten years old. My goal when I began writing was to write things I wanted to read but no one else had made. Back then, I hated the Disney characterization of princesses and wanted to make one who was a total badass. So I did.

Of course, a major benefit of starting as young as I did was the fact that I was still in school. I was still learning the grammar rules and sentence structures, and I was able to apply those directly to my story. Not only are those rules mostly cemented in my brain now, but it certainly helped with good grades. It also helped me develop an understanding of which rules to follow, and which were narratively unnecessary. (Which, as you might've noticed, means I write a lot of fragment sentences. For the narrative.)

Another benefit of this is the fact that you're still reading. You have time to devour everything that sparks your interest. Each book we read is a learning experience. It teaches us what we like, what we don't, how to look at a book critically, and how to immerse ourselves in those books we love. If you learn nothing else from me, let it be this: read everything you can. Life's too short not to love books.

2. Write The Mary Sue

Honestly, this is the one that made me start this blog post. Probably because it's where we all start. For a lot of us, we live such boring, imperfect, or chaotic lives that our form of escape is that perfect MC. The one who's the strongest, cleverest, most extraordinary person alive. Our Kim Possible, if you please. Contrary to popular belief, it's okay to write this character. It's okay to have a character naturally good at one thing, and able to use that knowledge to better their life. So my advice to you is: write the self-insert, Mary Sue/Gary Stu, impossibly perfect character. This is going to be your first character, and that's okay. They certainly won't be your last.

3. Write The Story; Not The Book

I wish someone had told me this before I really started to stress. There are a lot, and I do mean a lot, of articles all over the place about how to perfectly structure, pace, and outline a novel. The amount of resources available for a person to create their characters, plot their books, and craft every sentence is incredible. And as a beginner, you should take all of that advice worth a pinch of salt. (I said pinch, not grain! There are some good nuggets of information in there. Just not all of it is applicable to a beginner.)

Write the story. Take all of that excitement of that new idea and just run with it. Every little scene that gets you hyped, all of the stolen kisses, each of those desperate secrets. Write it all. Keep writing it. Throw whatever you want at it. This is all your imagination at work, so let it run just a little bit wild.

Adhering to the norm, forming routines, and settling into a niche are all well and good when you're an established author with a steady following. But there is no freedom like being a beginner and finding out what works for you. Take that freedom and soar.

4. Don't Be Afraid of Abandonment

To make it in this industry, the term 'sticking with it' is going to be a life motto, because everything about publishing hurts. The time and energy put into writing, editing, rewriting, editing, editing, and finally publishing the book is hard enough. Before and after it's published, you also have to run the absolute gauntlet that is marketing. On top of that, you have to be able to take the criticism for what you put out there. And, again, if you want to make it, you've got to do that over and over and over again in this industry.

Part of what makes most authors successful, however, is knowing when to cut their losses. As creative people, we get hundreds and thousands of ideas pouring into our heads on the regular. A tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of that actually comes flowing out onto the page. To add insult to injury, sometimes the results aren't turning out how we hoped. After roughly 30k words, you can realize in an instant that it's a lost cause and just scrap it. While it may hurt in the moment, it would hurt a lot more in the long run if you continue to pour your precious time and skills into a project that isn't commercially viable instead of focusing on one that is. That's the business.

You are just starting out, however. Therefore, there's going to be a significant milestone achievement the first time you finish a draft. Even the second. And third. And every single one after that. However, you will start a dozen projects before you finish that first one. And I'm here to tell you that it's absolutely, 100% okay if you do not finish them. Finishing a book is a massive reward, but knowing when to abandon a project that isn't going anywhere is pure wisdom. So if you're not feeling it, then let it go.

5. Have Fun

There is absolutely nothing like starting a story for the first time. No matter how many books you've finished, there's always something really special about that sparkling new idea. As someone just starting out, the excitement will win out every time.

This is the part where most people will tell you that, once you have the idea, the hard part is putting butt-in-chair and writing the thing. They're right. That is the hard part. But you're just starting out, so that's a worry for another time. The real trick at this stage is having so much fun with it that you don't want to stop. So have fun with it. And the best way I can say to do that is by writing something absolutely wild.

Create a world. Self-insert your crush as an LI. Give your MC that dream job you've always wanted, or run away to that special place in your dreams. Most of all: throw everything at the wall. You'll be surprised what sticks.

6. Step Back

When you're in the writing zone, a lot of things can take a backseat. Food, showers, work, relationships... It can all be set on a back burner as you work hard to crank out the next chapter. This particular scene. Just one more page. When you do finally reach that butt-in-chair, words-on-page zen, you never want to leave it.

You have to. Go eat. Grab a shower. Then go outside for some fresh air, even if the cold makes it hurt to breathe. Stretch your legs. Close your eyes. Give your fingers a break.

Reading is a form of escapism. We take our brains to other worlds to stress about other people's problems and call it fun. Writing is kind of like that, except that we have to give those other people those problems to stress about. We are the problem. We create our own stress.

So take a break, step back, and let it out some other way. The pages are always waiting for you to return. Real life will not be so kind. Take the reality moments in small doses, and treat it like an inspirational research project. Then put butt-in-chair, words-on-page.

(Pro Tip: if you need to jog the imagination, doing something mundane like washing dishes, taking a shower, or taking the dog for a walk are great ways for your mind to wander enough to come up with some awesome ideas. They don't call them Shower Thoughts for no reason!)

7. Don't Publish The First Book

Or the second. Maybe not even the third.

I know, I know. You put all this hard work into it. You did something creative and magickal and intense and beautiful. And you think it's really, really good.

It's not. It's really, really not.

Please. You don't have to take my word for it, but please just don't ever put it anywhere where it can be purchased. You will cringe. It will hurt. And if you do go ahead and publish it, you'll be lucky to get sales, and even then you'll be even luckier to not get a bunch of reviews rightfully trashing it. (Which you won't realize how right they are until well after the fact.) There is one golden rule in publishing: you can only debut once. Don't release a book until you're absolutely certain that it's the one you want to be known for.

If you do start out as a fanfic writer or post your original stories to a platform, then the one thing I do suggest is to use a pseudonym. Don't ever, ever use your real name on something posted in a public forum. (At this point, I think everyone should make up all the details of their lives for their social media.) Should you choose to use your real name on anything you publish, make damn sure it's something you want associated with your name for all eternity. Because the internet is forever, and it does not let you forget.

8. Read It For Fun

What even is the point of writing a book if you don't enjoy reading it? You are your first, and most important, audience. If you're not completely enamored with the thing you wrote, who is to say other people will be? You have to be your fiercest champion in order to sell your writing to anyone else.

That said, some of my worst projects are the ones I enjoy the most. Case in point: XXY is not great. It's not terribly written, but you can definitely tell it's a first draft. Unfortunately, it's not a project I feel like going back to clean up, but I still enjoy it. Therefore, it is available for free on my site because some other people might enjoy it, too. Just because a book isn't worth the effort of publishing, that doesn't mean it can't be shared.

9. Write the Crap; Don't Publish Crap

You've heard the term 'guilty pleasure.' It often refers to a book, show, or movie that you know is not well made, but you find it so entertaining that you continue to return to it. Too many people think that the romance genre is the embodiment of this term. That is absolute and utter crap. That said, there are so many sub-genres of literary works (especially romance) that will have more than one person giving you the side-eye.

Most guilty pleasures are first found online. Often in the form of fanfic. A number of these stories have atrocious grammar, some odd misspellings, terrible characterization, awful dialogue, and yet... I remember where I got my first audience. It was a writing site that was curated mostly for preteen/teen girls. Most of the books on there were written by young kids still figuring out spelling, grammar, and basic descriptions. Yet, the imaginations they had... The plots were engaging, the pacing was fast, and even some of the dialogue wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, some days my eyes wanted to bleed the grammar was so bad, but the ideas were sound.

Now the caveat: that was on a website for girls and young women. Roughly 90% of the writers on that site were 1. still in school, 2. just starting out, and 3. were just having fun. An audience was a bonus.

The same consideration cannot be given to those who write like a thirteen-year-old and expect people to pay them money for it.

If you are insistent on getting your book out into the world, then I and all of your other readers will be insistent that it is edited well. Yes, there will be some mistakes that slip through, no matter how many people you have proofreading it. They always do. What shall not be forgiven, however, are copious editing errors, bad characterization, horrendous dialogue, and clunky descriptions.

There are so many ways to write a book. Some are good. Some are bad. Most meet in the middle. All of which is decided upon by the reader, not you. In every case, however, they must be something worth spending money on. And if I purchase a book to find it filled to the gills with editing errors, please know that I am judging harshly. (Especially when a publishing house releases several books with the same kind of careless mistakes.) The reviews will probably be harsher.

10. Be The Audience You Wish You Had

You know what the awful thing about starting so young is? I was so determined to write the stories I wanted to read but couldn't find that I stopped looking for them. As you grow up, your time gets stretched so very thin. Family, relationships, work, school, life all conspire to keep you from writing. Even worse, writing will keep you from reading. When your days are so stacked, sometimes it's a give-and-take. Most of the time, I give to my writing. So it's a really good book that gets me to check out of life sometimes and takes me away to a more magickal place than this.

If you've read any of my other posts, you know that I'm a chalant member of the BDH (Book Devouring Horde) aka Ilona Andrews fans. This is the kind of fandom I desire to inspire. Everyone is very animated about their favorite series, they're constantly sharing favorite scenes, snippets, and quotes. Don't get me started about the merch store and how it has been crashed multiple times.

These are the fans you want: the interactive ones. The ones who post about their theories. Those that take an April Fools joke too far and force the authors into writing a series. The kind of people who get books onto bestseller lists while they're still up for pre-order! That's the kind of fandom we can all aspire to have.

It's also the kind we should aspire to be a part of. Other authors are not your competion. Full stop. They are your coworkers. Your muses, mentors, and mentees. They are the people that will help you climb in an industry where exposure is everything, and friends who understand you are a gem to find. They can be your best critique partners and hype you up like no one else can or will. Be kind to fellow authors. And when you find those whose books are everything you hope yours are, hype them like there's no tomorrow. Review their work, share their books and socials with friends, and be the best campaigner you've ever seen. It will all help in the long run. Especially, especially if they're an indie author. Every little bit of hype helps.

11. Don't Be Afraid To Act Excited (Or A Fool)

Imposter Syndrome is so entirely real and exhausting. It can be especially hard on those of us who are hardest on ourselves. (For those of you unaware, Imposter Syndrome is when you've done a thing, like write a book, but you don't feel like you're good enough to actually call yourself an author–despite that being the only qualification.) Now, raise your hand if you were that kid in school who always did well enough that your classmates made you feel like a loser for it. Yeah, that was me. Which means you can guess how I feel about holding up my accomplishments and showing them to the world. Yeah, it's going that well.

I will never not be impressed by the incredible people able to put themselves out there and hype their work. They absolutely should be doing that, loud and proud and as memorably as they possible can. I wish I was one of them.

In terms of marketing, short form videos seem to be the sweet spot these days. Lots of authors simply put quotes over imagies and add music. Perfection. Others, however, have created whole characters in these videos that simply resonate with us. Jill Bearup, for example, wrote a book mostly because of the videos she was creating, and they were so fun to watch. Of course, Elisabeth Wheatley of Book Goblin fame is also well-versed in this technique, and has gone on to give us other memorable characters like the Genres and the manic, unhinged author. There are no amount of words to convey how awesome I find these creators and others like them. If I was willing to put my face everywhere, I might follow in their footsteps. Alas, too many people already know my real identity. Must protect the secret! (Unless, of course, this is the only way to get famous...)

And there you have it. The little bit of writerly advice that I can give to beginners. Obviously, almost none of this applies to you seasoned authors. There are rules, expectations, and tropes awaiting you. Now say it with me:

BUTT IN CHAIR

WORDS ON PAGE

On that note, I have words to write in an actual book I'm working on.