Writing Tips: Advice every beginning writer should know

Writing Tips Advice every beginning writer should know William Kercher

There is one bit of advice that should be the beginning writer’s rule of thumb - The basic requirement in writing is - rewriting.

When I was beginning my writing, I was given that bit of advice from someone who had written for Hollywood. She told me - No one writes a book, they rewrite a book.

That short bit of advice took a while to fully sink-in, but when it did, it made so much sense. It has become my personal writing rule. Basically, you are almost never through writing a book. Any time you think you are done with it, put it aside and let it sit for few weeks. Then, go back to it and reedit. At some point, you will have to tell yourself, “No more. It’s done.” But that time is nowhere near the first edit.

Other bits of advice for the beginning writer:

• All sentences must be concise and have a payoff. Do not allow a sentence to become long and rambling.

• Every word of dialogue must advance the story line and be concise. No flowery dialogue that runs on-and-on without purpose.

• In a mystery, the reader must never be confused or tricked. That is not good writing. The reader must always have all the information needed to solve the mystery. They may not realize it during the reading, but when at the end, they must be able to sit back, think about the story line and say, “Oh yeah. The bad guy was ... I got it right.”

• Do not have anti-climactic sentences, sentences that just sorta trail off. Save the most powerful punch for the end of the sentence.

• Along those same lines, always end a chapter with a hook, something to make the reader want to go to the next chapter. The hook doesn’t have to be a cliffhanger. But it must get the reader to continue reading.

• This relates to another of my writing tips, but the lead paragraph in the beginning of story, chapter or scene should grab the reader.

• The story must not confuse the issue with unexplained Point of View changes. If confused about Point of View, read the Writers Tip on Point of View.