Tips, Tricks and Tactics

 

I've had all kinds of advice like, “the only rule is: there are no rules”, “always have dialogue on the first page” and “Stay away from cliches in general”. I have a degree in writing which involved practical units in writing prose and screenwriting. I have textbooks with reams of valuable information I've skimmed through. I have all the tools at my disposable, and now a wealth of advice can be found online.

But I still have so much to learn. I'll never consider myself a total expert. I'm always looking to improve my skills. There a lot of ways to overcome roadblocks. Little writing activities are always a good idea. If you do some hunting, you can find exercises for students on all sorts of levels. Just because it might be a tip for kids doesn't mean you can't find it useful too. To say there aren't any rules is misleading, there are guidelines. Knowing these guidelines helps you play a little with form and style. One of Stephen King's tips is to not worry about grammar or synonyms for “said” when tearing through your first draft. Very good advice. Never go over a chapter or sentence over and over perfecting it, just get to the end. An imperfect draft has more potential than a perfect chapter all on its own.

I had high hopes for Live to Tell to become a novel with more points of view when I started out, and I did do some plotting, but I find making very specific plans paints me into a corner and I run out of things to say. I've seen photos of very meticulous notes and storyboards other authors rely on, and I'm embarrassed to say my notes and drafting process are both very haphazard. I have many tattered notebooks with random notes and paragraphs I had to get down when I was out and about. I don't lug a laptop around with me, pen and paper are the quickest way to get an immediate spark of inspiration down. I might thumb a few notes on my phone if I'm without a pen, but I won't spend hours thumbing paragraphs to later upload into a book. There is a case of one woman who wrote an entire book on her blackberry. The novelty of how she wrote the book gave it more traction than the story itself may have earned on its own.

The best way to go about it is to experiment and try new things until you figure out your own methods that work for you. Some of your favourite authors may have gotten away with breaking a rule or two that their critics may have frowned upon. It's very easy to snub your nose at the critics of best-selling authors, but writing a multitude of books may not make you an amazing author. It's honing your craft and learning from the critical feedback you receive that's far more valuable than only hearing the praise and never learning from your mistakes.

You'll come across so many practical solutions for writer's block and how to build narratives and character bibles. All of these can be of use. My best advice would be to take a few tidbits and make them your own, but don't get too discouraged if other methods don't work for you.