Daily Archives: January 13, 2016

Best Writing Tips for 2016 by Connie Vines

It’s a new year, a new novel, and a time revisit the basics.

As the commercial says, “Just Do it.”  Just write.

Read as much and as often as you can. Remember, every writer is a reader first.

Keep a journal or notebook handy to jot down your ideas. If you’ve got a smartphone, download a note-taking app. A voice-recording app also comes in handy for recording notes and ideas.

Make sure you have a dictionary and thesaurus available whenever you are writing.  Dictonary.com is also a great resource.

Be observant. People and activities will provide you with great inspiration for characters, plots, and themes.

The Chicago Manual of Style and The Elements of Style are a must for your book shelf.

Grammar: learn the rules and then learn how to break them effectively.

Stop procrastinating.

Read works by highly successful authors to learn what earns a loyal readership.

Join a writers’ group.

Create a space in your home especially for writing (I covered this topic in an earlier blog).

Proofread everything at least three times before submitting your work for publication.

Start a blog. Use it to talk about your own writing process, share your ideas and experiences, or publish your work to a reading audience.

Subscribe to writing blogs on the Internet. Read them, learn, share, and enjoy!

Let go of your inner editor. When you sit down to write a draft, refrain from proofreading until that draft is complete.

Make it your business to understand grammar and language.

You are a writer so own it and say it aloud: “I am a writer.”

Write, write, write, and then write some more.

Most importantly, love your craft and always, always fall in love with your heroes.

Wishing you a happy 2016,

Connie Vines

coming soon