7 Writing Tips

by Asma Gaba

I first learned of my passion for writing during my first year of high school. My writing wasn’t at all good back then, but I loved crafting stories and creating poetry. After a year or so, I decided that I wanted to write a novel. The prospect of writing a full book with the hopes of getting it published was daunting, and so for the years to come, I’d only think about it, never taking action on my dream. Until I learned of NaNoWriMo
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Every year on November, NaNoWriMo begins. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a program in where the goal is to write 50,000 words in a month without editing. It’s simple: you make an account on the site and commit to writing about 1,667 words a day for the 30 days in November.

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Throughout the month, known authors will post words of advice and inspiration on the message boards to keep everyone going. At the end of the month, you copy paste your work onto the word counter, and if it’s 50,000 words or more, you’re a winner! My favorite part of NaNoWriMo is that it connects people from your area and forms a group and the leaders of each group host parties and writing sessions- it’s a great way to immerse yourself in your local writing community!
    On November of 2015, I decided that I would take advantage of the support and network NaNoWriMo provided, and finished the rough draft for what I hope will be my debut novel! Months of rigorous editing, beta readers, more editing, times where I almost gave up, even more editing, times where I abandoned my work for months- and finally, this month, I’ve finished my novel! Ten months of writing and connecting with other writers have given me some tips and tricks on how to get through the work, and I thought I would share it with more writers.

1. START WRITING. It may seem obvious, but the hardest part, other than sticking to your work, is starting it!
   
2. DON’T STOP. After writing several thousand words of your work, you will feel bored and tired. It’s much more fun to set the world and introduce conflict than treading through it. In fact, you may start to feel as if you want to begin a new project! But more on that later, for now…
   
3. OUTLINE. Outline, outline, outline. Before you even begin to write, you need to have a clear idea of the skeleton of your story. Who are the main characters? Their personalities? Love interests? What hardships do they face? How do they handle conflict? Trust me, outlining will save you tons of time, and everything afterwards will be a hundred times easier (Check this out for amazing outlining tools!).
   
4. SET DAILY GOALS. This speaks for itself. Will you write 1,000 words today? 2,000? Or do you want to edit five chapters before dinner? Writing can be scary at times; a novel is a lot of work and words. Breaking it down into smaller pieces definitely makes it less ominous.
   
5. DO NOT ABANDON YOUR WORK. As a writer, I always have new ideas popping in and out of my mind. It’s so tempting to pick one up and outline it than to trudge through my main work in progress. How do I stop myself? Whenever a really good idea comes into my mind, I write it down and save it in a document. I only allow myself to continue that new story only after I’ve finished my goal for the day- and only then, just a few hundred words. Remember: Your main work in progress takes precedence over anything else, always.
   
6. BETA READERS. Reading what you’ve written and hearing other people’s thoughts are completely different. Grab some trusted friends and allow them to critique your writing. Odds are that they’ll find plot holes or inconsistencies that you didn’t notice!
   
7. DON’T GIVE UP. At times you may feel like you’re not a good writer and that you’re wasting your time. You may feel like your work isn’t good enough for anyone to want to read. You’ll feel these emotions when you’re going through the hardest parts of your book. Don’t listen to yourself. Once you type the final period and marvel at how far you’ve come, you’ll realize that the way your doubt was unnecessary.
   

I may not be an amazing writer, but I enjoy the craft immensely. If anyone needs writing advice, feel free to submit your questions anonymously through my advice column, here. Or you can contact me personally at asmagaba5@gmail.com. I’m always happy to help, and hope these tips helped!