Writing Tips

Writing is a great past time to have. It is a great way to let your mind roam free and see what it can come up with. Through your writing, you may even discover something new about yourself. Sometimes, writing can be challenging. From finding time to write to actually putting the pen to the paper, it can be a hard activity to undertake. Since I, myself, have struggled many times with writing, I have decided to come up with some suggestions and tips that may help you out a little in your writing journey.

Tip number one: do not make writing a chore. A lot of times, people will become stressed when they begin to write. They will get nervous if they cannot come up with any story ideas or any ideas that are “good enough” to actually write about. This is a terrible no-no! When you become stressed out about coming up with ideas, you will not come up with any. When brainstorming, you must have a clear mind, not one that is filled with stress! Relax, take a deep breath, and let your mind roam!

Tip number two: set aside time for writing. Many folks decide not to write because they cannot find the time. This is not a very good excuse at all. Make time! This is true especially if you consider writing fun and relaxing. Instead of sitting in front of the TV for three or four hours after school or work, spend just one third of that time in a secluded room and let your mind roam free.

Tip number three: try to stay on-topic when completing a specific writing assignment. When given a prompt, try your best to stay as on-topic as possible. That is a flaw of mine. I tend to get off-topic as my mind generally wanders as I write, which can be a life-saver when it comes brainstorming time. When writing a response to a specific prompt, though, try your best to stay as on-topic as you can. Read over the prompt as you are writing your essay ever so often. As I write, my mind wanders off to a completely different world, so I, myself, must read over the prompt every paragraph or so just to make sure I stay on-topic. You may find this of use the next time you’re responding to an essay question.

Brainstorming: This is probably the most challenging part of writing. For some, it is hard to actually come up with story ideas, which can be a huge problem. There are many ways to brainstorm. Here are just a few:

·Jot down a list of words. Yes, you read the last sentence correctly. Just jot down a list of nouns or even verbs, and see if you can build onto anything you come up with.

·Listen to music. For some, listening to music can be therapeutic and can ignite the spark that will help you create some amazing plots.

·If you’re good with coming up with story titles, then think of a title first and go from there. I have never been able to do this personally, but it is only logical that this could help the thinking process. You may even give your story a song title of a song you love.

·Go outside. Look at the world around you. If anything interests you, jot it down on a piece of paper and see what you come up with.

·Interested in a certain career field, sport, or hobby? Give one of your characters one of these activities and plan the story around it.

Of course, there are many other ways to brainstorm; I just listed a very few.

Now that I have spoken a little bit about how to come up with ideas and other tips on writing in general, I would also like to move on to another important element in writing: grammar.

Here are some tips for the grammatical aspect of writing:

·Correct capitalization and punctuation are a must. Remember to capitalize and punctuate as necessary. Only capitalize when you are citing a specific name, when you’re putting strong emphasis on something, and when you’re beginning a sentence. Also remember to use commas (,), periods (.), colons ( : ), and semi-colons ( ; ) correctly and respectively. Something I’ve noticed a lot when I read stories on the internet is that people tend to use semi-colons and colons when they are not needed. I have also noticed that commas are sparingly used. Remember to use these when appropriate. It will make your story much more readable.

·USE PARAGRAPHS! I cannot stress this enough!Paragraphs help so much. Not only do they give you a break, but they also give your reader’s eyes a break, too. Use paragraphs to separate ideas as well as to separate quotations from different people. When using a paragraph, skip to the next line and space five times. This will create a noticeable indent. Paragraphs are a must!

·Use only one exclamation point at a time, and use them sparingly. There is no need to use more than one exclamation point per sentence, and do not use them unless you want to put a very strong emphasis on a statement. When exclamation points are over-used, they lose their power and intensity, and they seem no more important than periods.

·When writing a formal paper, do not use a whole lot of contractions. I didn’t learn this rule till last year. Use contractions sparingly when you are writing a research report or any other type of formal paper. My teacher last year got onto me for using too many contractions. While they are allowed in formal writing, they should be used sparingly. Notice that I have not used many of them at all throughout this paper.

·When in doubt, research it. If you have any other questions, such as how to use semi-colons, colons, commas, and so on, look it up on the internet. You will find many useful tools and tips out there.

I know this is a long document and you may have just skimmed through it, but I hope this article has helped someone out there. Please note that I am not an expert at writing, but I do love to write. I just provided you with some useful tips that may be able to help you in your writing career.

Good luck!