You don’t have to spend years transitioning from being a “newbie writer” to an established writer. Following the right tips can make the learning process easier for you. Keep reading this blog to find twelve actionable tips so you can enjoy your writing journey.
1. Understand the publishing process
Being a newbie writer doesn’t mean you have to ignore the publishing process. Remember that you’ll face problems if you don’t know how to get published after writing your book.
Writers can self-publish their books or let a publisher handle the publishing process. There are a lot of misconceptions about the self-publishing approach.
The self-publishing process is not as difficult as most people think. You can read this guide to learn how to self publish a book without wasting your time and effort.
2. Always follow an outline
You should never start writing before you make a proper outline. Following an outline makes it easier for you to concentrate your mind. Contrary to popular belief, creating an outline is not as difficult as many people think.
Remember that you don’t have to enter all the details of your story or your novel in your outline. It’s better to define the basics of what you are going to write in your outline, so you can avoid complications when you get down to writing.
3. Get rid of distractions
Writing can be a difficult task for you if you have to handle a lot of distractions. Remember that if you want to achieve your writing goals, you must stay productive and avoid wasting your time.
Removing distractions will allow you to supercharge your writing routine. Make sure you don’t use your smartphone or any other electronic gadget that distracts you.
Have comfortable furniture in the room where you sit down to write. If you cannot control your thoughts and find it difficult to focus when you start writing, you should get help from a professional psychiatrist.
4. Grow your network
Having writers and proofreaders in your network will help you on your writing journey. It’s important for you to set some time aside from your daily routine to focus on growing your network from scratch.
Building your network is not as difficult as you might think. You can start by joining online groups that help writers connect with each other. Besides that, you can also join the local organizations for writers in your area.
5. Expand your vocabulary
If you use the same words and phrases repeatedly as a writer, you won’t be able to grab your readers’ attention.
You should learn new words that sound catchy and increase the appeal of your text. Make sure you spend some time reading vocabulary to find better alternatives to common words and phrases.
An important point to mention here is that you should not “overuse” jargon or misleading words in your writing. Try using simple words, so you don’t confuse your readers with uncommon terms.
6. Have a mentor
It can get hard for you to figure out everything that can improve your writing. There’s no denying that you can find tons of information online to sharpen your writing skills. However, all that information can make you feel puzzled.
It’s better for you to get proper guidance from someone who has helped other writers in the past. You should find a mentor who can help you overcome the obstacles and speed up your journey as a writer.
Finding mentors is not as difficult as you might think. You can find mentors online or look for mentors by visiting your local libraries.
7. Be more patient
If you think you can achieve your writing goals in no time, you have got it wrong. You have to remember that it takes time and effort to get closer to your writing goals.
Rushing through your writer’s journey won’t allow you to get anywhere. Make sure you enjoy your learning experience and try to understand as much as you can. You should also try to find a mentor, so you don’t try to rush through your journey.
8. Identify your writer’s voice
If you don’t try to stand out from other writers, you will not be able to get the recognition you deserve. It’s important for you to identify your writer’s voice to be more open about expressing your thoughts as a writer.
Identifying your writer’s voice is not as difficult as you might think. You can try writing short stories from your perspective to understand how you use words and formulate sentences.
9. Read more books
You should try reading more books if you want to improve your writing skills. Reading allows you to identify how other writers weave their thoughts into meaningful stories. The more you read, the easier it becomes for you to differentiate yourself from other writers.
Remember that reading more should not distract you from your writing routine. Avoid distractions when you start reading so you can get the most out of your time.
10. Transcribe yourself
Many newbie writers struggle to write in a “conversational” tone. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not that difficult to learn to write as you speak. You can improve your tone by following some writing practices.
For example, transcribing yourself can help you improve your conversational writing skills. You don’t need a fancy mic or studio recording setup to transcribe yourself.
You can use your smartphone to record your voice and then write down what you’ve spoken on a notepad. Doing this exercise will enable you to identify your speech patterns, and you can use it to sharpen your conversational writing skills.
11. Build your editing muscle
Editing allows you to remove any grammatical or logical mistakes that can decrease the quality of your texts.
Many newbie writers think they’ll have to make a lot of effort to improve their editing skills. Contrary to what most people think, you can strengthen your editing muscle if you practice it daily or enroll in a class.
12. Get proper feedback
As a writer, you have to get constant feedback from professionals to identify your mistakes and fix them at the right time. Make sure you send your drafts to skilled writers and editors. These professionals can go through your manuscript and suggest changes that boost the readability of your book.
