Every writer may have their own rules to apply to their own writing. I have my rules to, and it is the rules I’ve always followed. Here is the advice I’ve lived by since I started to take this seriously.
Create Writing Goals
It is very important to create writing goals to make sure you are on track with your writing. What I mean by that is by setting word count goals. Let’s say this is your first time writing. You should make your goal small like 100 words. Then, you should build it up to 500 words and maybe 1,000 words every day.
Another thing is with books or short stories. You might make your goals in the beginning of the year like writing and publishing a short story this year. Another instance is publishing a book this year. You should be flexible with these goals, and it has helped very well.
Write Every Day
This one is obvious. In order to make your story finished soon as possible, you need to write at least one word every day. It really doesn’t even matter how many words you’ve set to accomplish if you’re in a time crunch. Just write and get it over with. If you do this, you better believe it’ll be finished soon.
Stick to What You Write About Best
It is best to write what you are most comfortable and interested in. If you like fiction, you shouldn’t force yourself to write a nonfiction book if it isn’t what you love. If you love fantasy, write about that. If you like animals, write about that are something nonfiction.
Now, I’m not saying that you should stick with what you know. Of course, you should experiment with other genres you’re at least interested in. How I do that is by writing a short excerpt of my chosen genre and read over how I did. I do that rarely, though.
Read
This one is obvious too. If you write and want to write for the long-term, reading books on your genre is a great way to develop your writing.
Try to create a list of books you’d like to read. Then, identify their genres by the genre you are currently writing. Take out all other genres and leave out those books with your genre. Then, start reading the first book on that list. Of course, you could read other books too. Just read the books that you find interesting like self-help books on writing.
Persevere
This is the most important advice to me. In order to finish a book or story, you must power through no matter how hard it is. You must focus on the result and not the process. If you actually like the process of writing a story, you’ll make it. The obstacles like editing and sending queries should not stop you from creating the story of your dreams.
This ends the most important advice to me that you could apply to your own writing, but I just know there are others. Please let me know any other advice you have and list them in the comments.
~Ibidun
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