Hello Nex!
Finally I decided to give it my first try. So far I've only written post-trip, and a few love poems but I've never taken it that seriously or considered publishing etc.
I've made some progress shaping the outline of my first official work - a fanfic novel set in a world similar to The Witcher, but with a few interesting twists here and there. I aim to make it 200 pages at most, but that is not set in stone as I'll let the story unfold for as long as it needs to without weighing it down with unnecessary stuff, or dragging the plot and characters along without really developing the entirety of the work.
My intention with this is to see if I actually have something creative in me, or if that's just another temporary hobby I'll have. Due to the fact I've been stuttering since I was 5, writing is sort of the balancing of that insecurity I've been having for ~20 years. It's the only place I can express myself exactly how language works in my head, instead of being shackled in my inability to articulate eloquently.
I've scanned some sources for tips on writing, and I've accumulated some for future reference. I'll paste them below, both in help of beginner writers like me, and for the evaluation of you all. I know for sure that there are many authors in this community, and people that have written quite a lot. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the below 21 notes, taken from famous writers like Jerry Jenkins and Margaret Atwood:
1. Establish your writing space
2. Assemble your writing tools
3. Break the project into small pieces
4. Settle on your big idea
5. Construct your outline (if it's boring to you, it's boring to your reader as well)
6. Set a firm writing schedule (Sacred Deadline) - Decide how much you can write in a day, and when you miss your target, compensate by writing more on the next day
7. Conduct your research, but don't openly "brag" to your reader with it
8. Write a compelling, reader-first, opener (Surprising, Dramatic, Philosophical, Poetic). Every decision you make in your manuscript should abide by the "reader-first" model
9. Fill your story with conflict and tension - put conflict on EVERY page if you can, no matter how small it may be
10. Turn off your internal editor while writing - leave that for the next day
11. The Marathon of the Middle - DON'T QUIT during that! Thrive in it, don't survive it!
12. Write a resounding ending - give it the time it deserves, don't rush it, don't settle for second best!
13. Become a ferocious (aggressive) self-editor! Polish your work and make it perfect
14. Schedule your procrastination!
15. Eliminate On-the-Nose Writing (Prose that exactly mirrors real life without advancing your story) - it might seem perfectly written and well structured, but to publishers and readers alike, it's pointless as it's already familiar and known. Skip all the minor details the reader is already familiar with and get to the heart of the scene, and decorate it properly with elements that add to its depth and density without weighing it down
16. Don't go into too much detail (info cramming is a no-go), but don't sit in the white room either
17. The reader needs to be able to associate themselves with the protagonist - to put themselves in his position - to ask themselves "How would I deal with this?"
18. Use super specific dialog tags sparingly (e.g. "exclaimed", "murmured", "sighed" etc... a simple "said" is optimal in most cases)
19. Pay attention to how successful (or ones whose writing you love) writers construct their scenes and develop the timeline and tension by their utilization of the language
20. If you end up in a "writer's block" - go take a hike and sleep
21. Don't be afraid to throw out something you've written and don't like. Don't be afraid to change your outline and make it work FOR you, not the other way around.The other thing that bothers me is the publishing aspect of your work. Is there a way to publish your work for free, or just cheaper than a publishing agency that gets an enormous part of your profit as commission? I've seen websites such as
Sweek and
Lulu that offer free publishing, but I have no idea which websites can I trust with my work, and with properly managing my profits and not stealing from me etc.
If any of you have experience with any of the above, please share it. There may have been a thread containing this information already, but I didn't manage to find it. If there is, a link would be very much appreciated.
Thank you friends. Much love!
