by Kym Farris

When I first started writing, I thought there was an outline I had to follow. I thought there was this and that and that was it. Boy, I was shocked when I found out I could write whatever I wanted. Read that again, whatever I wanted! Imagine? So where do I begin? Well, I started asking questions, and from there, I learned what creative writing was. FYI, creative writing isn’t just being creative. There are other steps you should follow. You don’t have to, but if you want to make it better, these are some suggestions. 

Be creative

Something I noticed is everyone jumps on the bandwagon. What I mean by this is when The Twilight Saga came out, everyone started to write about Vampires and Werewolves. The problem was Twilight had become so popular other stories similar to this were overlooked. And not because they weren’t good. It was just a matter of timing. Yet, I kept thinking, why doesn’t anyone write about something else? Just because right now the world is obsessed with these characters doesn’t mean there isn’t room for new ones. 

Your main character doesn’t have to be a stereotype. Instead of a beautiful 20-something blond, she can be an 80-year-old with her teeth falling out. I personally like to see things differently. I get bored of reading the same ole same ole. Do some research. So you like vampires, and you want to stay in that genre. Search all the popular characters and take a bit of each and make your own. He can have one leg and no hair. Also, remember you don’t have to use the same words over and over again. I still have a thesaurus and I go to it from time to time. There may be some younger people reading this that don’t know what that is. It was a book I had growing up that gives you different words for one word. Look them up! They are worth it. I will add a link to some at the bottom of this blog. Remember to be creative!

Embrace rewriting

Understand early on, no one gets it right the first time. Writing and rewriting go hand in hand. I’ve written this blog 4 times and I’ve made changes each time. Why? Because to me, this may sound good, but it doesn’t mean everyone is going to understand what I have written. Your content should be easily read. It’s important to remember to not be afraid to start over. If you are not happy with your writing, how do you expect anyone else to be? Starting over does not mean you failed. It means you value your work and you see where you need changes. If anything, this will strengthen you as a writer. And isn’t that the end goal? 

Know your audience

This is very important. Not everything you write is going to attract all demographics. So knowing who you want to attract is essential. If this is a children’s novel, you want to know how children speak and what attracts them. You could still write a werewolf novel, just the wording would be different. So know your audience.

Start writing

You don’t have to even have a topic. You could freehand until something pops. I have done this a million times with schoolwork. Sometimes I feel like I am wasting my time and should just go with the first thing that comes to mind. Then I start reading what I wrote and another better idea comes to mind. Or I get stumped, and some of what I’ve already written is the potential for a new story, and I haven’t even realized it. I can say this from past experiences: don’t throw away anything you have written down. If you have written things on small pieces of paper, don’t throw the paper away without transferring them into a journal for further use. There have been so many times I’ve said, “ I had an idea about that. I wrote it down”. And I’ve thrown it away. Not having the best memory, the idea and the paper are now gone. But to even get to that point, I first had to start writing.

Writing workshops

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced writer, there is always something more to learn. As a beginner, I have a lot of writer’s block, but I also found out experienced writers have this problem too. It helped to know I wasn’t alone. I was told by an experienced writer that taking a workshop could be beneficial to me. You could learn a lot about your writing techniques while getting feedback and constructive criticism from people who have been where I am. There are many online workshops that you could look into. For my next semester, I am going to minor in Creative Writing and I’m excited. I’m learning a lot on my own, but I can only get better with a writing workshop.

Below I have added a link to a Thesaurus/Dictionary bundle. And links to great books on Creative writing.

Merriam-Webster’s Everyday Language Reference Set

Publish. Promote. Profit.: The New Rules of Writing, Marketing & Making Money with a Book

Unleash the Power of Storytelling: Win Hearts, Change Minds, Get Results

Writing with Clarity and Style: A Guide to Rhetorical Devices for Contemporary Writers

That’s all of it! If you have other services you’d recommend, be sure to let us know in the comments. And while you’re here, subscribe to our mailing list so you don’t miss any ghostwriting tips and best practices that we’ll be sharing here each week.