Write for your friends! The best creative writing is written for your peers. Write about what your friends would be interested in reading.
It’s always okay to be funny. Even serious writing, emotional writing, romantic writing, and scary writing can have funny moments – just like life itself.
One of the best ways to improve your writing is to hear someone else read it out loud. Whether you’re writing a play, a poem, or even a children’s book, ask someone to read it out aloud so you can hear where you need to make changes like cutting out unnecessary text, or tighten up a conversation between two characters.
Carry a notebook or journal with you at all times. Brilliant ideas can sometimes pop into your head when you least expect them.
Write your thoughts or story ideas in it every single day. It could be a line or two of poetry. It doesn’t matter. Just get into the habit of writing every single day.
Reading is a brilliant way to become creative. Most successful writer’s read as much as they write. The more you read, the more it helps perfect your craft. Notice how the writer begins the story and tries to grab your interest from the get-go, known as the hook. Look at the dialogue, the descriptions and how the writer ends each chapter with a hook so you want to keep reading more. Let your best-loved stories inspire you.
One of the most important things to remember is, Show don’t tell. Saying a character is frightened is much less powerful than … ‘Sara’s hand trembled with fear as she reached for the door handle.’ Activity helps us see what is going on inside someone’s head, and identify with the character. So always show, don’t tell.
Why did the boy shoplift? Why did Mary give money to her Aunt? Why does Jame’s want to conquer the world? Everyone has a reason for everything. Mostly. And so should the characters you create in your story.
