You could probably scroll online for days when searching for resources to help improve your writing skills. Even if you learn from the best, however, as an author, you must ultimately be “true to yourself.” That is, you must discover your own uniqueness, writing style, means of telling a story that sets you apart from other writers. There are several tips for writers that can help you refine a manuscript, shaping it into its best form to catch a publisher’s attention.
Many of “the masters,” like Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King and Haruki Murakami, recommend setting time aside to write every day. The latter, whose prolific works include international best-sellers like “Norwegian Wood” and “South of the Border,” practices a strict regimen of daily rising at 4 a.m., followed by at least five hours of writing, then physical exercise, such as swimming or running. Perhaps your personal writing routine isn’t as strenuous; you can still benefit from keeping several tips for writers in mind to help improve your skills.
These tips for writers can help your manuscript achieve its full potential
Editors often caution writers to be concise. If you follow our blog, you may have come across multiple posts in the past that discuss topics like “overuse of adjectives and adverbs” or “using the least amount of words possible” to get a point across in a story. The following list provides several tips for writers to improve concision:
- Cut your first draft in half.
- Identify redundant word pairs.
- Choose active voice over passive voice.
- Keep most sentences short with longer ones added intermittently for effect.
- Read your story aloud.
Once you’ve gutted your story to half its original size, you’ll undoubtedly need to add to it. This time, however, you can be more intentional, making sure you write quality content rather than “fluff.” Removing redundant word pairs is another way to refine a manuscript. Examples of redundancies include pairs like “each and every,” “complete and total,” or “true and accurate.”
A passive voice typically requires more words, which is why using an active voice is a better choice. Short sentences with clear meanings are less likely to overwhelm readers. Reading your story aloud (or, better yet, asking someone to read it to you) enables you to identify unnecessary words. Using these tips for writers is a means of purging and refining a manuscript until you have shaped it into a publish-worthy novel.
