Writing Tips of the Day
Thursday, November 14th, 2019 12:58am

Here's a collection of some of my recent writing tips I've posted over at Twitter.  Feel free to share them with others as you see fit:

Writing tip of the day: If your story characters aren't as real to you as those around you, then you're doing it wrong. You should know their every detail just as well, if not better than those who are around you, such as friends and family. In some ways, your story characters SHOULD be family. Perhaps a fictitious family that's only in your mind, but a close and familiar one none the less. If you don't know them intimately, you will never do them proper justice in your stories, and that's a disservice to both you, them and your readers.

Writing tip for the day: Write because you love to write, not because you get paid to do it (unless it's for work, and it's required). Writing for the love of it produces better quality work than if you do it for a reward. True story.Now, if you write because you love to write, and you happen to get paid for it at some point, congratulations. If not, then just enjoy the fun of writing. Because, if it's not fun, why write? And money has an amazing ability to suck all the fun out of everything it touches.  Trust me, been there, done that, hated it.  Now, that's not to say that I never want to make money on my books. I'd love to.  But it's never my primary motivation. The love of the craft (writing) is what motivates me. :) It should motivate you too.  Money should NEVER get in the way of doing what you love to do. If it is, you're doing it wrong. And if money/fame is your primary motivation, you're also doing it wrong.

Do it because you love to do it, NOT because you want to be rich or famous.  Riches and fame are always poison to a good writer and their work if that's the primary motivation and not the result of hard work and a love of the craft. If your books never make money, then so be it. Did you enjoy writing them? Are they entertaining? Did you have fun?  If you can answer yes to all three of those questions, then you're more successful than you realize. So focus on the craft of writing, and your love for it, and perhaps, in time, other great things will come along. Remember, there are more things to life than money and fame.

#Writing tip of the day: A proper #wordsmith (aka #writer) never says, "I'm done." You only ever say, "It's good enough for now," because a true wordsmith is never completely satisfied with their work. There is always room to improve and make things better.

PS: Those are the kind of writers I like. They so care about their work that, by the time you get your hands on it, as a reader, you know you have the absolute best work that they can produce, and that you will always be satisfied with the end product. :)

And that's all for this block of posts.  I hope you enjoy and learn from them. :)