Writing Tips from Writers to Writers

As writers you have a talent of sharing stories from your heart. The words you express are a gift, that keeps on giving. You strive to reach your reader through your words. You want your audience to feel relaxed, comfortable and at ease.

You want them to keep coming back for more. Which is why there is no place for an over inflated ego in any genre of the written language.

Whether you write books, articles, songs, poems or travel guides, you share what you know with your readers. You want them to walk away from your words knowing that you taught them something they didn't already know.

Writers have the power to take readers on a journey of a lifetime. Places they've never been. Meet people they've never known. You want them to envision scrumptious meals, happily ever after scenarios, or you take them a vacation they might never be able to afford.

Using your mind, literary skills and with the touch of your finger tips you broaden readers horizons with knowledge. You make them feel emotions that they didn't realize they had. You take them for a ride of their lives.

You give them the opportunity to feast on your words and to never want your story to end. You give them the chance to take mental vacations from their lives and disappear into your imaginative world.

Writers also share their advice and tips with fellow writers whether by reading your work or by you voicing your opinions.

While writers might be overly confident and think that their work is near perfect, chances are they could always use more advice. No one is ever too old to learn something new. Possibly it's something you never thought of, but someone else did.

I asked some writers for their advice to share with you. They were more than happy to oblige. Their advice comes from years of perfecting their craft.

They still appreciate advice themselves, so if you are a writer and have some advice to share, please do so in the comment section below.

If you aren't able to follow what you are writing, your readers won't be able to follow what they are reading. Be clear, concise and allow your words to flow.

Also titles could make or break an article or book. If I'm in a book store, standing in the grocery checkout line or surfing the web it's the title that always catches my eye.

Make sure your title is google friendly or eye candy before you decide to publish.

The one thing I have learned after writing for many years is that if you want to earn money from your writing, and not just for fun, is to make sure that you write for your readers and not for yourself.

I, like others, have written stuff about myself or funny stories and poems and of course they don't make the money.

If you are starting out make sure that you write stuff that will be useful to other people.

Don't be afraid to look at different sources of inspiration. I read online a lot as well as listen to music but I also listen to what people say.

You have to be aware that as a writer that what happens in everyday life can give you the most extraordinary ideas.

Once you feel you completed an article, even if you're bursting to publish it -don't!

Leave it for a few hours, go away, take a break and then you'll come back to it with fresh eyes and you will edit it, refine it, improve it again.

Then and only then should you publish it. If you can leave it for 24 hours that's even better.

I guess my one thought would be "to write with everyone in mind." There are going to be scholars, as well as the uneducated reading what you write.

Don't reduce your potential audience by trying to write in words most won't understand. Save that for the college professors you're trying to get over on.

You'll communicate your thoughts much more clearly by allowing them to create visions of what you seek to project, instead of hindering these visions by forcing them to constantly be interrupted with dictionary visits.

The most important thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary. - J.K. Rowling

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What seperates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work. -Stephen King

I seriously doubt I would ever have written the first story had I not been a lawyer. I never dreamed of being a writer. I wrote only after witnessing a trial. -John Grisham

For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed. -Ernest Hemingway

A bad review is like baking a cake with all the best ingredients and having someone sit on it. - Danielle Steel

Do not copy my style! The first rule of writing is write about what you know, not what you think you know. So think about what you've done in your life and write about it. - Jackie Collins

When I come up with a new topic for an article, I take a blank piece of paper and write down the different terms and phrases that come to mind about the topic.

I then go to Google AdWords and plug in those terms to see which generate the most searches. I use that information to firm up what direction I want to go with the article and to make sure I include the most frequently-searched terms in the article.

When you are editing your work, go through and take out half the words.
You can never actually eliminate half.

The act of trying forces you to get rid of all but the essentials. It makes your work concise and more powerful.

My advice would be to learn how to spell. Type your articles in a program such as Word, and use the spell checker on the entire article.

If you want to check the spelling of a single word, type the word into Google.

My biggest piece of advice is as good of a writer you think you are, there are still others out there just as good, if not better, who are trying to make a go of it, as well.

Make sure to comment and share others works as much as possible. Because as much as you like the positive reinforcement so do others.

It is so very important to us, who write, to hear nice things about our writing and how others do enjoy it.

Don't be put off by little set backs now and again and most of all, get organized.

Give yourself timed breaks for burnout, and learn to use online writer related tools or seek advice.

Most importantly, don't sweat the small stuff.

A good tip I have is to use timers, especially if you have several writing projects on hand.

Have one or two trusted friends available to review your work for grammar, spelling, punctuation.

When it comes to content, you are the boss...write from your heart. Be original.

Let your passion and creativity shine... If you truly love to write, words will flow from your pen like water from a faucet.

Be WHO you are...completely, when writing.

Let your thoughts and words come directly from inside your heart and mind.

Do not "doubt" yourself.

Because each writer has a different writing and working style, different things inspire them.

Sometimes the hardest thing about writing is finding the inspiration to begin.

Here are three writing tips that have served me well:

1. Write about things that you know and love. Whether it’s cooking, travel, health or music, your personal knowledge will shine through your writing.

2. Write about topics that spark your curiosity. It’s interesting and even fun to research topics that strike a chord with you.

3. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Everyone doesn't have to write humor, but do keep yourself open to suggestions, critiques and ideas that differ from yours.

When you can't think how to start writing on the chosen topic, just start.

Put down any related idea you want to include anyway, and later sort how to start, tidy, etc. It works very well for me!

Since I discovered this, I have cut down on the prevarication time, and have increased my output.

Create and identify your own writing style that consistently keep readers engaged.

Make sure that you create a strong forte and huge impact that readers ask for more from you and also re-reading your works.

Above all, just be yourself!

Write in the areas you are passionate about. If you don't have the interest in gardening, don't make that area your niche.

Lack of interest shows up in your writing, no matter how much you try to hide it.

You risk boring readers or losing their trust in your authority within the area. Also, why write in an area you don't enjoy?

Figure out how you can make an income writing in your area of choice.

Don't expect to make big bucks as a writer unless you write a best selling novel.

Make your article easy to read by using simple sentences and many sub-headings.

Avoid jargon because people will simply click the back button if they find it hard to understand.

Great writers are greater readers.

By constantly reading the work of famous authors, writers' expectation of themselves automatically rise to the required standard.

And then, practice makes perfect.