Here are four writer's tips I have found useful over the years.
1. Always use active voice. See Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL) for examples of active versus passive voice: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/02/.
2. Engage all five senses. Show your reader what your protagonist sees, smells, hears, tastes and touches. "The yeasty aroma of fresh-baked bread greeted me before Mom, in her starched pinafore apron, flung open the door, squealing in surprise. Little beads of perspiration dotted her brow. Despite the ice and snow on my cap, mittens and wrap, she hugged me tightly, her cheek hot against my half-frozen one."
3. Vary the length of your sentences. Follow two or three long sentences containing multiple phrases or clauses with a short, punchy sentence. See the sample in #2, above.
4. First things first, last things last. Take a look at the last sentence in the example in #2, above. The first time I wrote that sentence, it looked like this: "Despite the ice and snow on my cap, mittens and wrap, her cheek felt hot against my half-frozen one when we hugged." The phrase "when we hugged" is hanging out there, like an orphan, on the end. That's because chronologically, the protagonist can feel the hot cheek during the hug, not before it. The hug has to occur first.
Hope these tips help!
Read a lot and write what you love. There is no better formula for successful writing. Trying to pigeon-hole a certain theme, genre, or characters will just end in frustration. With no guarantee of publication or sales, you'd best make sure you're enjoying the ride.
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