My Top 9 Writing Tips

There are hundreds of blogs with tips for authors. I've been copying and pasting their words of wisdom into a word document which I review periodically. I also reread my highlighted sections of Dwight V. Swain's book on writing before I start writing a new novel.

My 9 favorite writing tips (condensed) are as follows.

1)       Know your characters (and give each one a dominant first impression and a flaw)

2)      Have conflict on every page (excitement, danger, passion)

3)      Keep dialogue natural

4)      Edit, edit, edit (and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite)

5)      Show, don’t tell

6)      Study point of view theory and use it wisely

7)      Give every opening scene a hook and every closing paragraph a cliff hanger

8)      Weave your themes and motifs throughout your novel

9)      Forget all the rules – just write.