Today we look at a writing Tips by VLista... That still hold true today! This was from the December 2006 newsletter.

You never know when it’s going to hit. You could be lying in bed trying to sleep, at the movies with your friends or family, driving down a long stretch of highway.

Oftentimes, when you least expect it, your brain starts moving at a rapid pace, formulating and creating an idea for your next masterpiece. You can’t wait to get home or get up and fire up the old computer and start working it out into actual words.

The process from that point on is different for everyone, though there are certain steps that are necessary in getting that idea out of your head, onto paper or into your computer and ready for the public eye.

At some point in the beginning stages of your story you should work out a rough outline. The ideal time for this is before you even put that first word down. Though, speaking for myself, I often get too excited to just get started and find myself making my outline after the first chapter or two is written.

The best reason for an outline is to remain focused and to keep working towards the same direction. If you have something to follow you are less likely to stray off into side stories. Not all side stories are bad, but too many of them can cause confusion and often times frustrate the reader.

An outline does not have to be specific, each author is different. You don’t need to sit and write out what’s going to happen in each chapter. Some outlines are as simple as one paragraph with a description of what will transpire in the story. Much like a website has a ‘mission statement,’ one paragraph explaining it’s purpose. How much you want in your outline is totally up to each individual writer, it’s just best to get a rough plan out on paper before your story progresses too far.

Another import part of this is a list of characters. You start out with two in mind, but they all have friends, family and pets. The best way to keep them sorted is to have a handy list of each characters name and a one or two word explanation for their role in the story.

So you have your outline and you have your list of characters, it’s time to sit back and let your brain flow through your fingers. Many writers, myself included don’t stop to think about punctuation and spelling, you just want to get it all out. After all there’s spell check for that right?

Well of course, but when you story is all done a simple spell check will not fix everything. After you have finished writing you need to go back and read it. Fix any glaring errors and see if there’s anything that just doesn’t sound quite right. Words missing, phrases jumbled any number of things could have happened while you were a writing machine!

Once you have read it over and are satisfied to let someone else read it, your next step would be to find editors and beta readers. I would highly argue against being your own editor, another eye is always beneficial. Close friends are also not recommended for this task.

Many close friends would read it over say it’s great and not get down to the nitty gritty that often needs to be done. If you do not know of anyone that can do this for you GA can help, with a very active editor/beta reader program.

With an editor and a few beta readers you can get advice and ask questions to polish your story into becoming the best it can possibly be. Once it is at it’s best there are tons of option to get it out into the public eye.

Websites are always taking story submissions. Not all are accepted at every site. However, GA does offer a place for new writers to post their stories. A great way for a writer to start getting exposed to the public eye. Something important to remember is to include your contact information with your story. Feedback good and bad is a valuable experience.

Most emails will be positive, a lot providing constructive criticism, but there’s always someone that likes to mouth off about something just for the sake of mouthing off. So be prepared to take the good with the bad, the bad doesn’t happen often, most people who will take the time to email an author do it because they really liked your story.

GA has many programs to help the budding author if you have questions about storylines, building suspense, character development or basically anything that you need to know, there is a place on GA to ask it, whether it’s in the writer’s corner or the newly developed mentoring program if you need any help at all there’s people at GA that are here to help!

VLista