Tips for Writing a Story

      

       Writing a story can be an intimidating experience, whether it be fictional or nonfictional, like a memoir. As a creative writer myself, I understand this and have come up with several techniques and tips to help me and my peers with our story writing process. Here are just some of the most important of those tips.

          1. Have an idea of where the plot will go by outlining it in some way

    This doesn’t mean that you need to have every detail known and decided before you start writing. You don’t even need to know the ending, but having a loose idea of the plot and storyline can be beneficial in giving you a skeleton to flesh out. As you write you will take some things away, add other things, change things, and be surprised by your own intuition and brain. This can be difficult to start, however, without having a foundation, no matter how rocky, to start out with. A writer can outline in many different ways as well:

o   Outline in bullet points or a list

o   Make numbered flashcards with the sequence of events

o   Make a timeline or plot map

And these are only a few examples. The more you outline and write, the more you will create your own Frankenstein process for outlining that works best for you.

       2. Write the ending or pivotal scenes one a separate paper or document and put it to the side

Most drafts feel rushed. That is a fact. It is difficult to not be too slow or, most often, not rush to the ending or pivotal scenes. This is due to several reasons: deadlines, wanting to get to those scenes out of excitement, and the fact that drafts are not fully fleshed with transitions and details. However, the most common reason so a rushed pace comes from a fear that you will forget the awesome image of how these important, especially ending, scenes will look.

I do this often. The ending is perfect in my mind and perfectly tied together. But there’s so much I have to get to before I can even write it out. So I rush to get to it. I’m not alone, I know. This is why I write it down while it’s fresh on a separate document. Who says that the writing process has to be linear? Where you write the beginning first and the middle next and the ending last? You can write any important scenes down while they’re vividly in your mind, and put them aside until you need them. This reduces anxiety, fear, and the desperate pace that is seen in first drafts.

3. Don’t worry about beautiful language or editing until after you get the first draft out

All of us want to sound beautiful and polished when we write. So it is natural to be tempted to edit and fix small problems and words that bother us after we write each paragraph. Or each half a sentence, if you’re anything like me. But this is how we gets stories or novels that take years to finish.

If you continue to edit paragraph or paper by page as you write them out, then you will never reach the end of the story. So as tempting as it is, just leave it until editing. However, if you have several ideas of how a sentence or paragraph should look, then write them all out. I separate mine with slashes, other people number them, and some highlight them. But get as many out as you need and move on, don’t stay behind to analyze. That will come later.

4. Write without crossing out

This brings us to the next tips. Write. Write anything and everything you can think of. I just word vomit and don’t cross anything out. I may put a question mark next to it if I’m unsure about it or underline it if I feel it’s important, but I never cross out. This again goes back to not editing as you go.

Don’t count of the number of pages you are going through either, or pay attention to how much you’re writing because that can be intimidating. The first thing most people think is “Oh no, I have so much to edit now” or they worry that they’ve strayed off topic. Don’t worry about this though until you actually get to the editing process. Cutting out unnecessary work is easy and quick, but having to add things later because you were too intimidated or afraid of going off topic when you first started is much more difficult. Just write.

5. Workshop

When you have finally finished your draft, then you can look at rewriting and editing for the next draft. Remember, a story will go through several drafts before it can be polished and edited for minor things like grammar, punctuation, and language. This means you’ll be looking at content, transitions, details, structure, flow, the importance of certain decisions, and so on. You could try tackling this alone with your own knowledge, or you could try workshopping.

You can go to a group workshop, or you can simply send copies to everyone you know. And not just friends, but teachers and those who have an experience in writing. However, this leads us to the advice that they give you.

6. Take advice with a grain of salt

The point of workshopping is to get as much information and as many perspectives as possible so that you see how your work will be received by readers. However, that does not mean you are obligated to take every piece of advice and change your story to fit everything said. For one, you will find most pieces of advice will contradict each other. Secondly, it is, in the end, your story. This means that you can technically do anything you want. You can ignore all advice, follow every piece—if you can, or compromise and follow only pieces of advice your gut tells you to follow and ignore those pieces your gut tells you to ignore. Writing is so much about instinct. This does not change in the workshopping or editing process. Your instinct will almost always be right, but without getting as many perspective as possible, it will be difficult for you to expand your knowledge on your own writing and how it can be interpreted by others.

7. Edit last

I’ve already mentioned this. Rewriting is something that comes as you go from draft to draft, but polishing language such as grammar and word choice or punctuation should always be the last thing to worry about. Save this for the final draft. It saves time, saves anxiety, and is unnecessary to worry about during the drafting process because you might take that language out in the end. Don’t, get me wrong, during the drafting process you will naturally cut or prune. But pruning comes before finally worrying about polishing. 

By Caroline Mata, FCC Tutor, CSU Fresno Student