Last Updated on February 23, 2024
Writing something isn’t a simple task. The responsibility of readers understanding about your content is on your shoulders.
The article below shares some very important tips for beginners. The overall theme for all of these tips is make you aware of every single word that you write. Choose your words with care and follow the rules.
1. Show Don’t Tell
This rule does not apply to everything. It mostly applies to emotions and senses. Most emotion words, anger words, such as angry, excited, happy, etc. are straightly told. Make the situation obvious. You can sue such words in your writing that depict such emotions.
While writing, you can also imagine the scene as if it is in a movie. In movies, you do not find the narration that someone has a particular emotion instead the audience get to know the mood through the actions.
You can add the emotion words to your manuscript, such as, do not tell the reader that a character is angry instead show their fear through the use of phrases like shallow breathes, tensed shoulders, wide alert eyes, etc.
2. Use Active Voice
Use the active voice over the passive voice in your writings. This tip is also told as not to use ‘ing’ at the end of your words. This is because such words are weaker than their active counterparts. Keep an eye on the use of passive voice in your manuscript but do not remove it completely. Just see where the active voice suits more than the passive voice.
There are exceptions to this rule, so, you must know where to use active voice and where to use passive voice.
3. To Be and Not to Be
It is about the ‘to be’ verb and its variation, such as, is, am, are, was, where, etc. The sentences with these verbs are weaker just like the words that end with ’ing.’ Again, you do not have to avoid the use of these words altogether, just be aware of your usage.
4. Verbs are better than Adverbs
The short version of this rule is usually told as to avoid the words that end in ‘ly.’ Adverbs are thought to be devils by people who give writing advice to the content or essay writer, to literature writing, fiction writer, etc. A strong descriptive verb is better than a generic verb carrying with it an adverb. In this way, many verb and adverb combinations can be replaced with a single stronger verb.
5. No Thinking
Any verb related to thinking, realizing, remembering and knowing must not be included in your writing. You have to present those characters and situations to the readers also that they can realize them and not you.
6. Doubles are Troubles
Sometimes, repetition can get you to great success but more often than not the use of a word multiple times in a passage reflects lazy writing. It usually happens in the early drafts, so, make sure you edit your final draft for such blunders.
As a writer, you are making constant decisions. So, be very careful about your word choices and be ready to defend them if necessary. It requires effort and time to come up with an excellent piece of writing. Study a lot, read a lot and get familiar with good and bad writing because that is going to affect your writing decisions.