Writing can be both easy and difficult.
But there are some writing tips for beginners which if they follow will help them succeed in their writing journey.
These same writing tips have helped me to grow from 0 to bestselling author and a successful blogger.
14 Writing Tips For Beginners
Here are the 14 best writing tips that everyone can find helpful.
1. Develop a Reading Habit
If you want to become a writer the best thing you can do is read, read, read, and read.
Read anything from a blog post to a newspaper to any novel fiction or nonfiction.
The more you read the more you learn about writing styles, new vocabulary, writing patterns, etc.
When you read, look at how the writer writes, the language and style they use, what are the things that make this particular writer different from others.
Look at how they convey their thoughts and emotions.
This will help you develop your own pattern and skill and you may learn something new from every piece of writing, article or novel, you read.
Each of the works you read has some lesson to teach even if it is the worst novel or article.
You will learn and take note of the mistakes that made that novel poor.
Let’s suppose you are writing a memoir for the first time, therefore you should be familiar with how to write a memoir. For that, you need to read a few memoirs.
Likewise, if you are writing a love story and you want to include some crime or suspense then you will have to read some novels related to that so you can understand what elements to include and how to proceed so you can write a perfect novel.
You can’t call yourself an author or writer if you don’t love reading.
Reading is one of the main characteristics of a writer that every writer and author MUST obey.
Here’s the importance of reading that you should check out to know more.
2. Write Everyday
The more you write the more you polished your skill becomes and the more you learn.
You should write daily but publish regularly.
Writing doesn’t mean that you should begin writing a book or novel only. You can start by writing short stories and create a blog around it and publish it.
You can even share some quotes on social media to build your fan base.
Writing can also include journaling. Just writing your thoughts or daily things can also help you improve your writing.
And if you want to publish your books then you should make a schedule to write every day.
Make an achievable goal like to write 2000 words daily without a miss. This way you will be able to complete one basic novel of 60,000 words within a month.
And if you are a short story writer and publish books and eBooks occasionally then like me you can create your own blog and post there.
The ultimate goal here is to write daily no matter how good or bad the writing is.
This is the one writing tip that I tell to all writers, beginners and experts. It is especially important, I feel, for beginners who are still mastering their craft.
3. Storytelling
It doesn’t matter what genre you are writing in, everything can be turned into story.
And nothing better than storytelling to make your readers understand what you are telling them.
But this is the place where most writer’s struggle.
For instance, if you are providing instructions or writing an article or even a nonfiction book, try to include stories related to the topic, giving references and conclusions so that your words don’t sound boring and monotonous.
This is because stories are deeply rooted in our brains and also it is the best way to charm and engage your readers.
Remember, when including stories, ensure they are relevant, short and written in simple language so that your readers can understand them easily.
4. Write for Your Audience
This is one of the best writing tips for beginners, especially if you want to make money from your craft.
You should write what your readers want to hear. Your writing should make them feel something.
Get out of your head and into your readers as if you are speaking to them in person.
Express emotions in such a way that your readers can feel it.
And if you are writing a nonfiction book or eBook write in such a way that your readers can get the message you are trying to convey.
Or write in such a way that the information you want to give them is 100% understandable.
And if you are teaching something to your readers through your blog or eBook make sure every step and instruction is perfect and so that they can achieve the desired result.
The best way to understand your audience is by connecting with your readers and asking them for their perspectives and opinions or getting feedback.
5. Write Catchy Titles
People do judge a novel, story, or even a blog post or articles based on the title only.
According to a study 80% of people read a blog post or article based on the title only.
This is also one of the most important writing tips for beginners is to write a compelling title for all of your writings whether it is a novel, blog post, or any other type of content.
It doesn’t matter how good your content is, it won’t matter if you don’t have a catchy title.
With your title only you should be able to grab your reader’s attention and hook them to read the content.
The same applies for writing sub-titles for novels, sub-titles for blog posts and so on.
6. Enrich Your Vocabulary
Learning new words gives you the opportunity to improve your writing.
When you read something and find words which you were not aware of; note it down and check for its meaning and synonyms.
You don’t know how many new words you can find while reading like this.
This comes in handy if you are writing a drama scene or some memoirs. Having a set of advanced words really helps you in writing the best possible literary work.
7. Research
While writing about anything first make sure to research the topic thoroughly.
You don’t want to make a fool of yourself by giving illogical explanations and reasons in your writing.
Researching is the part that you should consider first hand when you write any novel or blog post because you want your readers to get correct information.
For example, if you are writing a crime novel then you should do proper research on how police solve a crime of certain categories, what are the terms they use, what’s the law in your country for such crimes, etc.
This way your story will look real and will give your readers the proper description and information.
Cite the sources of your research if you are writing any articles or blog posts or even nonfiction books.
Don’t cite false information and don’t take the credit for someone else ideas and research.
You can give them credit by quoting their name, by providing the link to resources in your blog post or by creating a footnote in your eBook.
8. Learn to Edit Yourself
Writing and editing are completely different.
BUT!!!!
Before publishing your work you need to make sure that you are happy with everything you wrote.
Self-editing will help you understand and rectify quick mistakes as well as you will know your writing style and skills.
This will be just your basic editing but the most important one.
Choose any way of editing like using online software and services like Grammarly to make your editing process a lot easier. You can hire an editor as you get more advanced, especially for a novel, or engage friends, family and beta users to help with this as well.
9. Don’t Be Too Wordy
While editing checks whether every sentence you write makes sense or not.
Also, check if you are using complex words when simple ones can suffice. Do you have any favorite words or phrases repeating over and over again? If so, look to rectify these.
Apart from writing complex literature, people want to read something which is written in simple language and they don’t need to follow the dictionary to understand the meaning.
10. Don’t Be Afraid to Try Something New
The best way to learn is to try something new.
I mainly wrote fiction (a romantic novel) during the first three years of my writing career. But I wanted to do more. So then I started writing nonfiction mini eBooks related to writing and freelancing.
Later I started writing in Medium and got a great response.
This motivated me to start this blog. And through this blog, I want to help fellow writers and authors to make a living through their writing.
You could also do the same thing. It can be writing in a completely different niche.
Like a romance writer can start writing in a science fiction genre and so on. Or you could start a blog around the niche you are passionate about like I did here.
Alternatively, you could also look for your favorite author and see what other new things they try and how you could do the same.
11. Get Feedback Regularly
Be humble and take advice whenever necessary.
Feedback is the best way to become a writer.
For a writer every piece of writing is good and after writing 1000’s of pieces of content it is difficult to separate the good from the bad.
So having someone like a colleague, friend or family member who can give honest feedback can really help you a lot.
You can understand what other people think about your writing and where you need improvement.
12. Become a Freelance Writer
The more you write the better you get. Another favorite writing tip for beginners.
But just by writing you are not going to get paid.
So you can start polishing your skills by becoming a freelance writer.
The thing I love in freelance writing is that you will get paid for exploring different types of writing.
This is one of the best ways to make money online by writing articles.
13. Be Consistent
Consistency is the key to success in any field you can think of. The same is true when it comes to writing also.
But writing consistently is a major problem most writers, even the experienced ones, face in their daily lives.
So make sure you maintain your consistency no matter what you do.
Even lazy writing of 500 words can do wonders in the long run.
The main goal here is to maintain a habit of consistent writing whether you are writing a novel, article, or anything. Even journaling daily on a consistent basis can do wonders.
14. Believe in Your Writing
No list of writing tips for beginners is complete without this point.
There will be many ups and downs. Every day you will face new challenges. Writers block is common.
Many times you will get negative comments and feedback; whether from your freelance writing clients or your reader’s feedback on your blog post, or maybe on your book.
There will be a time when you find yourself judging your writing and questioning your abilities.
But there is nothing wrong with doubting. The main problem will arise when your doubts overwhelm you and start holding you back.
So if you experience anything like that you have to trust your gut and keep believing in yourself. Have faith in your writing. And ultimately you will succeed.
Basic Writing Tips for Beginners When Writing a Book or a Novel
Now here are some additional writing tips for beginners who are writing or want to write fiction novels or a storybook.
While writing any fiction novels pay attention to details like:
1. Prologue
Ask yourself does your book need a prologue.
One of my novels has a prologue and that was the weakest part of my book (though most of the readers didn’t notice). But some book reviewers said that after reading the prologue they didn’t think they were going to enjoy the book until they finished chapter one.
So you should be clear on whether you should have a prologue or not.
2. Epilogue
My frank suggestion, you almost certainly don’t need one.
3. Avoid irrelevant storyline
Don’t write any irrelevant storyline which doesn’t make any sense in the actual story or in developing the plot.
Just for the sake of including humor, or including suspense, don’t ever deviate from the original plot. If it fits then you can include the extra materials or storyline but if not, don’t do it.
Don’t add backstory or a flashback moment if the scene already made everything clear.
4. Don’t overuse words
Don’t overuse words like ‘Just’, ‘only’, ‘again’, ‘back’ and ‘also’.
It’s not that you should not use any of these or other words but don’t overuse them.
Like you see in my blog post I have a habit of using SO. Try to avoid overusing it.
Since it is a blog post and I write like I am talking to you. It will not matter that much. But in any novel, it will be a poor writing example.
5. What tense To use
Yes, you should decide beforehand what tense you are going to use while writing your novel.
Are you going to write in past or present tense?
Applicable only if your story required something like that. It solely depends on the story you want to tell.
6. Are you going to write in British English or American English
Yup this also matters a lot.
Decide on one and be consistent. This will be your writing style.
You can decide your language by considering a few things like your novel demographics, your selling region, your storyline (whether it is based on the American region or depicts their culture or your story revolves around more British countries).
Personal recommendation is to stick with British English as it is what most of the famous authors stick to while writing fiction novels. However, if you are wanting to target the large American market more specifically, use American English.
Some Additional Writing Tips for Beginners
1. Publish Your Work Online
Just write and publish your work online even if it’s not perfect.
This is important as you can get feedback from your readers and it will help you to improve your writing.
I did the same. I started posting short stories of like 500-600 words long on my personal blog. The response and feedback (both positive and negative) I received helped me a lot.
So instead of stuffing your imperfect drafts into your drawer where no one can see do post them online.
2. Create Your Blog
Now you can create your own personal author or writer’s blog and post some of your writings.
Having a blog is an effective way to build an online presence and develop authority in this competitive market.
In your blog, you can showcase your published works, build your portfolio, sell your eBooks, etc. Your blog can serve as a passive money-making system for all your writings as well.
Looking to get started creating your own blog? Check out some good website hosting deals from SiteGround.
3. Use Social Media
Social media today plays an important role in marketing and promoting any products.
You can use social media to connect with writers and authors you like, make your own community of readers, promote your books and writings, post your writings on these social networking sites.
Many writers started their writing journey on social media only.
Some writers posted short stories on Facebook and built a fan base then started their book publishing journey. Some started posting poems on Instagram and became the largest selling poet.
So you can make use of social media platforms to get started.
4. Start Your Own Email List
Start your email list as soon as you can.
Don’t underestimate the power of email marketing. An email has the power to grow your business and reach many potential readers who will buy your products.
There is no greater book marketing kickstart than sending a new book launch email to your already raving fans.
So if you decide that you will be publishing more than one book then setting up your email list as soon as possible is the key to success.
Conclusion
These are the writing tips for beginners that I wish I would have known when I was getting started. Some are still very relevant for more seasoned writers as well.
Now you know, try some of the mentioned tips and see for yourself what magic it can bring in your writing journey.
If you’ve made it this far, don’t forget to share with your fellow writers and help them too.