From an outsider's perspective, fiction writing can seem as straightforward as dreaming up delightful imaginary characters and a world for them to live in. That writing an article, an essay, a book, is as easy as rolling out of bed and waving your magic wand at the keyboard while still in your pajamas. This couldn’t be more false. As a fiction writer, you have to know more about your characters than will ever make it on to the page. The little details are what make a story so enthralling. This means you have a lot of work ahead of you when working on a new story, and that is as daunting as it is exciting.

Fiction writing allows you to immerse yourself completely in another world. I feel the most comfortable when I am surrounded by my own imagination. For as long as I can remember, I have been writing stories. If you know me personally, you might have seen that I hold my pens and pencils in a ridiculous way. This is because I taught myself to write when I was very young, and never un-learned that method when we got formal instruction in school. For all of you fiction writing aficionados, here are twelve of my tips for writers at every stage of the game.

For character names:

1. Scroll through your Facebook friends and their Facebook friends

2. Check ending credits of movies

3. If none of the names you have come up with so far feel right, start with the character’s middle and last name first, then think of a first name that goes well with the other two.

To better understand your fictional world:

1. Make a Pinterest board of images that remind you of that place

2. Write about what it looks like from a tourist’s perspective

3. Pretend you are writing a children’s history book for your world. What are the most important events explained in the most straightforward way possible?

To make your characters realistic:

1. Ask yourself what traits or habits this character has that their friends find annoying.

2. Think of an experience you recounted to someone where they responded with, “Oh my gosh, really? I thought I was the only one who did that!” and use that in your writing.

Ex: Pretending to be interested in a random shelf at the grocery store because someone is standing in front of the shelf you actually need to get to and the thought of asking them to move makes you feel weirdly nervous.

3. What aspects of your character’s personality are they shy about revealing to other people?

To conquer a stubborn blank page:

1. Switch from typing in your word processor to writing by hand with a pen and paper, or vice versa

2. Write in a place you have never written in before. Ex: Your friend’s kitchen. (Please ask them for permission before you do this. Don’t just be waiting to greet them when they come down for their coffee in the morning.)

3. Tell yourself or another person the full story of that scene out loud. Include everything you want to happen with it and how the characters are feeling. Begin with how the last chapter ended and continue from there. Finish the story out loud before you try to commit it to paper.

Fiction writing is fun, but not always easy. It is a flurry of questions with the hope that if you answer them you can convey your characters and your world to the reading audience in the best possible way. It is harder than it looks, and I hope this is helpful if you feel a case of writer's block creeping up. Happy imagining!