The creative writing process has been a part of my life since I was old enough to have imaginary conversations with my stuffed animals. Now, the creative process has become more complex for me as I work on projects that I one day hope to publish. My own growth in the creative field has also influenced the amount of work that I put into the creative process now.

I've been given advice from art teachers and English teachers and friends and family. Even the internet helped inform me of the ways that I should approach the whole process. Many of the things I was taught are ingrained in how I work through writing a novel. Unfortunately, some of those lessons have become less black and white, and less beneficial to my writing. Maybe some of them will ring true for any writers out there.

Inspiration Just Strikes

This is the worst lie that I was ever told. And it wasn't told to me by my teachers or friends or even outright. It was told to me by the media's portrayal of art. Through movies and books and TV shows, I learned that my inspiration should be something coming to me. For a long time, I was idle in writing because I wasn't 'inspired.'

Instead of waiting for the perfect idea to pop into my head, I will imagine a story as I want it to be when it is finished, and I begin from nothing to creating a story that grows up as I work on its world and its characters. The end goal even shifts as I continue to spend time focused on that project.

When You Write, the Story Will Reveal Itself

While there are many writers that like to let the story form itself a little more 'organically' than others, the idea that the story will write itself or that the characters will write the story is just wrong. In fact, I've spent more than a few late nights reworking characters and plot points that, while getting the story from A to B, don't fit the theme of the story anymore.

While paying attention to your characters and the kind of plot that you're following helps to keep the story moving in the correct direction, it should not dictate the entirety of the story. As I've worked with my story, I've pushed my characters beyond what they would have done. I have forced them into corners, not letting them slide past the danger of the world that I created.

Write What You Know

I might have been told this in school, or perhaps it was some useful advice from a friend after describing a story that seemed just a little too out there. The idea of writing what you know may help a writer begin to develop a better understanding of their craft by starting with describing situations and people that they're familiar with. Alas, the advice to write what you know keeps going until well after elementary school.

Writing outside of your knowledge is fun and it allows a writer to create worlds and explore situations that they would never face in real life. Just as people read to get away from real life, a writer can do the same with their writing. And let's face it, if we all wrote what we knew, there would be no stories of Middle Earth or of kids like Ender Wiggin or even sparkly vampires. Getting out there and flexing our imaginations is more fun than writing about high school or middle school anyway. (Although there is a time and a place for writing about situations like that).

Show, Don't Tell

While this advice is good advice, it isn't good advice all the time. There is a time and a place for describing that cool mahogany desk in detail, but I don't think page three of your story is the right place, unless some character has concealed something there that is crucial for the story. Sometimes instead of a long paragraph about every single physical attribute of your character that points to them feeling angry, you can shorten it to a dialogue where your character just says that they're angry.

Showing and telling are all about pacing in a story. And knowing how to manipulate the pacing of your story to work with the characters and plot is important. So rather than only showing, figure out whether it's necessary you show every detail, or just give the reader the quick version.

Use Something Other Than 'Said'

We were all told this at one point or another if we've been writing something that has dialogue. But is it really necessary to change your habits? Maybe sometimes if someone is shouting or whispering. The majority of the time that I have used the word 'said' is to tag the line of dialogue to make sure that my reader understands who is speaking.

A better alternative to trying to find every other word that you can put in place of 'said' is to add a little action to the line and use the character's line in that. If the dialogue is followed by someone doing something, the reader believes that the speaker is the one doing the action. You can convey not only the dialogue, but how a character is moving in physical space.

While I tell you that these five pieces of advice didn't ring true for me, don't take my word as the law of writing. As many rules and pieces of advice that are out there, there are some writers that piece together their own rules to live by. Writing is fluid, and if you want to create a masterpiece, then you can do that however you feel is best. Get to know yourself and learn how your mind works when it comes to writing. Planning, outlines, drafting, editing, modifying; all of the parts of the writing process are yours to figure out. Some writers never plan, and others go in with a great idea of what they're doing.

The best advice I can give you is to give it your all.