Every writer wants to know the best way to tell their story. Some writers spend hours writing and rewriting to try and tell their story in the best way possible. Whether you're writing fantasy, romance, comedy, sci-fi, or something else, these strategies will improve any manuscript. Use these five tips to bring your writing to the next level!
Use RELEVANT specific detail.
When you include detail in your story, it should either A) advance the plot/story/character development, or B) tell the readers something about the character. You can claim quantity over quality, but a 1,000-page book won't sell if it isn't any good, whereas a short 500-word story might be more interesting if written differently. If your character is wearing a blue shirt, that's all fine and dandy, but does it matter in the grand scheme of things? Maybe that blue shirt does matter but tells the readers WHY. Was it given to them by their estranged father and they wish to hold on to that connection? Maybe they stole it from the local Target and your book is about a shoplifter. Either way, if something ends up in the final draft, it should be important enough to stay there.
Show more than you tell.
A story becomes one hundred times more real to the reader if they can visualize it as they are reading. Instead of simply telling the readers what they need to know, show them. Take this example. You can simply tell the readers "she loves tea." Or, you can show them. "She brought the steaming mug to her lips, then took a sip. The taste rolled around, coating her mouth until all she could taste was the sweet, floral chamomile. She gently placed the mug back onto the counter with a smile." Which one is more interesting to read? You can tell the reader that 'she loves tea', but why should they have to believe that? Showing the readers significant details gives the proof, whereas telling only makes a claim. There's nothing intrinsically 'bad' about telling, and sometimes telling is better. A good story usually blends the two techniques together.
Make full use of all five senses.
Instead of writing about what a character sees, mention what they smell, touch, hear and taste as well. This can help the reader visualize the story much better. If your character is in a coffee shop, talk about the tinkling bell when the door opens, the light brown paint on the walls, the pungent, earthy aroma of the coffee, the heat radiating from the coffee makers...the possibilities are endless, and it allows the reader to enter the story instead of being a bystander. Along the same lines, use more senses when describing appearances. What does your character look like? What does their voice sound like? Do they have a certain smell? What is the texture of their hair or skin? Using all five senses immediately makes the details more interesting.
Use passive voice sparingly.
Passive voice is when, in a sentence, the subject is acted upon by the verb. For example: "The picture was painted by Andy Warhol" is passive voice. You can change this to active voice by giving the action to the subject; "Andy Warhol painted the picture." Typically, it is best to avoid passive voice because it can be jarring if you are immersed in the text. A reader who was previously immersed might see a phrase like that and lose their "groove". However, passive voice can be useful in certain situations, like if the subject is unknown. Take this example: if someone stole Jonathan's car, you could say "Someone stole Jonathan's car," or you can say "Jonathan's car was stolen". The passive example leaves a bit of ambiguity, so it could be used here if that is what you're going for. Another good use of passive voice is when using active voice just isn't quite right ("Michael was injured by a car accident" sounds fine, whereas "A car accident injured Michael" sounds awkward). A good rule of thumb is to use passive voice either A) when active voice doesn't sound right or B) when the thing receiving the action is the most important part of the sentence and the 'doer' of the action doesn't matter.
Trust your instincts, but don't be too hard on yourself.
Many writers will spend hours writing something only to decide it's crap and throw it out. Sure, sometimes it's bad, but it can almost always be fixed. If you decide a piece of your writing is bad, take a moment to think about if the writing is actually awful or if you just have super high expectations for yourself. If you reread a scene and it doesn't sit right, try to flip it around or play with the characters or dialogue before you send it to the recycle bin. Chances are, it can be fixed with the right amount of tweaking. Remember, the first draft is never as good as the final draft, but it isn't supposed to be. If it was, we wouldn't call it a 'first draft'.
Get a second opinion.
Getting a second (or third or fourth) opinion can help your writing immensely. Participate in a workshop or two, or just ask a friend to help you proofread, and then let them tell you their thoughts without any previous explanations on your part. If you publish your work and your reader misunderstands a passage, they won't have the privilege of sitting across from you to ask for clarification. So, let your test-reader share their thoughts before you explain and you will get a pure, unadulterated response. In addition, having another person read your work can be extremely beneficial because they haven't been staring at it for the past ten hours like you have, so they'll catch things you may have missed. If you are looking for grammatical mistakes or typos but you don't have a friend nearby, using the text-to-voice feature can help you pinpoint them. Text-to-voice has saved me many times because I read a lot faster than I listen and have a tendency to overlook typos (especially if it is another word that exists, because spellcheck may not catch it).
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