Favorite Writing Tips

Thanks so much to everyone who entered the #FaveWritingTip contest! We had several hundred excellent entries, and I collected some of the best responses below.

The! Winner! Is! Lela Gwenn, who had the good fortune of having random.org shine upon her and she also happened to have some solid advice with her tweet:

#FaveWritingTip Write. Write poorly, but WRITE https://t.co/2RUJZQywUJ
— Lela Gwenn (@LGwenn) November 6, 2013

Here are some of my favorite #FaveWritingTip tweets:

#FaveWritingTip Learn the rules then break them.
https://t.co/8e9KlBGugd
— Robin Connelly (@RobinConnelly) November 9, 2013

Fiction tip: Don’t tell me it’s raining. Show me what it feels like to be standing in the rain. https://t.co/eASodnSUJm #FaveWritingTip
— Bobbi Dempsey (@bobbidempsey) November 8, 2013

Listen to very loud music for an hour, then turn it off and start writing immediately. https://t.co/FbtNixX7gJ #FaveWritingTip
— Simon Agirlandaboy (@Simon_the_boy) November 5, 2013

Don’t be afraid to go there. Scary writing is good writing. https://t.co/zvaeNIMJCe #FaveWritingTip
— Lisa Franek (@lisafranek) November 5, 2013

Enjoy the process, even the hard moments. https://t.co/ypmYeQA0oA #FaveWritingTip
— Roseanne Cheng (@Teachablelit) November 5, 2013

#FaveWritingTip The perfect is the enemy of the good. https://t.co/abQSEtqFuA @NathanBransford
— Jaimie (@thejaimie) November 5, 2013

If you don’t love what you wrote, why should anyone else? https://t.co/lo1DOzOzYm #FaveWritingTip
— Ashley (@AshleyEpidemic) November 5, 2013

You’re not as good a writer as you think you are. Or as bad. https://t.co/URGJyIxujB #FaveWritingTip
— johnesimpson (@johnesimpson) November 5, 2013

Stop not typing. #FaveWritingTip
— Daniel Southwell (@dpsouthwell) November 5, 2013

When writing fiction, stick with the word “said.” Let the reader figure out HOW it’s said. https://t.co/aLV7CAXEqE #FaveWritingTip
— Tracy Edward Wymer (@TracyEWymer) November 5, 2013

It’s not about word count–it’s about writing words that count. https://t.co/0Gqwo9Fh0E #FaveWritingTip
— Linda Kozar (@LindaKozar) November 5, 2013

“Start at the beginning, and when you get to the end, stop.” – the Mad Hatter https://t.co/fZAfd0nCBG #FaveWritingTip
— Bruce Bonafede (@brucebonafede) November 5, 2013

You don’t have to start a book in the beginning. https://t.co/h8XozD6cQI #FaveWritingTip
— Amber Polo (@AmberPolo) November 6, 2013

You mean I can’t put together all my journal entries to create one huge boring novel? Damn it. #FaveWritingTip https://t.co/AQuMefPg9t
— MaryRose Lovgren (@maryroselovgren) November 6, 2013

Write as if you’re writing a letter to a friend you can tell anything.
https://t.co/n5uPDpbc0q #FaveWritingTip
— Steve MC (@steve_mc2) November 6, 2013

Find your crutch words and nuke them all. https://t.co/KmnlseOZGU #FaveWritingTip
— Vicki Leigh (@vleighwrites) November 6, 2013

Stuck in a scene?Skip to one that you can see in your mind & write it!Go revisit the first one later! https://t.co/ivJu9QLpYN #FaveWritingTip
— corsetkitten (@corsetkitten) November 6, 2013

You can’t edit a story that hasn’t been written yet, so get writing! https://t.co/oxUbtgbWEl #FaveWritingTip
— Savannah (@srslysavvy) November 6, 2013

My #FaveWritingTip: It’s OK to suck. Write crap now, fix crap later. https://t.co/i9txwYzWkX
— Elizabeth (@lizwritesbooks) November 6, 2013

Hemingway said it: There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed. https://t.co/uuecvSGZyg #FaveWritingTip
— Laura Martone (@lauramartone) November 6, 2013

Don’t worry. Don’t hurry. Don’t quit.
https://t.co/ynxI53DglV
#FaveWritingTip
— Abbe Hoggan (@AbbeHoggan) November 6, 2013

#FaveWritingTip Find a reliable vehicle named VOICE and a road called PLOT and get ready for detours … https://t.co/8uIdknF3Hs
— Julie McSorley (@autoteller) November 6, 2013

Give each scene a goal, & have it do 3 things: reveal info, illuminate character, move plot forward https://t.co/CmASolDJ1G #FaveWritingTip
— Rebekah Haskell (@rhaskell) November 6, 2013

My fave writing tip? Jane Yolen’s BIC. That’s Butt in Chair. https://t.co/aBa2itW7FN #FaveWritingTip
— Hayley Barrett (@hayleybwrites) November 6, 2013

#FaveWritingTip: Break down pages w/tension, suspense, loss, etc in great books to see how those authors make it work https://t.co/J2sKn3Vlwr
— Kate Brauning (@KateBrauning) November 6, 2013

READ. WRITE. REPEAT. https://t.co/xCewS5gecL #FaveWritingTip
— Sonja Thomas (@bysonjathomas) November 6, 2013

Believe, believe, believe that you can make it to the end. And then make it to The End. https://t.co/d5Bp7iQEid #FaveWritingTip #NaNoWriMo
— Courtney Leigh (@CourtLeighLove) November 6, 2013

Words can be edited, changed, made better. Blank pages can only be changed by words. So write them. https://t.co/EIEEVsEDH8 #FaveWritingTip
— L. L. McKinney (@Tangynt) November 7, 2013

“You have to finish things – that’s what you learn from, you learn by finishing things.” @neilhimself #FaveWritingTip https://t.co/a2V21EcHAa
— Ree Callahan (@ReeCallahan) November 7, 2013

Writing Tip: Don’t allow rejections to determine your worth as a writer. Every writer gets rejected https://t.co/gdiNNCpBka #FaveWritingTip
— LindseyBell (@LindseyMBell) November 7, 2013

“You write your first draft with your heart, and you rewrite with your head.” ~James Ellison https://t.co/xoyzD1zcb1 #FaveWritingTip
— Nicole Knatcal (@NovembersGuest) November 8, 2013

Feeling stuck? Take a shower. While your body relaxes your brain can work out things in new ways. #FaveWritingTip https://t.co/T8mkNzOU6x
— Melissa DeCocq (@Vexin417) November 8, 2013

Don’t let the first draft discourage you. https://t.co/ot7MzOfZK8 #FaveWritingTip
— Dan Hope (@Endovert) November 8, 2013

3 major types of scenes: action, reaction, exposition. Too slow? Add action. Too fast? Add reaction. https://t.co/4Oxv2sunRZ #FaveWritingTip
— Daniel Knight (@smalltowncity) November 8, 2013