Writing Essentials

So, you want to be a writer?

The good news: anyone can write! The bad news: many people are pretty bad at it. But don't panic!

All a writer needs are two things: a good story to tell, and the ability to do so. I'm not a good writer myself, but I hope these posts can help you to become a better writer than I am. Which should be easy 😅 You'll still be suffering though because writing (well) takes a lot of hard work.

A fair word of warning first. Some of my posts might be brutally honest or not entirely politically correct, and of course I have my own preferences and tastes. Or I could be outright wrong 😏. I'm also more focussing on the technical aspects, but who knows... Perhaps one day I'll be good enough to talk about plot and characters and world building...

I. Before you start

Just to make sure you're sure...

1. I want to write but I have no idea / the best idea ever (read this if you're lazy)
2. Fanfiction - is it bad?

II. The Essentials

So, you've decided to become a writer. The first step is to understand your tools. Please read and (try to) understand these before publishing your stories. Your readers will appreciate it!

1. Programming the Brain
2. The reader's first impression, or 'what comes before the plot'
3. Frequently Asked Questions
4. Non-native speakers writing in English
5. Tense
6. Paragraphs
7. Dialogue (Format and Group Conversation)
8. The 'Why' Game

III. Intermediate

You can write. Now it's time to think and improve...

1. Book And Chapter Sizes
2. Chapter Size and Reading Speed
3. The Writing Process (how important is editing?)
4. The Edit Loop
5. Commas
6. Streamline your novel - remove unnecessary words
7. Things to look for whilst editing your story
8. Writer's block

IV. Advanced

Plotting, pantsing...

1. Writing to a prompt part 1 - From prompt to (mini) plot
2. Writing to a prompt part 2 - The 'why' game (4WC)
3. The Retro-Plotter part 1 - Notes and pseudo-script
4. The Retro-Plotter part 2 - No job is done until the paperwork is finished
5. Suspense cheat sheet
6. The dishonest Romance writer

V. Expert

1. Converting and formatting manuscripts
2. Closed versus Spaced Ellipses, and spaces around EM-dashes
3. To Smart Quote or Not to Smart Quote, and reflow Ellipses and Em-dashes

VI. Pro

1. There'll probably never ever be anything here 😒

VII. Extras

1. Wattpad no more - making friends on Wattpad and money on Amazon
2. Picking a Title
3. A selection of writing related posts (reference)
4. All writing related posts (including less relevant stuff)
5. Links to other websites, that know much more than I do
6. A somewhat curated page with links

VIII. Keywords

In case you're looking for a specific subject... (you may have to jump to the page, then search that page to find the subject)

1. Quote signs
2. Quote Elevation
3. The Em-dash
4. First person and Third person
5. Present tense and Past tense
6. TTS (Balabolka)

Other frequently asked questions (follow the link then search for keywords)

1. Frequently Asked Questions

More

• Topics & Filters
• Writing related posts (reference)
• All writing related posts (including less relevant stuff)