K.L. Nofziger
1. Learn how to write; take online classes, go to lectures, and go to workshops. You'd be surprised how easily available they are (i.e. online depending on preference) and fairly priced, if not free.
2. Brush up on your grammar, punctuation, phonetics, and sentence structure. Style is just as crucial as content.
3. Read, read, for the love of God and all things bookish, READ. Not only is this for your entertainment, this will help you figure out structure and create your own style.
4. Go out and see and do things. Experiences are valuable, not just for the soul but, for record authenticity in fiction. How you feel and react will influence your characters just as much as it did for you. Better yet, experiences can give you pointers on what not to feel or what could have been another reaction.
5. There is no wrong way to tell a story or genre. What begins, continues, and ends, and who or what narrates the story, is up to you. Mechanics like outlining and structure merely organize and simplify what occurs in your story.
6. Inspiration strikes you once, but almost never twice, per manuscript. The inspiration conceptualizes the idea, plot, character, etc. You will be responsible for the figuring out the rest. In my experience, it is extremely difficult to write by this feeling because when you wait for it, it doesn't come back unless to give you a whole new, and totally separate, idea...and sends you down the rabbit hole. Before you know it, you've got several unfinished manuscripts behind. That was my last two years of college.
7. The story could likely not turn out the way you originally planned. And that's okay, even better. Embrace it. While the idea, the exposition, the plot, or even the ending, may still be there, how the story progresses could be far from expectations. But an organic flow could be revolutionary. You'll discover new things right alongside your character(s).
8. Time can be your enemy or your ally; how you use it is up to you.
2. Brush up on your grammar, punctuation, phonetics, and sentence structure. Style is just as crucial as content.
3. Read, read, for the love of God and all things bookish, READ. Not only is this for your entertainment, this will help you figure out structure and create your own style.
4. Go out and see and do things. Experiences are valuable, not just for the soul but, for record authenticity in fiction. How you feel and react will influence your characters just as much as it did for you. Better yet, experiences can give you pointers on what not to feel or what could have been another reaction.
5. There is no wrong way to tell a story or genre. What begins, continues, and ends, and who or what narrates the story, is up to you. Mechanics like outlining and structure merely organize and simplify what occurs in your story.
6. Inspiration strikes you once, but almost never twice, per manuscript. The inspiration conceptualizes the idea, plot, character, etc. You will be responsible for the figuring out the rest. In my experience, it is extremely difficult to write by this feeling because when you wait for it, it doesn't come back unless to give you a whole new, and totally separate, idea...and sends you down the rabbit hole. Before you know it, you've got several unfinished manuscripts behind. That was my last two years of college.
7. The story could likely not turn out the way you originally planned. And that's okay, even better. Embrace it. While the idea, the exposition, the plot, or even the ending, may still be there, how the story progresses could be far from expectations. But an organic flow could be revolutionary. You'll discover new things right alongside your character(s).
8. Time can be your enemy or your ally; how you use it is up to you.
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