TIPS  ON  STRONGER  WRITING

Use strong descriptive words

If there’s one powerful word to describe an emotion, action or event, use it. Avoid words like: very, nice, really. These words, and words like them, are intended to strengthen the descriptive word that comes after them, but instead they tend to lessen the impact. It would be better to use a stronger word entirely.

For example: Don’t write ‘very angry’ - use ‘furious’. Don’t use ‘really happy’ - use ‘ecstatic’.

Vary your sentence length

A series of short sentences speeds up the reading process and therefore the story’s pace. Use these when you’re building to a climax, when there’s action and excitement. Long sentences slow down the reader and the story; they work well in between the action and give readers a chance to catch their breath. The plot of a story should be like a walk in hilly country, full of highs and lows. Too much racing to an apex is tiring; too much plodding along is boring.

Show, don’t tell

Show how a person is feeling instead of telling the reader how the character feels. Describing a character’s actions adds impact, reality and also improves the characterisation in your story in a way that simply stating ‘she said angrily’ or ‘he looked happy’ never will.

For example: Don’t tell the reader, ‘she was happy’ - try ‘she hummed quietly to herself, a smile playing on her lips.’

Use your reader’s senses

In life we use five senses and as a writer we should also use them in our writing. Let your reader experience your story/article on all levels.

Avoid tautology

Strong writing requires getting rid of unnecessary words, so avoid repeating yourself.

For example: ‘He returned back home again.’ If you use ‘returned’, you don’t need ‘back’. Similarly with ‘2 a.m. in the morning’, ‘a.m.’ is unnecessary.

If one word will say it, use one word

If your writing seems cluttered or wordy, check that you’re not using too many words.

For example: Instead of ‘at this current time’, use ‘now’. ‘In the event that’ can be changed to ‘if’.

Don’t overdo the description

Often it only takes a couple of sentences to describe a scene; any more than that and you will need to have a good reason for it. Readers don’t always need to see everything, and sometimes just describing a few objects will be enough to paint an outline of the scene. Most of us have enough knowledge to fill in the blanks.

Avoid clichés

If a person can finish a sentence that you start, chances are it’s a cliché. Think up new and better descriptive phrases, similes and analogies. Be original.

Use strong verbs

Always ask yourself, ‘Can I find a stronger, more interesting verb?’ ‘Is there a better way to describe an action?’

For example: Which of these statements tells you more: ‘He stood at the bus stop,’ or ‘He lounged against the bus stop’?

Do you need ‘he said’?

‘He said’ or ‘she said’ can often be left out of a story with little or no difference to the work’s clarity. In fact, they are often unnecessary, provided quotation marks are used around the dialogue and a new paragraph is started for each person speaking. Thought and inner dialogue does not need quotation marks.

Did you really say what you thought you said?

Often the picture in our head of what we are writing is so vivid that we think we’ve described it clearly when in fact we haven’t.

For example: The work might read, ‘I pulled up outside my favourite shop.’ But had the reader been told the writer was driving a car, or did they have to assume it?

Punches come last

If your story has a punch line, put it as close to the end of your story as possible. If your sentence has a punch line, try to make it the last words. Both of these techniques will make the punch more profound and enhance the impact.

Make it a circle

If you’re writing a story or article, try to make the ending relate to the beginning. Tying up any loose ends and mentioning something that refers back to the beginning can do this. This completion of the circle adds symmetry to the writing.

THE BEST WAY TO TIGHTEN YOUR WRITING

There’s a tendency for new writers to self edit as they write their first draft. If possible, avoid this, because it can cause you to focus on the standard of the writing as opposed to the story. Editing is a logical process whilst writing is a creative one, and they use opposite sides of the brain. Many writers find the process a lot more productive if only one side of the brain is used at a time. So write your work focusing purely on the creativity, and then come back to edit it in a few days or weeks.