The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

Writing Tips

5 Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills

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As writers, we must continually seek to improve our writing skills. It is an ongoing process that can be accomplished in a number of ways to fit anyone’s budget.

Here are several options:

Participate in a critique group—it’s much easier to see someone else’s weak spots than your own.

Read writer blogs and the many free products they offer

Subscribe to writer magazines or read them at the library. Writer’s Digest and The Writer are two I recommend, but I’m sure there are others. 

Read books on writing. Find them at the library. Be sure to ask about inter-library loan or for your library to purchase the book if they don’t have it. I recommend:

  • Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham
  • Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress

by James Scott Bell

  • Plot and Structure
  • The Art of War for Writers
  • Conflict and Suspense

The Writer’s Little Helper by James V. Smith, Jr.

Take a writing course.

What have you done to improve your writing skills? Do you have a book, course, or professional organization you recommend?

Database of Writer’s Guidelines

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Formatting your submissions according to a publication’s writer’s guidelines is essential. Finding those guidelines isn’t always easy, and even in this day of digital everything you often have to request guidelines via email.

For easy reference, FreelanceWriting.com provides a database of 836 writer’s guidelines, by category. http://www.freelancewriting.com/guidelines/pages/

 

Point of View Defined, Part 2

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Point of view. Think about those words and it will help you.

From whose perspective are you viewing your scene? Whose feelings and thoughts are being expressed in the scene?

Example from my present WIP:
Chase stared at Karl with what he hoped was a questioning, please-continue look in his blue eyes, but Karl just sat there like a dog refusing to fetch. He took a deep breath, clearly concerned and struggling for words.

Explanation:
We are in Chase’s POV. He is describing what he does (stared at Karl), and because he can’t see his own face describes what he hopes he’s trying to convey (a questioning, please-continue look). Chase goes on to describe Karl’s behavior (doesn’t respond, takes a deep breath, Chase sees concern on Karl’s face and discerns that Karl is struggling to find his words).

Practice: Whose POV is this in?
The breath Chase had been holding escaped violently, involuntarily. Abby’s mouthful of coffee came sputtering out all over her lap and across the corner of Karl’s desk. Karl pulled a handkerchief from his suit coat breast pocket and handed it to Abby. She wiped her mouth and then swiped away the coffee from Karl’s desk. (Leave your answer in the comments section.)

Review several pages of your work in progress. Are you showing the observations and feelings of more than one character in one paragraph, one page, one scene? Rework accordingly.

Would you like some feedback or help? Copy a paragraph from your WIP into the comments section and we’ll discuss.

Related articles:
Point of View Defined

Debra L. Butterfield © 2013

15 Keyboard Shortcuts to Make Your Writing Faster

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writing challengeI want to accomplish as much as I can when I’m writing, so I utilize keyboard shortcuts. Many of these MS Word shortcuts translate over to other word processing programs such as Scrivener (the one I use).

Here is a list of MS Word keyboard shortcuts to help you save time as you write your stories.

  • Copy selected text = Ctrl key + C
  • Paste selected text = Ctrl+V
  • Cut selected text = Ctrl+X
  • Save document = Ctrl+S
  • Undo action = Ctrl+Z
  • Redo action = Ctrl+Y
  • Select all text within a document = Ctrl+A
  • Move to beginning of next paragraph = Ctrl+down arrow key
  • Move to beginning of previous paragraph = Ctrl+up arrow
  • Move cursor to beginning of next word = Ctrl+right arrow
  • Move cursor to beginning of previous word = Ctrl+left arrow
  • © using Word = Ctrl, Alt + c ( symbol appears immediately), Alt+0169, using Scrivener (symbol appears after you release the Alt key)
  • ® = Ctrl, Alt + r (Word, symbol appears immediately), Alt+0174 (Scrivener, symbol appears after you release the Alt key)
  • Select a portion of text from cursor to wherever you point your mouse = Shift key+left mouse click
  • Display Help = F1 key

Have some fun while in Word. Experiment with the Alt key and number combinations and see what you get. 

Do shortcuts help you save time or just confuse you? Leave your comments below.