A Gift for the Aspiring Writer

This is a third of the Top Ten lists I've pulled together to share as my small token for aspiring writers, and readers as well. I started to do this in halves, but had to trim things down when I realized things were getting too out of hand. But to some avail, these are some Top Tens you may not want to pass over. And do check back for my top 10 favorite books I've read this year. It's pretty much official, even if there is ever that slight possibility I might meet my reading goal set this year and discover yet another favorite!

Top Ten Tips for Writers (writing fiction)

(Note: I read fiction strictly for entertainment, therefore my fictional reading preferences, and thus tips, are geared more towards writers writing satire, chic-lit, erotic, or adult romance and general fiction that supports building relationships, and family).

10. Build stories from one solid premise; basically one short sentence. (i.e., (How) I lost ten pounds over the holiday. Hundreds of thousands of stories can come out of this one sentence. And they can fall under categories ranging from non-fiction self-help, to any one of the fiction genres – romance, mystery, sci-fi, etc).

9. Select a voice, or tone, for the entire story.

8. I'm going with write what you know, EVEN IF you are wrong. Writing what you know, particularly when you are wrong, gives fiction that authentic edge. (wink).

7. Have fun while writing.

6. Any part in your story that bores you to tears while revising or editing, transfer that feeling onto what a reader might experience.

5. Expect that there will be a reader who truly is going to appreciate your story.

4. Be in love with your story.

3. Love your characters, even the ones you hate.

2. Practice, practice, practice.

1. And come on now! There's a reader waiting. Write that story!

...And are you undecided about which reader might fit your writing style? Well then, you may want to read this... Top Ten Types of Readers

10. Avid Readers can gobble a 300+ page book in a day. Now, don't be sitting around waiting for these readers to comment on your blogs, Facebook, or any other virtual network. They are reading!

9. Leisure Readers are our vacation, bathroom, rainy day readers. They are more chattier than avid readers, given that vacations don't come around that often, maybe once or twice a year, along with the longest bathroom trip averaging…an hour, maybe? And let's hope it doesn't rain 40 days, 40 nights straight.

8. Pleasure Readers love to blush, and they like buying book jackets for their physical books, and putting sentence-strength passwords on their digital devices. They also like reading when no one is home, in closets, beneath the covers, with flashlights, and things like that. Now, given all of this, and despite the many pleasure reading circles you may have heard about, this is not the full scope of this audience. That scope, as should be appreciated, is yet to be determined. 

7. Speed Readers skip words, sentences, paragraphs, and sometimes pages. You might even be able to find books read by this group still wrapped in cellophane.

6. Slow Readers are something like me. We use our eyeballs like a finger tracing over every word as we read. Sometimes we'll read one sentence like two or three times.

5. Lazy Readers yawn and stretch a lot while they're reading. They also invest in lots of bookmarks, reading apps, Cliff Notes, and may even borrow the thoughts of what others thought about a book to make a determination on whether or not they enjoyed the book.

4. Capricious Readers love to be wined and dined when they read. So writers please, leave no stone unturned describing as you write. Every leaf on a tree must have a fancy name. Use that HTML color-wheel to describe the layers in the sky. And remember, endings can culminate whenever your imaginings dissipate.

3. Sacred Readers appreciate writers who mind their manners and watch their language. It is advised that writers writing for this audience first consult with authorized clergy persons before doling out books you expect to be blessed.  

2. Impatient Readers like their stories hopping. Every single sentence has got to be going somewhere that makes sense, and at the same time be hopping. Now, for the writer who writes such a book, you might be flat out on a stretcher when you finish this piece, but if it's any consolation, just imagine your audience, hands in the air like riding the greatest roller coaster, going nuts over you!  

And number 1; Real Readers read. They enjoy thick plots, unique twists and turns, being challenged by unfamiliar words, and well…they love reading this blog. (Sorry, but for some reason this sounded really impressive).