Creative Writing Tips Beginners Love to Hear

See the clock? it represents time passing.

It also relates to some creative writing tips beginners love to hear about.

Many beginners wonder, “Can I even get a writing project completed at all.”

Here are three tips that will help them (or you) to get that first book or project off to a good start.

Set Time Goals

Tip number 1 encourages you to decide to write for a specified amount of time.

You might want to write for five or ten minutes at a time.  If you want to make sure you get a certain amount of words, set a timer. Then write. Force yourself to write.

Keep writing for the specified amount of time.

Kitchen Timer

When you do this, you might end up being surprised at some unexpected ideas that come your way.

The other thing about having the time limit is that we respond to deadlines. Have you ever pulled an “all-nighter” when a certain project was due.

The key is to have a self-imposed deadline that is not as drastic as having to write all night long.

Just Get It Out There, To Begin With

Tip number 2 encourages you to get the rough draft of your project done before you do extensive editing. Just get the rough draft out there.

You can’t edit unless you have something to edit.

At the very beginning stage of your writing project, the goal is to get a certain amount of words on paper or in your word processor.typing

You can even write so fast that you just pass up many corrections. You might know that you have a mispelled word or two. When your timer goes off, you can do some cleaning up then, but this is not the time for extensive rewriting.

You will be quite encouraged when you actually have a project on paper.

Edit Later

The third tip will help you not to feel so bad about leaving some of your mistakes in your rough draft when you try to meet the time goals. That tip is: Get the rough draft done, and then edit later.

When you have a rough draft, you are ready to really get things in shape.

When you do it this way, what you have already done is not set in stone. You don’t have to have the pressure of having produced a perfect product. In fact, you know from the start that the first draft is going to be far from perfect. On the other hand, you will actually have something done.

Some people write a paragraph or a few paragraphs. Then they get in perfectionistic mode by editing, and editing, and editing. If they are not careful, the will be spending all their time getting a few pages perfect.

Magnifying glass

Most people will be a lot more productive by getting a first draft of their entire project done.

Then, they can begin the process of editing. It is also good to set time goals for editing sessions too.

You might want to edit a chapter one day, let it rest overnight, and do it again the next day. Each time, however, give yourself a specified amount of time to spend on the editing process.

We have looked at three tips for getting your writing project rolling.

Write in five or ten minute blocks of time. Make each session a deadline, and you will get the rough draft finished. Then you will know that you can write a book-length project.

Secondly, don’t be perfectionistic about the first draft. Just get it out there!

Finally, edit the project later. This is when you can make the book shine.

If you would like a free report about time management for speakers who desire to be writers, go to DrRandyCarney.com, and click on the box on the right side of the page.

Copyright 2018 Randy Carney

 

10 Replies to “Creative Writing Tips Beginners Love to Hear”

  1. This is really a motivating article Randy. What I think is odd about it is that’s the way I try to write most of my articles. Sometimes before I am done though I get in a hurry and leave a few mistakes because I don’t proofread. I guess you found that out in my article. Thanks for these tips.

    1. Oh, you can find sentences like that in my articles too. However, I like the articles we do have better than those we don’t have. Ha!

  2. This site gave me the best answer for beginners like me struggling on how to write blogs, articles, etc.

    Tip # 1 is really important so we can discipline ourselves in order to achieve something.

    Write naturally as you can is essential before making some edits which is the finishing part.

    This is a direct to the point . I love to check other posts on this site.

  3. I will definitely put these tips into practice. I will write and rewrite something over and over again trying to make it perfect. (In fact I’ve already done that in this comment! Haha!)

    I feel like these tips will really save me a lot of time! Thank you so much!

  4. Thanks so much for this post, Randy! It is very helpful to me because I am one of those who goes back and try to edit as soon as I write a sentence and it ends up taking me longer to finish.

  5. Those are some good tips, Thank you! I enjoyed reading your article it had a lot of helpful information in it.

  6. Hey, Randy!

    As I read this article, I realized that most of what you were saying were relating to me and how I actually lose a lot of time just “thinking about starting”, and I am not a lazy-person, it it just the pressure of HOW and WHEN to start.

    This was very useful to me and I appreciate that you shared it with all of us. Looking forward to come back to your site.

    -Hekuran

  7. I always love to do some research before kicking it. I tried starting to write anyway but I’m just easily stuck at some point not far.

    Editing at later is a good tip! Don’t get distracted in the middle!

  8. Fantastic tips Randy! Very helpful and easy to understand.
    I am a beginner and I really appreciate your advice on this matter.
    Great post!

  9. I enjoyed creative writing in high school. It may be time to pick it up again. These tips help it not seem so overwhelming.

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