Ten quick writing tips

Someone asked me the other day if I had any writing tips. I thought about it for a nano-second and being the overly-gregarious person I am I scratched my head and said, Not really.

It’s hard to give someone tips because everyone is different and some writers say, never do this or always do that – but writing is a personal thing and what suits one may not suit another. I write because I can’t not write and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.

Anyhoo – I thought about it more and came up with 10 tips that I’ve learned over the years.

1. If the couple sitting next to you in the café are arguing about his affair with her sister, try not to move your chair too close to their table while taking notes.
2. If you base an evil selfish character on your aunt Stella, please don’t call the character Aunt Stella.
3. Don’t cross your legs while sitting at the computer – thrombosis is painful and pain and creativity don’t work well together.
4. Be encouraging to others. When your cousin Dora tells you she could write a story better than the one you’ve just finished after ten years hard work, encourage her and say, Please do. It was EASY!
5. Don’t think aloud about issues of dialogue and plot while pushing your cart down the shopping aisle.
6. Be aware of your surroundings. If you’re standing in a corner at a party and a stranger startles you with hello, don’t say, I can’t help it, I’m going to have to kill her off.
7. Keep a standard response written on a piece of paper near your phone in case of that what are you doing? phone call. My standard response is, ironing unless that person knows I don’t own an iron, and then it’s washing the dishes.
8. If you need to whine about how upsetting it is to get a rejection letter please don’t do it at a funeral.
9. Teach noisy children sign language
10. When someone treats you badly don’t take it to heart – consider it ‘research’.

Do you have any writing tips to add to my list?