Writing tips & tricks I have learned

Hey Writers! During my short time writing, I have picked up a few tips and tricks. Here I will be adding them as time goes on. You are welcome to rate this if you want but it is not needed. You do not have to follow these but they have helped me so far. So here it goes! Down, the rabbit hole we go!

1. Read and watch things inside your genre.

2. Read and watch things outside your genre. You never know what might spark an idea.

3. People watch but be careful you don't get caught! You never know if someone will approach you about staring!

4. Notebooks! I have a climbing carabiner that i use as a clip for my keys. They make them for keys now. So I bought a set of three and attached the key rings to the two small spiral notebooks and attached them to the clip. I also have my pen in the spiral part of the notebook to keep it safe. Being a stay at home mom I am always on the go and can not drag my tablet turned laptop everywhere with me. I take those notebooks everywhere with me.

5. If you use the notebook trick above take it everywhere with you. Write while you are waiting at an appointment for a dr, waiting to pick someone up such as a child, waiting for food to be ready if you ordered a to go inside a fast food place. Those are just a few places I have done this so far. Yes, people will look at you strangely but try to ignore them.

6. Save power! I am lucky to have a window beside my desk so I keep the blinds open for light. Unless it is too dark or I need light I don't turn them on during the day.

7. Booklights. I found a book light at Walmart a big box store in the states that had a USB light. The light its self is the USB and plugged into a battery pack that takes 2 double a's. I will plug mine into the computer at night and point it down at the desk so I don't need to turn on an overhead light.

8. flash drive and lanyard. This tip I recently picked up from Kristen Martin a best selling Amazon author and youtuber. She keeps a flash drive with a lanyard attached to her when she is writing. Anytime she works on a manuscript she not only saves it to her computer but saves it to the flash drive. Finished your book? Computer blew up? Saved the book and all your notes to the flash drive? No problem it is all on your flash drive! The world is not ending today!

9. No laptop but you have a tablet? No problem! Turn it into a laptop by buying a case and Bluetooth keyboard for your tablet if you can find one that is compatible with your tablet. I found mine at Staples. Download Microsoft Word and make sure to save to their cloud. Yes, you will be able to open your document on your computer.

10. I like to write everything in notebooks first than type it up. I know its extra work but I can not always drag my tablet with me everywhere I go just yet. Ac in-car needs to be charged things overheat its bad.

11. Have a space of your own to write! Me I use my computer desk and the desk that belonged to my great-grandfather (That is is my profile pic)

12. Don't hesitate to talk about your journey on social media and here on WDC and in scroll. If you get advice from friends on social media or here that you think might help WRITE IT DOWN! I have had the fantasy book thrown at me here by a dear friend and I wrote down all her questions.

13. Don't know where to start? You can find questionnaires to help you with this just by googling them. Here are two that I have found and used. World building- The ultimate world building questionnaire. www.novel-software.com It will be under the writer's resources tab with other great items that can help. Character profile questionnaire. Same place as the world building questionnaire.

14. Find music that works for you to listen to. Whether it has lyrics or not, your choice.

15. Find a good place to write. My house is crazy so I am used to working in a noisy environment but I can work in a quiet one as well.

16. Grammarly. I use the free version at the moment. It helps me even now as I type this and find grammar and spelling errors.

17. Be a plotser. A pantser and a plotser. It gives you the stability of an outline but the flexability of a pantser!

This is just the start of the list and as I learn more It will be added here.