Tips for Young Writers

Copyright 1999 by Tara Farmer

1. Procrastination won’t help you become a better writer. When you first start writing it’s easy to say you’ll write tomorrow and play today. And when you become a professional, paid writer it’s even easier to procrastinate and say you’ll do your assignment later. Not smart. The second you get an assignment get right to work on it (even if it’s just an outline).

2. Re-write, re-write, re-write. Tear every sentence apart and analyze it. Does it flow? Is it passive or active? The best writers use an active writing voice as much as possible. So instead of saying: “She picked up the pencil,” say instead, “She grabbed the pencil.” Don’t sweat it if it seems to take a century to create something good, that’s how you learn. And with experience the writing process becomes easier. Promise.

3. Chop it out! Sometimes things are better left unsaid. Always check your work to be sure every word has a place and slash the ones that stick out.

4. Don’t let friends or family critique your work. I learned the hard way, either you’ll take their criticism and tell them to shove it up their nostrils, or they’ll be so honey-coated-sweet you won’t actually get a critique.

5. Send queries every week, at least one. You’ll thank me later. If you’re one of those people that wince at the word query, then you’ll especially thank me later. The sooner you start getting published, the sooner you can go after bigger and better markets. Plus getting out of your comfort zone only helps you improve.

6. Put forth your professional self:
   • Always spell check.
     
   • Avoid prince speak ("How R U 2day?").
     
   • Ditch Typos.
     
   • Use proper manuscript format when you’re sending anything that requires professionalism. The best book for this (check the library or splurge and buy it) is: The Writer’s Digest’s Guide to Manuscript Formats by Dian Dincin Buchman & Seli Groves.
     
   • Present your own ideas. Believe me, in this techno age of e-mail, it’s a real novelty for editor’s to receive a professional query with a fledged out idea. By presenting your own appropriate idea you’ll break down barriers.

7. Attack. So what if one editor rejected your query, article, or story? Don’t let it get you down, instead send it out again (and again and again!). Rejections and downfalls happen to the best writers, but the best writers also know that being published requires a can-do-anything attitude and they go at it with a vengeance. If your work keeps getting rejected for the same reasons, then take heed to what people say (only a little though) and make the proper adjustments. Someone else you should ignore; English teachers that mock or tell you to change your writing style.

Got it? Good.