Writing is a true art, and doing it well is a real challenge for all of us. Writing correctly allows the rest of the people who read you to understand your descriptions and explanations, which is not always easy.
Knowing how to write and learning how to do it takes time and a lot of effort. In addition, you must familiarize yourself with the different techniques and apply them according to what you want to write: think that you may have to write a technical article, a story, a novel, a poetry, a letter… and each of these variants implies some knowledge, some resources and a completely different structure from the rest.
Before going into everything, we want to leave you with these two articles that will surely be of interest to you : How to Write without Spelling Errors and How to Learn to Write
How to become a good writer?
The secret that will make you succeed in the world of writing is simple: you should read a lot and practice just as much. A good trick is to read many different styles and soak up the best classic and current authors. For example, if you feel like delving into the world of fantasy or science fiction you can really enjoy the novels by Ray Bradbury, Patrick Rothfuss or the great Tolkien, if you like poems I recommend Charles Bukouski or Pablo Neruda, and if you like Interested in embarking on more technical books, try those on Prehistory by Juan Luis Arsuaga or those on the Near East written by Carlos G. Wagner. In this article we explain the steps to follow to write a book.
An author once said that her first two novels were the canvas on which she learned to write and that in the third she was already clear about how she should work the plots, the characters and interrelate them. As you can see, nothing comes from heaven, it takes a lot of tenacity to achieve your goals. Luckily, we are going to help you become a great writer, or, at least, that you get by when you have to express yourself on paper.
Let’s see how to do it in the next post.
What do you need to write?
To know how to write we will need:
- Read the next post.
- A notebook to always carry with you.
- Pencil and paper or, failing that, a desktop computer.
- A little inspiration and a lot of patience.
Instructions to write
Step by step to know how to write
In this post we want to help you learn to write a story. We will start with some tricks for you to learn the art of the short story. Later you can apply these same ideas if you feel like expanding your writings and turning them into a novel. Let’s see some important steps that you have to know.
- Look for inspiration anywhere. You don’t know when inspiration will strike you or what things you will see throughout the day or dream at night. For this reason it is important that you always accompany your steps with a notebook and a pen that paints well. Write down everything that catches your attention and that made your day happy or sad. Think of these notes as mere sketches. And don’t just stay with your own experiences, you can talk with other friends and get to know different points of view and ideas. In this way your stories will be more real and enriched. And don’t forget to write down those weird dreams you have sometimes! Who knows if tomorrow they won’t end up turned into a fantastic movie script or a play?
- Remember: research and read a lot. Look for the greats of literature, both Spanish and foreign. You will find authentic masterpieces. Research what was written by the Greeks and Romans, take a look at the navigation charts of the conquerors, search among the current authors and keep in mind the historical moment in which the books were written. You will see many similarities between those who share times and experiences and you will learn more about other moments in history.
- Find a place to work and be stable about the hours you put into writing. It is important that you find a place where you can focus properly and allow you to be inspired comfortably. Don’t kid yourself, writing is a job that requires a lot of persistence and if you get tired quickly and give up, you will never finish writing a story, let alone a novel. I advise you to set some schedules and stick to them to the letter. Soon you will acquire the habit and start writing it will be the sea of simple. Also, the more you write, the easier it will be for ideas to come to mind and the less complicated it will seem to get them down on paper.
- Do not complicate yourself and use the computer to write. The poetic idea of writing our thoughts and our stories with a pen is very beautiful, but let’s not fool ourselves, it is not operational. If you really want to dedicate yourself to writing, it is important that you have a computer where you can store your works and where you can write easily. This does not imply that you stop carrying your notebook and that you transcribe your great ideas on the computer to store them and use them in different stories. You don’t need a high-capacity computer to be able to write. It is not necessary to have a large graphics card or many megabytes. It is enough that you have storage space (Word files are very light) and that you have a text program like Word installed.
- Now that we have all the weapons, how are we to start writing? A good idea is to prepare a brainstorm, sit in front of the table or desk that you have chosen, take out your notebook and start thinking about plots and stories that you would like to tell. You can create the characters, make a catalog with all of them and their characteristics, or you can directly think about the story itself. You can use the subway and bus routes to think of plots until something catches your eye and you can write it down in your notebook. An easy way to use a writing pad is to write in it on both sides, one side for plot ideas and stories that you can think of and another side where you can write down all the things that catch your attention and inspire you.
- You can give your ideas more shape and turn them into a skeleton. It is a great way to start mixing all those thoughts that you have been accumulating in your brainstorming and give them a form. This, probably, will be the germ of your new story and you should establish in this step the beginning, the middle and the end. If you have time, I encourage you to write with a friend. When I was in high school, a friend of mine and I used to write together and we came up with quite a few funny stories. In fact, every time we submitted our writing to our high school writing contests, we won.
- Begin with the writing of the first draft of your work. Once you are clear about the beginning, the middle and the end, which you have established when you began to create the skeleton, begin to really shape the story you want to tell. Now it is necessary that everything agrees and fill that skeleton of meat. You can take advantage of all those anecdotes that you have been collecting throughout the days to shape your characters and include real elements that help people feel close to the plot. It doesn’t matter if it’s a fantasy or science fiction book, people are always people and so are behaviors. Spend an hour or two each day until you completely finish the draft of your story.
- Correct and shape your second draft. We have to warn you of a very important fact that you will soon realize: the stories we write are like living beings. I warn you that the more times you read them, the more things you will want to add, remove or change, so don’t get overwhelmed with it. It is important that you have this clear because the time has come to reread your first draft and begin to polish the writing and spelling defects that you find. It is possible that in this process you realize that a part of the plot has not been well resolved or that there is some element that does not convince you so much after a complete reading of your story. You may even change some element of the story location because you understand that it may work better at another point. Polish all these things up and you’ll have a second eraser to work with. I advise you, at this point, to let the story rest for a few days before picking it up again and doing a third reading.
- Make a third and subsequent readings (as many as you need) and ask for a second opinion. Be careful because this section can take a long time. Double-check your work, both for structure and spelling, and be sure to leave it ready for someone else to give you feedback. It’s a great way to fix bugs and see things you might not have noticed but someone else might.
Tips for writing
One last tip to know how to write
If you get stuck, try typing without thinking. It is about applying free writing. Set a timer and start writing on the run without worrying about mistakes, just because the story flows. It is a great way to activate the imagination.