My top five writing tips

By Kat Hillis

I could talk for hours about writing craft, so narrowing down my top five tips is hard. For this I won’t be talking about the usuals like structure, pacing, or character arcs. Instead the list is focused on a broader view: being able to sit down and get words on the page, and moving forward when you get stuck.

After all, the hardest aspect of writing is the part where you have to actually open the doc and write words.

Let’s do this count-down style!

5: Remember your brain is part of your body

This isn’t often discussed when people talk about writing, (which makes sense, because no one picks up a book on writing craft to be reminded to drink water) but it should be.

We often talk about our minds as if they exist separately from our bodies. (I’m guilty of this a lot, when I curse being trapped in this flesh prison because I once again not only have to decide what to eat for lunch, but make it and consume it? A total scam.) But we aren’t trapped in flesh prisons. We are flesh prisons. Your brain and all its thoughts and memories and the vast ocean of your subconscious exist in physical space. The stories you daydream of while procrastinating actual writing exist in physical space, and they’re part of your body.

For your brain to be able to make the words go, it needs rest and energy. No matter why you write (because you want to be a career author, because it’s fun, because some jerk said you’d never be able to finish a novel and you have to prove them wrong), developing healthy habits will make it a little easier.

So, yeah, this is me telling you to drink water. Eat some fruits and vegetables every once in a while. Prioritize sleep. And (ugh), unfortunately the best way I’ve found to get those lovely little sparks of genius inspiration, those moments where everything in your story clicks, is cardio. You know how people talk about getting the creative juices flowing?

The juice is blood.

Be kind to yourself, and don’t fall prey to the toxic notion that you have to sacrifice your health for your art. You’ll write more skillfully and efficiently if you maintain a healthy work/life balance, get enough sleep, and know when to step back from writing to rest and recharge.

4: Find your process (which can change from book to book)

“Find your process” sounds vague and unhelpful, I know. Finding your process is itself a process, and one you can’t really skip or speed up. There’s no magic answer out there, because everyone’s creative process is different, and there’s no way to know what will and won’t work for you until you try stuff.

So get out there and try stuff. Read about other writers’ processes, experiment, be open to doing things differently, especially when your usual isn’t really working for some reason. I’ve written 12 books, and each of them was its own unique journey. Each of them taught me something about how I work best--and for each, I did something that probably won’t work for other projects.

If you’re newer to writing, a good place to start honing your process is readingwriting craft books and blogs/vlogs about writing. A lot of it will end up being useless to you. Remember that NONE of it is going to work for everyone! Some people write every day, but lots of people don’t, and if an author tries to make you feel guilty or inferior because you don’t fit in their mold, ignore them.

It’s easy to fall into the pattern of thinking because your brain works a certain way, everyone’s does--including future you. As you grow, your process might change, so don’t be afraid to mix it up, even if you’ve written a dozen books or a hundred.

3: Sometimes you gotta write bad

To paraphrase Jake from Adventure Time, being bad at something is the first step to being kinda good at something. The same applies to words on the page. We all have off days, days we just can’t be bothered to dig deep to find those perfect sentences that evoke so much emotion and wonder in our readers.

I am here to give you permission to write bad. Just dump whatever garbage is in your brain onto the page and worry about it later. “Fix it in post” is something I say to myself and my writer pals all the time. (Sure, maybe it’s why I hate revision so much, but at least it gets me to the revision stage; and a secret about revision: you can do that badly, too. There’s always the next pass.)

The beauty of writing a book is that no one is reading it real time (probably, I don’t know your life). There are deadlines in publishing, but 99.9999% of the time you can revise a first draft before anyone else sees it.

If you know it’s not up to your standards as you write it, you’ll know it during revisions. So don’t stress. Let the story be awkward and disjointed. Let the dialogue be stilted or full of as-you-know-bob moments. Tell instead of show, forget to describe anything! Spend ten paragraphs talking about the food they’re eating!

Write bad if you need to.

2: Do things on purpose

On the surface, this might seem like really silly advice. Like, who’s out there accidentally writing a novel? No one trips and falls onto a keyboard and smashes “Chapter One” into a Word doc.

But there are an awful lot of people out there who sit down and craft entire worlds on the page but can’t answer the question, “Why this book?”

Every story has a point of view, a theme, a message, even fun, light-hearted ones. Knowing why you want to write a particular story about particular characters is important, because it will guide all your decisions as you draft and revise.

Whether you meticulously plan before you start writing, or you completely wing entire novels, it’s important to not rely solely on instinct and vibes. If you do, it makes implementing feedback for revisions much harder. Agents and editors talk a lot about their vision for a novel; if you don’t have your own, you won’t know what revision advice to take and what to discard, you won’t know when to push back on suggested changes.

We all bring our own points of view to the stories we create, and if you don’t acknowledge that, you can end up including harmful tropes and themes in your work.

Figure out what you want your story to be for your readers, what kind of experience you want to create, and let it guide you. Write on purpose.

1: Have fun and be yourself

This is my number one writing tip for a pretty simple reason: at the end of the day, if you don’t find any joy or fulfillment with writing, what’s the point? If you decided to write a novel to get rich and famous, I’m gonna stop you right here and suggest you head out to L.A. and try your luck as an actor instead. Traditional publishing is basically a non-stop nightmare of white supremacy, elitism, nepotism, all the -isms, and it doesn’t pay well. (Hollywood isn’t better, but at least the weather is nice.)

Writing isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, but it should be fulfilling. Art can be painful and difficult to create, but if it makes you miserable all the time, something needs to change. Often the solution is to take a step back for a while, rest and recharge. Spend time in nature, with friends and family. Pursue hobbies you’re not trying to monetize.

When you’re ready, that itch to write will hit you again. And if it never does, that’s fine, too.

The “be yourself” part of this tip is equally important. Write what makes you happy. Write your stories. If you’re pursuing traditional publishing, it’s fine to write with an eye to the market, but don’t chase trends you hate just because you think it’ll help you hit whatever publishing milestone. It won’t. The market is an ever-shifting pile of nonsense. No one actually knows what readers want, not even readers.

So, have fun and be yourself! Your time on this planet is limited, don’t waste it doing something you hate.

BONUS TIP: You’re not alone

This is an even more meta tip than the rest, but I can’t not include it. Having a support group of writer friends is essential to staying sane. Non-writers… they just Don’t Get It, even if they try.

Finding your people can be tough. It involves a lot of luck and continually putting yourself out there. Participate in critique-partner swaps, get involved in the various communities that surround mentorship programs. Look for local groups if meatspace is your jam. You’ll find people you click with.

Nothing will improve your writing like critiquing other people’s work, but the real value in a critique group isn’t just the skills you’ll all gain. Writing is hard, even if you’re only doing it for fun. Throw in capitalism and it’s nightmare mode. But knowing that other people are going through the same things, that you aren’t alone in feeling down or hopeless sometimes, and being able to share in your friends’ joy when good stuff happens, doesn’t just make it easier. It makes it possible. If you try to go it alone in traditional publishing, you’ll have a terrible time of it.

Even if you don’t think you need any emotional support or critique, there are practical concerns. The industry is purposefully opaque, so corporations can maximize profits off writers while giving them as little in return as they can get away with. Knowing what’s normal is the first step in pushing back against predatory terms.

When it gets tough, remember: you’re not alone.