Writers Tricks of the Trade May-June 2015 | Page 19

PRESS “CONTROL” THEN CLICK “BUY” TO PURCHASE THE BOOK 22 BEST WRITING TIPS 13. Proofread everything at least three times before submitting your work for publication. 14. Write every single day. 15. Start a blog. Use it to talk about your own writing process, share your ideas and experiences, or publish your work to a reading audience.  16. Subscribe to writing blogs on the Internet. Read them, participate, learn, share, and enjoy! 17. Use writing exercises to improve your skills, strengthen your talent, and explore different genres, styles, and techniques. 18. Let go of your inner editor. When you sit down to write a draft, refrain from proofreading until that draft is complete. 19. Allow yourself to write poorly, to write a weak, uninteresting story or a boring, grammatically incorrect poem. You’ll never succeed if you don’t allow yourself a few failures along the way. 20. Make it your business to understand grammar and language. Do you know a noun from a verb, a predicate from a preposition? Do you understand tense and verb agreement? You should.  21. You are a writer so own it and say it out loud: “I am a writer.” Whether it’s a hobby or your profession, if you write, then you have the right to this title. 22. Write, write, write, and then write some more. Forget everything else and just write. Do you think these are the very best writing tips? If you have any tips to add to this list, send them to [email protected] !  WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE PAGE 9 MAY-JUNE 2015