Writing Tips For Authors (Motherhood Book)

 We’ve been there. 

Pen perched in hand; striped paper taunting us blankly, or finger tips dangling above the keyboard like vultures waiting to attack when inspiration comes, only to hover endlessly, impotently for what seems like hours. 

I’ve done it.

Scrolled Instagram for inspiration, bought the right crystal stuffed pens off Amazon so they could help me channel the message… and after endless false starts… still has nothing. 

So, here’s some tips for while you're on that merry-go-round. 

First:

Connect to the divine. Breathe. Ask for the message. Ask that your mind is cleared. Call in your angels. Call in the soul of your book. Tap your ears, head, lips, throat, and top of head. 

Activate your energy. 

Declare “I humbly and boldly receive.”

Second:

Copy something. An old journal entry or poem or Declaration of Independence for heaven’s sake. 

The action of writing will often jump start your brain. 

Third: 

Write. Write about your day if you have to. 

Write as if you were explaining a situation to an alien. This is weird advice but it means don't take it for granted. Instead of writing chair. Don't assume that the chair is the same that everyone will imagine. Say plush velvet green antique chair, or cold steel folding chair. Don't say I felt sad. What is sad? Don't say the lights were on. What is light? What does light do?

Fourth: 

Don’t edit as you go. 

Just write until it flows and THEN go over it. 

Then-leave it overnight; and go over it again with fresh eyes. 

Now; here’s what I want you to look for:

What is the overall message from your writing you want to convey? Meaning. Legacy. In other words, what is the point? Why should people read this? 

Who are you speaking to? What do they look like? What’s their ballpark annual income? What are their hobbies? What are their challenges? What solution and inspiration does your writing give to them? 

SET THE STAGE & HOOK: 

Your first paragraph should have a hook. Think about movies; they set the stage and hook you in. 

A movie doesn’t begin without drawing you in with the setting. Notice they zoom in to small details or shoot a big picture before they start the storyline. 

Use the journalists checklist:

Who, what, when, how, where, why.

And the six senses:

Smell, touch, sight, sound, taste, intuition.

Here’s an example:

The car window was rolled down of the 1975 gold Lincoln, my grandmother’s pride and prestige. Never mind it was decades out of style. 

The lurching breeze yanked my copper colored hair from my pony tail in wisps that stuck in my mouth and tasted like salt from the perspiration they mopped off of my upper lip. 

Looking down; the white strings around the torn holes in my jeans, danced wildly as the air rushed through the cab.

I liked the odor of grandma’s cherry cigarettes. Tiny burns across the stained beige velour bench seat tattletold on her secret habit no matter how much she kept the windows down. 

Summer was over. Apathetic dread hung over denser then the humid heat. I glanced toward my grey permed driver briefly, and back to the passing potato fields along the highway, bright colored ribbons of agriculture streaming past. 

She was taking me back home.

Back to where my name was a number. “Two” I was called. Two of five daughters and back home, remembering our names was too much trouble to be bothered with.

(Did this create a picture, did it transport you? What is the message here?)

Disclaimer: my grandma didn’t smoke or drive a Lincoln- this was just an example.

DUPLICATES:

Check for DUPLICATES. Have you used the word “throng” multiple times? If you do, make sure it's intentional. Notice in my former example in the last paragraph, I used the word "back" and "two" multiple times on purpose to convey a sense of monotony that fit the feel of the long car ride and how I felt going returning home.

An example: I turned to face her, lifting my face I looked into her eyes. 

An edit would be: Turning around, my eyes found hers. 

Find your duplicates and either make the sentence more concise or use thesaurus.com to find a variance. 

NUMBERS: 

I recently learned that professional writers always write out numbers unless they are over 100. 

So three weeks, ten days, forty red solo cups- whatever. Above 100, it’s ok to make it shorthand by using the number. 232 grey pom moms.

CLOTHING: 

When stuck, begin to describe what you are wearing or someone else is. It can be fabricated. Use these details to support your message. 

DON’T CAPITALIZE: 

Did you catch the hypocrisy? 

In writing professionally- in a novel or book, don’t capitalize to make emphasis; use italics. 

PERSPECTIVE:

Change where you are metaphorically standing. As you tell the story, look at the scene from above, below, outside the window. It gives depth and curiosity to look at it this way.

Another perspective is to use cultural influences. Background stories that can be short to encapsulate a history; this tactic is a way to change your characters. Meaning, when you describe your characters, give them depth. 

Instead of saying a "mean girl" use the senses and cultural perspective: The perfect blond locks fell around her shoulders, the designer hand bag matched her leather heels that made no sense in a school cafeteria. $85 fake lashes looked down on the rest of the peasant class student body. Every flicker of her eyelids conveying disdain that secretly subconsciously carried her inch by inch upward in her imaginary status. Her own self hatred disguised by her illusionary superiority. After all, the prestige she carried in name and money- wasn't actually hers; she hadn't earned it or deserved it- she was born to it and she knew just like everyone else did- she was weak. Her condescension a mask for her lack of strength. The same resilience she envied in those she bullied. 

OUTLINE:

Let's write an outline:

What is my Message? How does this offer authenticity as well as encouragement?

What are the key points I want to cover in my message? One, Two, or at maximum- Three. 

Beginning, middle, wildcard, end. Summary.

Beginning set the stage and the foreshadow of message; people who are players, age, location, etc.

Middle is the muck of it. Maybe it looks like it will work out. 

Wildcard is the unexpected challenge that you didn't think you could get over.

End is the tools, methods, people that you got through. 

Summary is what you learned. A new Perspective. The change that you made and the person you are now. 

MY SUMMARY:

All these advice tips being said- JUST write. 

Get your chapter written and let the editor catch the punctuation or wording. 

These are just tips not rules. 

Write your message and don’t try to overthink it. 

We are simply stewards of stories- not perfect. Tell your story, your way.