Writing is a different language all on its own. There are so many different ways to manipulate and conform the topic to your individual needs, so that weather your writing to meet a prompt or writing for your own personal enjoyment, your works will always be of the utmost quality.

Characters are a vital part of any story. If you do not establish and develop an emotional connection between the reader and the character, the reader will lose interest very easily. For example, if you have a main character John, who wants to buy his mom some flowers, if you say “John was a young man who wanted to buy his mom flowers” you take a different meaning than if I were more specific. “John who was age 44 wanted to bring his mom some flowers to her nursing home. Considering he was very busy with work, he only saw her once a week. And because she has alzheimers she can’t remember who he even is any more.” That gives you an emotional sympathy for this John, which attracts you to the story. And when John’s mom dies, you will understand John’s pain on a deeper level.

A common misconception is that your story or Novel has to end happy. However this is far from true. A story is a work of art. Just in the literary format. At times movies, art, and music can be very sad or have a sad ending. Your literacy is no different. In the work by Chase Olivanti “The Power of Forgiveness” the ending is far from happy. However the work is still a piece of writing that received good feedback. Another example is The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. In the end of book three when all of the sad events with the death of main characters, that wasn’t happy. However those books are some of the most popular books on the market. People don’t always want a happy ending either. There are people that live for tear jerkers or action filled endings. CLiff hangers are widely acceptable if there is an intention to write a second book or a series. If there is only one book, a lot of people do not like the cliffhanger ending because it leaves them with no closure.

This is arguably the most important part of any piece of writing. This is what people in the bookstore are going to pick up and read after your summary to see if they want to purchase a copy of your book. If your first paragraph reels them in, you have a much more likely chance of having your book purchased. Now, if you have no interest in publishing and selling and you just want to write for family and friends, this is still important because this is what will make them want to read your writing.

There is such an extensive amount of topics to write about, in fact, the amount is limitless. If your imagination can think it, then you can write it. An exercise that helps inspire me personally is going outside, taking a walk, and then returning to my office to begin writing. Now, if this is something you can not do, then read, read and see what other authors are doing. But read like a writer. Notice things like craft and grammar. Then when you see something you want to write about, do it. And don’t stop writing. Every single thing that comes into your brain put on the paper.

This may be one of the most important parts of your writing. Revision ensures that all the amazing ideas every person has in their head end up in the paper. Author James Patterson who wrote the book Witch and Wizard is very good at this. The last chapter of his book was trashed and re-written twice, and revised over 14 times. One revision is not enough. There’s never too many corrections you can make to your paper.

I hope anyone reading this took away some new information. There is still lots to learn not only for you but for me. Happy writing!