Creative writing tips for your next story.

When I’m tackling a new creative writing project I always spend days daydreaming about the possibilities. With a blank slate, there are countless directions that you can go with a story. I always get excited with my new ideas and become eager to begin putting them  out into the world, but plenty of planning and preparation is needed before you even get to that stage. Here are a few writing tips that might help you out the next time you’re getting ready to start your next story.

Begin with your theme. A theme is why the plot of the story happens, not the plot itself. It is the fundamentals of why you, the author, are writing the story. It can be a moral, message or your personal thoughts on basically any subject. The plot, when you get to that stage, is built up off of this central idea. When you’re writing, try not to state your theme to your readers. You can assume if they’re reading your story they’ll be thinking critically about what it is. Unless you are writing children’s novels (in which case, throw this advice out the window) you do not need to spoon feed your audience. 

Next is your characters. Make sure when you are creating your characters they are believable and knowable. Try to give your characters quirks like characters flaws or distinct personalities that are seen in real life. Nobody is perfect, so why should your characters be? Even Indiana Jones had a snake phobia. Character arcs are definitely needed as well. By the end of the story your protagonist should change in some way, be it big or small, to show the effects of the journey that they have been on. This does not need to necessarily be a positive thing either, stories like The Odyssey are clear examples of this. The motives of your characters are very important to define before writing too. Ask yourself: “What does this character want? What is stopping them from getting it? What will they do about it?” These questions will give you a clear idea of who the characters are and what they might do within the story.

Then you must have a setting for your characters to reside within. This can be anything from a real location in our world to a made up place you’ve had daydreams about. While you might be able to imagine this place in your mind, it’s important that you have all of these details collected before writing about your setting. Without it, the world falls flat and becomes bland or ordinary. Things like how the environment smells or feels are just as important as the things the characters can actually see, so be sure to appeal to the other senses of the readers as well. 

Define a point of view before you even begin to type as well. Switching from First Person to Third Person within one chapter can be confusing to your readers and it is a cardinal rule that you are only allowed to have one perspective character per chapter for this very reason. Define whose perspective you are writing from. Who are we following in the story and why is it important that the readers see through their eyes for this chapter? It is okay to switch to a different perspective character, but wait for the chapter to end before doing so, and do it with a purpose. 

Finally, you can define your plot. The plot is where all of these elements that you’ve been gathering and planning will come together in a mixing pot to create something truly delicious for your readers. Using your theme, characters, setting and point of view you can define your story and the events that will occur within it. There is, however, a structure that stories need to follow in order to keep the readers interested and create a piece of writing that will be fulfilling for you to tell. 

When writing your exposition, which is the beginning of your story, be sure to include any background information of the world that the characters live within. The readers don’t know the history of the world and establishing at least some of this in the beginning will be of use later on in the story, especially if it will play a role in the story you are going to tell and the characters don’t know that yet.

Then there is your rising action, climax, and falling action. These need to be clearly defined, and as you’re in your rising action it’s important to have smaller actions within it. This keeps the readers interested in what the characters are doing and the actions preparing them for the climax rather than it being idle with no other smaller action segments in between. Readers need some kind of conflict to feel invested, so don’t be too focused on the larger idea of the climax and forget that there needs to be a steady buildup of tension before reaching it. 

Finally, there is the denouement and resolution. This is the end of your story and, in my opinion, one of the most important parts. This is where you send off your characters into the word you have created. In your conclusion you can show the extent that your characters have changed in their journey and set the story up to be continued if you wish. Readers like to be put on edge, leaving something unresolved or a question still lingering in their minds will keep them thinking about your story just as much as your plot and theme will. Play into this fact. Leave things on cliff hangers if you wish to continue writing and even if you don’t, leave your audience with something that they will think about and question for long after they’ve read your work. 

Planning is a huge part of your writing. It is the thing that most authors will spend ages on before even beginning to write. These were tips and tricks that I use for that process and I hope that even if they haven’t been of use to you, that they’ve at least generated some ideas in your head and sparked some inspiration inside of you.