News on Youtube Dec 24 2017

What do you need to do to get better at writing?

This is what Writing Excuses is all about.

Here, I highlight two practical tips that can apply to any story…

But before that, I have to say that to improve your writing you need to write and you need

to write a lot.

Specifically, aim for 1,000,000 practice words.

Everything you write counts, good or bad, published or never seen by another pair of

eyes, it all contributes to your improvement.

So with that said, here are two key concepts to keep in mind while writing that may instantly

enhance your story-telling ability: The first and foremost is to understand the

making and keeping of promises to your reader. In the beginning of any story, where the problems,

settings and characters are introduced, the reader gets clues as to what they can expect

from the rest of the story, from tone, to plot, to the inherent rules of your story's universe.

Be aware of the clues you are giving and make

sure they match your actual story, these are the promises and they need to be fulfilled

What's more, whenever you open something up (questions, ideas, plot points, character traits)

you are promising that that thing will be addressed in some way before the end.

If you don't there will always be a nagging hole in the story that pulls the reader away

from everything else you may have created. So keep asking yourself, what are the promises

I am making to the reader and how can I address them?

That means you need to watch out for silent promises.

For example: how much time you spend on something sends a silent message about how important

it is going to be.

Make sure the conclusion reflects that.

But what about big plot twists?

Even these need to be promised, but promise subtly or promise silently

The second practical tip is to make your descriptions do more than one thing:

while actually showing the reader what is physically present:

the adjectives, verbs and nouns chosen determine the mood, and can show how the perspective

character feels about the things being described.

And, by choosing what things the character focuses on and the details given, you provide

information about that character's capabilities and how he or she sees the world.

This keeps your reader more engaged and makes your prose tighter, by giving more information

with fewer words while still not just "telling" your reader what to think.

In summary, double the power of your descriptions by making them do more than one thing.

Keep track of the promises you are making to your reader and fulfill them all.

And, if you want to get better at writing, write.