Want to take your writing to the next level? Whether you write as a hobby or a profession, there is always room to improve your writing craft. While I’ve been blogging and self-publishing for over a decade, I’m continuously honing my writing skills through experience, reading other writing styles in the genres I write, and learning tips and tricks from professional editors and writers from how-to books to YouTube videos.
As a fiction writer, I narrowed down the top 3 hacks you can implement now to take your writing to the next level.
Imagery and Descriptive language
Ever heard the expression: A picture is worth a thousand words? As writers, we want to create images in our readers’ minds. Pictures help us visualize the setting, evoke a mood, and most importantly, help us remember things. The way we create pictures that stick in our reader’s mind is through using descriptive language. This could be similes and metaphors. But most people associate descriptions with sensory details, like descriptions of the weather or what a character is wearing. But to take your writing to the next level, the sensory details should go beyond just what we see. After all, we have five senses. So when possible, try to include other sensory details in your description, including hearing, touch, taste, and sound.
Depending on the style, some authors use descriptive language to add color and texture to their writing.
- Tip 1: Try engaging two or more senses in your description. Here’s an example I came up with to help put this tip into practice:
Susan walked into the kitchen and stared at the apple pie baking in the oven.
OR you could say. Susan sauntered into the warm kitchen. The scent of baked apples and cinnamon wafted into her nose as she gazed at the apple pie simmering behind the oven door.
This is not a perfect example, but in the revised scene, I expanded the original sentence to engage at least two of our senses: 1) smell and 2) sight versus just sight in the original text. We went from telling what happened to creating a scene that puts our reader in the kitchen.
Descriptions are even more effective when they add something meaningful to your writing. In fiction, every time a character appears on the page, readers don’t need or care for a detailed description of what the character ate for supper or what outfit. The focus should be on relevant and intentional descriptions that either support world-building or characterization. “Characterization” is a term used in the literature to describe creating and developing a character. It involves providing details about a character’s personality, appearance, behavior, and motivations to make them more realistic and relatable to the audience. Good characterization is key for engaging storytelling and driving the plot forward.
- Tip 2: Ask yourself: Does this detail help create a mood, drive the plot, or provide insight into a character? If so, include it in your draft! For example, a few details about an impending storm can be enough to create an ominous mood but also foreshadow future danger or tension. Relevant details such as a “funnel cloud” or “greenish sky” let the reader know this storm can turn into a destructive tornado.
Those details from our example with the tornado are also intentional because we are purposely drawing attention to the danger. We want the reader to draw the conclusion: this is serious. An intentional description offers well-chosen clues that give us (the reader) insight. For example, a character described with a smoldering gaze or shifty eyes can reveal clues about what the character is like or what they’re feeling at a given moment. This ties back to characterization.
Craft Powerful sentences.
Strong drafts begin with strong sentences. Strong sentences are not only grammatically correct (which is very important too) but they are also clear and concise. You want to use language that’s understandable to your readers. That means knowing your audience. Will they be familiar with the terminology or jargon you use? If you are writing a beginner’s guide to programming fundamentals, you can’t assume the reader will automatically know what a “function” or “variable” means. For fiction, if readers have to stop and reread something because they don’t understand what you’re saying, it slows the reader down and can suck them out of the story.
Conciseness or brevity is important in helping readers not only comprehend the words on the page or screen but also make the reading experience enjoyable. Over the years, I have a deeper appreciation for the mantra “less is more.” This is very true of writing! Long run-on sentences or wordy sentences can be exhausting to read!
In writing, it’s important to get to the point. The simplest quotes are often the most memorable because they say a lot in a few words, making them snappy yet impactful.
- Tip 1: Vary your sentence length and structure. Shorter, choppier sentences are ideal when describing a fast-paced action scene. Longer sentences may be more appropriate when there is introspection. To keep things fresh, change how you begin your sentences. Writing tools like ProWritingAid can spot where you started consecutive sentences with the same word and can even suggest rewrites to make your sentences fresh.
- Tip 2: Try cutting out unnecessary filler and glue words. Filler words are what we reach for when we’re groping for the right word. You should watch out for filler words like ‘uh,’ ‘like,’ or ‘alright.’ You can find some examples of glue words here. Glue words serve a purpose in helping your prose flow, but too much of it can bog your sentences down. ProWritingAid can scan your text for the percentage of glue words in your text.
- Tip 3: Not sure which filler/glue words to keep? Go through your manuscript and see which filler words are being used and ask: Is this needed (e.g. proper grammar syntax)? If you cut the word, would the sentence still make sense? If the answer is yes to both, it’s safe to say you can delete the filler.
Strong Voice
Voice refers to the unique style or personality of your writing. Each writer has their own unique flair that colors the way they deliver their message. It encompasses a writer’s diction or word choice, sentence structure, and rhythm. That’s why if you read an article on the same topic from two different writers, the article will not sound the same. If they did, you would suspect plagiarism!
Our culture, experiences, level of education, and even our audience will affect the author’s voice we’ve developed, even if we’re not fully aware of it. So how can you make your voice shine so people want to read what you have to say?
First, understand your audience. Certain voices or tones may resonate with a certain audience. For example, if you are writing a how-to guide, having an authoritative voice or tone on the subject can instill confidence in the reader that you know what you’re talking about. If you are writing a children’s book, you would likely write in a more light, whimsical tone that would be inviting to a young child.
In fiction writing, your character’s voice should reflect your protagonist’s personality. Are they confident or timid? Do they speak properly or use a lot of slang? Knowing your character thoroughly will help their narrative voice remain consistent and stand apart from the other characters on the page. How can we make your character’s voice stronger?
- Tip 1: Choose active voice over passive voice. When possible, structure your sentences so that instead of describing what happens to the subject, the subject is performing the action.
Here’s an example to illustrate:
Passive: She was swung around by the thief and slammed against the wall.
Active: The thief swung her around and slammed her against the wall.
In this example, the thief is the subject of taking action against the innocent woman. The active voice closes the distance between the action and the reader, making the reader more immersed in the action.
- Tip 2: Sprinkle introspection between your dialogue. This includes what a character is thinking or feeling during the exchange. For example, how did the character receive the news from their friend? Include your character’s inner monologue to help the reader get inside your character’s mind!
- Tip 3: Include action between your dialogue. This is important because communication goes beyond spoken words. Communication also involves body language, including facial expressions. The facial expressions or gestures should match the words of the character. When they don’t, this could denote inner conflict or deception from the character. Actions taken while the character is talking can also help set the scene and give insight into the character’s emotional state.
Instead of saying: Amber shouted angrily at Matt, “I’m tired of your excuses. I’m done!”
You could say:
Throwing her hands up, Amber shouted, “I’m tired of your excuses, Matt. I’m done!“
Here we eliminated the need to describe how Amber shouted at Matt. We took out the adverb and replaced it with a gesture to show how exasperated and angry Amber feels towards Matt. We even emphasized the last sentence in italics to express the finality of her boiling frustration.
- Tip 4: Looking for extra words to ditch from your writing? Look for adverbs that describe a verb. Instead of saying:
The stars were shining brightly.
You could say: The stars glowed.
In the revised version, I used fewer words and substituted “shining brightly” with a stronger verb.
Conclusion
Even with the 3 hacks I mentioned, you still don’t want to forget to master the basics of grammar, punctuation, and spelling to make readers take your work seriously. Whether you are a fiction or non-fiction writer the tips I outlined will help you execute seamless descriptions, powerful sentences, and a clear compelling voice. I promise you by following these three hacks you will see a marked improvement in your writing!
Writer's Nook 