25 Writing Tips To Help Any Writer

Back to writing about one of my favorite topics; Writing about writing… oHh the irony.

Writing is a way of life. Writing is something that everyone does and something not everyone can do. In fairness it's hard to write when you don't know where to start.

Writing is like traveling from New York to California; there's a lot of ways to get there, you can take a plane or road trip! If you take the road which path will you take? 

There's a lot we can learn from simply reading great writers.

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." - Shakespeare 

One doesn't wake up one day and become great, unless you're a Shakespeare or Hemingway, but you can wake up with the right motivation to become better than what you were.

There are many many tips one can take to improve their skills, here is just a short list of a longer unending realm of writing possibilities.

1. Read daily: The more you read; the more you write. Read whatever interests you, from great writers like Hawthorne and Hemingway, or even ones on medium. Read your old writings and see how you would write them better.
2. Make it a habit: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? You practice. Keep practicing until it's programmed in your DNA, download it into your subconscious so you won't even have to think about it.
3. Find Passion: Passion gives you a reason to keep learning and growing as a writer. It may not be clear at first what that is? But just look for the signs that come naturally and what makes you emotional about it?
4. Take A Break: We all have our limits. We get burnout and collapse. Take A Break when this happens to recharge your batteries 
5. Don't take a Break: May seem counterintuitive from the previous, but it is not and more complementary. If your mind is exploding with ideas, don't kill the momentum by coming to a screeching halt, go full steams away
6. Break Toxic Writing Habits: It's all about the process, find a comfortable process that provokes creativity and learning new things.
7. Find Your Style: When writing ask yourself, Is it your style or someone else's? Your own style has to be unique and not copied from anyone. "It ain't whatcha write, it's the way atcha write it."- Jack Kerouac, WD
8. Layouts are Payouts: How easy will it look for readers to follow. Layouts refer to the position of text, titles, pictures and any other content in the post. Make it easier to read.
9. Break Grammar rules: If it sounds better, do it, don't restrict what you want to say just because Grammarly doesn't agree. One thing I noticed was using the words "their own" together, although it's a redundancy and not Grammarly correct, it can still sound good to add emphasis on someone.
10. Never Waste Words: Like poetry, every word should have its own purpose. Don't just write to take up space. "Not a wasted word. This has been a main point to my literary thinking all my life." - Hunter S. Thompson
11. Write Honesty: The truth has a certain ring to it, readers just know it when they hear it. It attracts and incites controversy.  "When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, 'I am going to produce a work of art.' I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing."  - George Orwell
12. Write Poetry: You don't need to be a poet to write something poetic. Poetry helps writers when it comes to choosing each word for a specific purpose. 
13. Help Others: Help yourself by helping others. Just by helping someone with their work and accomplishments is a great feeling of accomplishment. 
14. Constructive Criticisms : Criticisms can be tuff to face, but also good to hear. Pointing out our flaws is how we grow as a writer and human being. But just as important is to know the difference between constructive criticisms and malicious personal attacks. 
15. Revise Revise and Revise: As good as your first idea was, your second idea will always be better, theoretically. 
16. Have an Opinion: How can you know what you want? If you don't know what you are? Having an opinion shows confidence and a strong writer's voice. 
17. Research: The trick to writing great subject matter is researching other great writings on similar topics. Research brings knowledge and knowledge brings confidence.  
18. Set Goals: Even if its just a page its something to aim for. Goals show us where we want to go and how to get there. 
19. Descriptive: Writing is an art where you can paint a picture with your words
20. Visualize; Make your dreams into a reality and show it to others. 
21. Clarity: Good writing is like a clear straight path; all travelers know where you are going. Don't confuse the path with any unnecessary detours.  
22. Don't be wordy: You're not Stephen King, people don't care for every single word you write, be quick and to the point.
23. Write for No One: We know you're a cool cat, all your fans obviously love you, But don't write for them Write for yourself,
24. Forget Fame: A better motivator is the inner feeling of experience. 
25. Take the "I" out of Quit; And put the "I" back in Win!

Takeaway

There you go the secrets to become a great writer; practice, hard work, learn from experience, and Voodo black-magic.

If you have the right commitment, the right attitude, and the right motivation you will find a way to be great.