Things I wish I knew when I started writing.

What exactly do we start off knowing about writing?

Well...We know that you start every sentence with a capital letter and that punctuation is extremely important. What we don't know is..How do we end an amazing story? How does one write a good sex scene? How do you even create angst?!

Man, Oh man, Angst and sex scenes are my biggest enemy.

If you're writing some sort of hot sex scene and you don't get flustered and or embarrassed- There has to be something wrong with you- Wait no! You gotta be a complete god because there is no way a normal human can do that without flushing.

On the other hand! How do people get a good fight scene in? You can only use so many words right? Like 'The hand goes flying' How many terms can you use for being punched in the face?

How do you even describe a sword other than sharp or pointy? Like 'The slicing of the metal against my soft skin."

Is that a way to describe being cut in a duel?

Is there really any good way to describe heartbreak either? Especially if you haven't gone through it yourself.

-However, I've read in a book, That no art is original, So I assume all the words and phrases we use aren't original either, And that no matter how we use the words and how we move them around..They aren't anything new.

So what do I know now?

I know that when you're writing a fictional story, Its best to use third person because a vast majority of the world won't read first person unless its a biography.

I also happen to know, That you should never start a sentence with and. So if you have to, I use a hyphen to separate it as its own sentence starter.

One huge thing I know is-There actually is something as too much detail. I read a whole chapter of a fan fiction where the author non- stop added details about everything- And yes! Its great to create a world and know what everything is like.. But theres a point where you just gotta..Well.. Get to the point!

When I was in elementary school, I got in frequent trouble for writing run on sentences. A phrase that plagues me till this very day because although I've fixed those never ending sentences with my comma's an periods, My writing is still quite long winded and not many people can sit through reading more than one of my stories or blog posts.

It gets to the point where as a writer you really have to sit down, review, and edit your work. You have to ask yourself important questions like- 'is this detail necassary to move my story along?' Or 'Is this romantic scene just fan feeding?'

My whole family is full of avid readers, People who can devour huge novels within the span of a weekend. We're the type of family that never believes you can have too many books- And if asked, 'No you can not borrow my copy of twilight.' Will always be our answer, Meaning its a revolving door of duplicates. However, It also means that you are surrounded by people who can always give you a good book recommendation.

There is something called neuro-divergence where your brain works a bit differently than others, Usually the term is associated with Autism- But the reason for me to bring it up is because people with ADHD, ADD, Or other mood/Attention disorders often have a hard time sticking with a new book or series because we don't have an immediate connection to the characters, We can't always sit through the build up.

For that very reason I had become sucked into the wonderful world of fanfiction where I could get loads of my favorite characters in different worlds, Pairings, and scenarios. I've gone through thousands of fan fics throughout the last six years and I've seen thousands of ways people differ in their writing.

There is no correct way to write a story or blog post- The way you write is as individualised as you fingerprint- Your writing is uniquely you. Some people write in all italics, Some people put a definition before each chapter.

There are some, In my opinion- Annoying individuals who believe writing without capitalization is okay. All it really gives people is a sense of confusion. No offense to those writers but it isn't edgy its just hard to read.

I will give you guys some of the best advice that I have- Something I wish I could go back and tell myself when I decided to start writing. Always read your previous chapters before updating a new one! Because I promise you the people who are reading your story will totally call you out if you got something wrong!

I've literally forgotten my own plot points before and have included characters that weren't supposed to be introduced yet because I didn't read my previous chapters. The readers will remember! You might not!

Constructive criticism is helpful! But only take it with a grain of salt and in small doses. Don't let people bombard you with their opinion or 'take' on your writing. If they really want to help you improve they'll give you a meaningful and helpful conversation.

Never be afraid to tackle heavy subjects!

There is this mentality that when you see something bad happen in public around a ton of other people, Every person in the space is thinking someone else is calling the police- Someone else is getting help.

So no one gets help.

Don't be that person! If you want to bring awareness to something in your writing- Do it! If you want your character to have a mental illness, Research it! Not everyone has the power of art as their weapon, If you can write-Scratch that..If you want to write! If you have something to say? Say it! Write it! Use your life experiences to drive your passion.

Don't let anyone censor your writing- If what you want to write is coming from the soul and it's completely yours..It's priceless! It doesn't deserve to be censored.

What I wish I'd known before I started writing?

The best type of writer you can be is you.