Reading & Writing Strategies I Have Implemented This Fall

This fall is all about improvement and development for me. I am focusing on my career path choices and passions a lot more than ever before. And it is paying off. I started this blog and a Twitter account dedicated to the Writing Community, and it truly has been a blessing. I have met so many people, collaborated with authors, learned tips and tricks for blogs and writing, and even added probably 100 books to my TBR because of all the amazing book recommendations I see.

Starting this platform was initially to just post lifestyle excerpts on my blog, but I have ventured towards book reviews a lot as well and am reading a lot as I used to as a result. Seeing all of these writers on social media endure the Pitch Wars, get accepted and rejected by their queries, work with editors and publishers, and even see their copies of books in stores has motivated me to participate in NaNoWriMo 2021. This is such an exciting and self-aware time for me.

I wrote a middle-grade fantasy novel when I was in seventh grade, and never touched it again. I think it is for the best that that story stays in the past, but the idea that I wrote a book at such a young age motivates me to write one now and reminds me that it is possible. I technically have already done it. This time around there will be another fantasy story written, but Young Adult.

I have read so many NaNoWriMo blogs and watched a variety of preparation YouTube videos, and it all excites me that much more. Watching and reading other people’s perspectives and advice on this writing convention has helped to implement different ways I can write and edit my own story.

The main idea I have learned is to write from the stream of consciousness and avoid the delete button. Just write, puke out the words. I am preparing by plotting out my characters and setting, but aside from the epiphany and instigating scenes, I am avoiding a detailed chain of a plot. I want to go in with structure, but not too much where I feel overwhelmed by veering off a strict regime I create beforehand.

One of the best tips I have seen by a lot of writers is to show, don’t tell. This has been the most effective for me as to writing fiction and planning out a fantasy novel. Basically, this strategy means to describe, not explain. Describe the surroundings, describe the characters, describe the setting, don’t explain what’s going to happen. This gives the reader no ideas to build off of and create in their heads. It blocks off imagination and may bore the reader if they don’t have descriptive details to visualize what is going on.

Reading different genres is also a new strategy I have been working on. Through connecting with authors and reviewing their books, I have been open to trying out new genres and analyze the way writers deal with their stories in terms of the genre they chose. This has helped me gain exposure to a variety of ways authors promote characters, express their emotions, describe both real and fantastical worlds, and drive their plots.

Word choice is a big definitive when writing. I have learned to match up the intelligence of my word choice with the tone of the story I want to create, and this will create fluency. I have analyzed books that do not keep the same pace of word sophistication the whole book or use word choices for characters that do not align with their age or intelligence as a character themselves. It is important for me personally to use grand words, but not five in a row where the reader may seek the novel as drag and not even be able to understand what they are reading.

Including my own opinion in my main character is another strategy I am using to make my main character more unique and realistic. I have not displayed what my story is actually about, but it involves a place and immortal ideal that I love, and combining these favorites has helped me to create a world and storyline derived from me.

I have learned so much from the writing community and through the works of other authors. I am so excited to begin the journey of writing a novel, and I hope you will tag along and stay up to date with me!