Three Awesome Tips To Improve Your Creative Writing

If I accidentally bumped into you in the school hallway or elevator and by my name-tag you realized that I was the visiting author for “Author Day,” what would you do? Would you introduce yourself and ask me any interesting questions about the writing process or my career as a writer? Or would you just play shy, and avoid any conversation with me?
Well, I hope that you wouldn’t be too shy to quiz me about writing unless I was gulping down hot coffee on the way to my next scheduled talk. What would I want you to know about authorship? Let’s skip the elevator talk, and I’ll tell you three awesome creative writing tips that apply to many types of writing.
Authors aren’t special people. They aren’t born with a pen in their hand or a golden-plated laptop waiting for them in the crib. They are ordinary people with two arms, two legs, and so on. They are just people who decided that they wanted to write with quality and each one was willing to pay the price of getting published. Buy “price” I don’t mean actual money. I mean they were willing to proofread their work again and again, listen to their writing teachers, read about writing, attend writing workshops, get peer feedback on writing wherever they can, revise and revise, and of course read, read, and read in their genre. All authors will suggest to budding authors to read a lot, but not like Gary Paulsen does. He tells young writers to “Read like a wolf eats.” I think that gets the first tip across in a rather dramatic way. Maybe you will never forget awesome Tip One:
1. Read like a wolf. “Thank you, Gary Paulsen.”
I’ve already hinted that you can dismiss the idea that writers are “born” and that means you can’t say “I can’t write because I wasn’t born a writer.” One of my favorite writers is the late John Updike. He was a genius. He could have chosen to be almost anything, but he chose to be a writer. Ralph Fletcher, author of a number of excellent books about writing says “It’s misleading to think of writers as special creatures, word sorcerers who possess some sort of magical knowledge hidden from everyone else. Writers are ordinary people who like to write… ” So, if you want to become a published writer, just decide to become one, and do the work that needs to be done to become one. Yes, you will have to be determined, but first give yourself “permission” to be a writer. Don’t let any excuses blockade your writing journey like a brick wall. According to Randy Pausch, “The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” Therefore, awesome Tip Two is:
2. Choose with your heart and soul to be a writer. Then you will be willing to do the work of a writer.
What should you write about? That’s always a good question. As a teen, I wrote volumes weekly (to my best friend who had moved away) about growing up, which included such topics as school, parents, sports, chores, and girlfriends. I wrote about things that bothered me, and more. Some authors write about what they know, others write about what they want to know. Some writers have an attitude of gratitude and write about what they are grateful for. Some writers don’t feel as if they choose their topics. They feel as if the topics choose them, and they have a strong need to write about them. Consequently, awesome Tip Three is:
3. Write about whatever you’re passionate about. Turn what you deeply care about into food for thought that others can dig into and enjoy. Feed family, friends, and others with your very special harvest of words that nourish the spirit, and that matter.
Give yourself permission to make a difference with words. Write on!