Avoiding These Common Mistakes Creative Writers Make

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May 17, 2016

How to Keep Your Creative Writing Flawless

All writers wish to express their deepest and most imaginative insights. Especially with creative writers, figures of speech and colorful sentiments give life to their words. There is a catch however, because with creative writing, not everything the writer wishes to evoke will appear proper on paper. Below are the common mistakes to avoid.

Waiting for inspiration to strike, or hoping to write something unconventional

A lot of times, creative writers sustain their writer’s block because they wait for the voilà moment to come at a specific time or place. The reality these writers fail to see is creativity can burst right out at any time! Just avoid thinking about it too much because that’s just going to make it worse. Hold on to your gut and believe in the subject you want to strike your pen on. Your writing can bloom from there. Do a creative writing exercise every now and then to sharpen your tools.

No drafting and outlining

A story’s structure is incredibly significant for it to work. Writing as you go without thorough reviewing and correcting may crumble the climax that makes your story. By writing and re-writing, you can delete as well as improve on many points from beginning, middle, to end.

Using the passive voice and dialogue tags

A sentence only has one goal: to intrigue. Avoid using passive voice because the subject doesn’t become the highlight.

As for dialogue tasks, here are some of the unnecessary word tags that aggravate reading.

She wondered
He whispered
They replied

These can manage instead with…

Wondered
Whispered
Replied

creative writing exercise
Image via: Wikimedia

Too much formality

Creative writers want to ensure that everything they write or type down gives meaning and voice. And as a result, creative writing topics may result to overly stiff and formal sentences. Ensure that your characters don’t talk too grammar-proper to give it character.

For example:

I haven’t the slightest clue.
I must strike alongside the clock at twelve.
These can manage instead with…
I have no idea.
I need to be on time.

Too “true-to-life”

While too much formality can be unappealing, being too realistic with what your characters also has its qualms. Avoid filler words and interruptions that make your main and minor characters flakey.

For example:

Uh, not sure right now hmm maybe later.
Er, yeah kind of.

These can manage instead with…

Maybe later.
A little.

Uncertainty of what the story or character wishes to communicate

When creative writers write, they need to be 100 percent knowledgeable about their characters’ intentions as well as the story’s conclusion. This makes it another reason why outlining is very important.

Whenever your characters say something, make sure they don’t trail off in sentences, and more importantly, make clear the moral that is passed. For example, greed leads to downfall or “no crime goes unpunished.” As long as you retain the reader’s interest by pairing the outcome with equally interesting scenes and personas, you’re secured.

Not reading enough nor taking a class in creative writing

Some creative writers get too ahead of themselves and believe they have all that it takes to write and win readers over. Understanding good dialogue, scene structure, subtexts, and plenty more aspects in the fiction craft are highly urgent when making a successful story. Take a class. Creative writing workshops wait for your enrollment. Creative writing online classes online have also grown in popularity.

Not making time to write for specific periods of the day

Getting stagnant then suddenly having an urge to write is not a clear path toward creative writing victory. As a creative writer, every day is an opportunity and a must to write.

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