Writing

When you are a journalist, you are taught to answer the following questions:

• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• Why
• How

When you are a novelist, the questions that you need to answer are a tad more complicated.

• What is the storyline
• What is the plot
• Who is the protagonist(s) and/or antagonist(s)
• Are there any subplots
• Where does the story take place...  when...
• Is it historically accurate
• How many back-stories are there
• What is the genre
• Are you teaching the reader a moral lesson
• Is it a:
• journey
• quest
• good vs evil
• romance
• scifi
• western
• law enforcement
• espionage and spies

 You can answer all these questions, have the perfect plot and characters, and have the story follow an up and down pattern that keeps the reader is suspense...  BUT YOUR WRITING STYLE SUCKS and nobody wants to read it.

So, how do you develop the correct writing style?

You can take writing courses but all they do is force you to practice and the teacher is going to correct your writing and give you advice based upon their writing style and does very little to help you develop your own style.

Practice is the key!!!

Write as much and as often as you can.

Make sure you are following proper grammar.

Try to edit what you have written to keep it from being too wordy.

NOTE:  it is very difficult to edit your own work, because everything you have written, you believe is necessary.  But you must learn to look at each sentence and make sure, it cannot be rewritten to sound better.  This needs to be repeatedly until it becomes second nature...  just like practicing percussion rudiments until they can be done speedily while shifting hands.