What I've Learned that May Help You and Your Writing



Over the past few months I've been soaking in a lot of creative writing information as part of building and improving my writing skills. I recently challenged myself to write the best book I've ever written, and to attempt that personal feat required many hours of reading, analyzing, researching and (of course) writing.

I've had some epiphanies during the course of writing my post-apocalyptic novel (Before the Darkness) that I would like to share. These are things that I already knew about creative writing (I'm an author. Of course, I knew :/) but only really understood when reading these books or blogs.

What I've learned

Source

Metaphors and allegories can help strengthen a story and provide an engaging writing/reading experience. Major plot twists or twist ending should tie into the overall mood and/or theme of the story for a greater emotional impact.	The sci-fi novella Wool by Hugh Howey
Incorporating universal human emotion into every facet of your writing builds strong characterization and helps the reader relate to the characters, conflicts and particular circumstances.	The erotic romance novel Destiny for Three by Lilly Hale
All reviews, be they positive or negative, ranting or raving, short or long, are still beneficial to the author. A reader may show interest in the very thing another reader finds unappealing in a book. It's all subjective. At least the book provoked some kind of emotional response to push readers into discussing it.	Readers' comments about Ranting authors over negative reviews from book reviewers
To easily find areas in your book that are telling instead of showing search for the word WAS. Using was in a sentence usually indicates the lack of effectively describing something or someone in your writing.	Noble Romance Blog
Write what you love and the rest will come to you. Instead of focusing on getting to the end of your story, make small goals and complete those first. It's never too early to start talking about your work.	From various creative writing books, blogs and magazines:

These are just of few of the things I've grown to really understand over the past few months just by reading books, blogs, readers' comments on blogs and magazine. Have you had an epiphany lately?