Top 11 most useful professional tips for fiction writer

Top 11 most useful professional tips for a fiction writer

Top 11 most useful professional tips for fiction writer

fiction writer isn’t easy. There’s lots of bad advice out there, and it can be hard to know right from wrong. As someone who’s written over 40 books and counting at the time of this Article, 30+ of them being novels, I know what works and what doesn't.

In this article, I’m sharing 11 easy fiction writing tips that will instantly improve your writing craft. What’s up, guys? 

My name is Michael La Ronn with Author LevelUp, giving you the best tools and strategies for writing better and faster and growing your influence with readers.

I assume you’re here because you want to write better stories. You’ve probably seen all of the garden variety writing advice out there and you want to know actual secrets to better fiction writer, right?

 I use the tips in this article every single day, and if you use them, you’ll improve your craft overnight and keep your readers reading.

Tips for a fiction writer

Top 11 most useful professional tips for fiction writer

1. To forget everything you know.

Here’s a secret for a fiction writer: there are no rules. Many of you can’t accept that. Instead, you look for rules, structures, and formulas to follow when none exists.

So-called “rules” like “your character has to be likable” or “use X method for better characterization” or “don’t use semicolons” are really just half-true suggestions.

 Instead, recognize that every tip you learn is simply a tool to help you write a story, either now or in the future.

Change your story, change your tools. You wouldn’t build a deck with the same tools you’d use to build a retaining wall, right? So why are you using the same story structure for every book you write?

Instead of forcing your story into commonly accepted rules and methods because others are telling you to, focus on using tools that will be of best service to your story at any particular moment.

Do what’s best for the story, even if it means breaking common conventions. When you do that, you’re putting your readers first, and readers love that. 

They love it so much that they’re willing to forgive a lot of things as long as the story keeps them enthralled.

There are no rules. What matters is how you execute. If you don’t believe this, you’re playing checkers when everyone else around you is playing chess.

2.  To approach fiction writing like magic.

2nd next tip for a fiction writer is Magicians have an uncanny way of focusing your eye. They know how to hold your attention, direct, misdirect it, and do things in plain sight in front of you without you realizing it.

You see exactly what they want you to see. Only after the trick is done do you wonder“how they do they do that?” 

When you’re writing, you want to draw attention to things that you want your readers to see, and all else is noise. Your goal as a writer is to create attention, keep it, and in some cases, misdirect it.

That’s what keeps readers turning the page. Now, let’s talk about how to actually keep the reader’s attention.

3.  To write using the five senses.

3rd The next tip for a fiction writer is I guarantee you’ve heard this before, but my take is a little different. Here’s what this actually means: you, the writer, write your story from inside your character’s skull. 

Everything they see, hear touch, smell, and the taste is filtered through their senses.

Not yours. But theirs. It doesn’t mean to sprinkle in sensory details here and there. It means EVERYTHING you write is colored through the character’s perspective.

You’re literally putting the reader inside the character’s head.

 And if you funnel in things like opinions about other people, opinions about the setting, and interior thoughts in the character's voice, you will instantly keep your readers’ attention, whether your character is likable or not.

That’s surface level. If you want to take this deeper and use techniques that pros use, like Michael Crichton, John Grisham, Danielle Steele, etc. use, what you do is you take multiple senses and use them together.

Here’s a simple example. “The rain fell in ragged sheets against the corrugated roof.” You have the visual of rain and the sound of the rain against a metal roof. You have touched here, too—ragged is a texture.

If the rain is ragged, that’s a unique texture. While you can’t touch it, you can certainly feel it.

 If your character is stuck in a building, and the rain is foreboding, and they feel isolated, well, the rain falling in ragged sheets against a corrugated roof hints at how the character might be feeling about their current situation, doesn’t it?

The mega bestsellers do this over and over and over again, book after book, and very few people see it. That’s how smooth they are.

4. Is related, and that’s that word choice equals mood and characterization.

4th The next tip for a fiction writer is We all know the adage, “Words mean things.” Well, they do, especially when you use them in context with your character. 

Think about your setting as a color. The smart word choice here and there deepens or lightens the color.

Pair your word choices with moods and feelings, and you’ll keep the reader in the character’s head. In the example above, the word ragged is a good word choice because it characterizes the setting by evoking a mood.

Just keep it tied to your character and keep it simple.

 Even in the third person when you’re describing something, always do it in the same manner that the character would, themselves. Just don’t dwell on it and spend two weeks trying to find the right word for a paragraph. If you’re doing that, you’ve missed the point.

Combine this with the five senses, and learn to do it well, and you’ll be dangerous.

5. To maintain consistency by keeping track of certain details as you write.

5th The next tip for a fiction writer is, For example, if chapter 1 starts in the morning and chapter 4 takes place at night, depending on the length of your chapters you’ll want to make sure that the passage of time is correct and consistent from chapter to chapter.

If a character is wearing a blue sash in chapter2, you’ll want to make sure that sash is always blue, unless they change clothes.

 If your hero’s hometown was flooded 30 years ago, you want every instance of this reference to be consistent.

The way you do this is to keep a log with the character and setting details and simply check it once you’re done writing each chapter. Just takes a couple of minutes.

Another trick is to use the same words anytime you are describing clothes or a setting.

That way you can easily find it later with find and replace. So in the case of the flood, you would simply make sure that EVERY TIME you reference it or even allude to it, that you use the words“flood” and “years.” This will save you time later.

After all, if you’re going to spend the time to deepen your character and keep readers inside his or her head, you don’t want to ruin the experience with inconsistent details.

6. To study chapter endings.

6th The next tip for a fiction writer is to Pick up any of your favorite books written within the last few years and read the last few sentences of every chapter. If it’s a modern book, you’ll start to see a trend.

 The chapters probably “end” a certain way, usually on a cliffhanger. If you haven’t done it, start copying that. Immediately.

Copy the feel, dissect it and find out why it works. Then do it in your own work. That’s because cliffhanger chapters are one of the easiest ways to keep readers turning the page.

We’re taught how to study story openings all day long, but the way to keep attention is with your chapter endings. If you want great examples of this, pick any mega-bestseller and study their books.

7. To give readers cookies.

7th The next tip for a fiction writer is Not literally. But figuratively. I borrowed the term “reader cookies” from Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who used it on her blog once to describe little nuggets that you include in every chapter to keep readers turning the page.

My approach to this is a little different than hers. This, my friends, is where tropes come in handy. If you put at least one “reader cookie” in every chapter, it adds the right amount of familiarity to an otherwise original story.

For example, if your hero is a detective and he's walking cautiously through inner cityhood to find a witness to interview, readers would expect the place to be seedy, mysterious, and dangerous.

You can give them what they want—you make it seedy, mysterious, and dangerous—all filtered through the five senses of your character, of course.

 Or, you give them what they think they want—mysterious hood—and then do something different.

You make the neighborhood what they expect, but instead of a gangster, maybe the witness is a white guy in dreads who lives in the hood because it’s cheap and he gets along with black people better than white people.

Now THAT’S different. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as you balance the act of keeping the story familiar while also doing it in a fresh way that maybe the reader hasn’t seen before. 

Try to do something like this once every chapter possible. It doesn’t have to be big—just little things here and there.

8. About writer’s block, rough patches, saggy middles, murky middles, or whatever you want to call them.

8th The next tip for a fiction writer is Don’t sweat them. I know that’s easier said than done, but the next time you’re suffering through your story, I want you to think ahead to when you've finished your novel. Your rough patches will be obvious to you.

They will probably be obvious to your editor. And your editor will help you fix them. By the time the book reaches readers, your readers WON’T notice. Not unless you have a bad editor.

And a few years from now, after you’ve written some more books when you look back on your book, you probably won’t remember the rough patches, either.

Trust me on this. I’m just trying to give you guys some longterm perspective here. For this reason, don’t agonize over rough patches in your book. Just keep on charging through. It’s just a temporary discomfort.

9. Something too many authors are scared to do, and that’s an experiment.

9th The next tip for a fiction writer is Too many of you are scared of making a mistake, or making readers angry, or not executing on a trope...You let that fear stop you from making creative decisions about your work.

Think about some of the most famous authors in history. Readers have consistently rewarded innovation, and they’re willing to pay writers for it. 

You can’t grow as a writer unless you try new things, just like you can’t grow as a reader unless you read more books.

Writers think they have to write what everyone else is writing in order to sell books. And then they’re blown away when someone comes along with a bestseller that subverts all the major tropes.

And then they claim that the author got “lucky”. Again, it’s because readers are willing to reward innovation as long as you prove to them that

• your book is the next book they should buy and
• you can deliver on your promise. There’s plenty of room on the market for your books.
•  

Be yourself and don’t chase trends and fads unless you’re truly passionate about them. Try something new every single time you sit down to write. 

Whether it be a dialogue technique, a unique chapter-opening, a different word, whatever.

Experiment long enough and you’ll start to find what works for you, and you’ll sharpen your writer's voice.

10. To divorce yourself from your work.

10th The next tip for a fiction writer is you are not your book. I get it. It’s easy to think that because you’ repouring your heart and soul into your book that it’s an extension of yourself.

I have news for you. Every writer I know who’s done that is no longer writing. Here’s why. You pour your heart and soul into your book. Your editor tells you it’s great.

Beta readers tell you it’s great. Friends and family cheer you on. You publish the book, and then crickets. No one buys it. It’s soul-crushing. 

After all, you just poured yourself onto the page and bore yourself naked to the world, and now...the world has rejected you.

Like I said, soul-crushing. Many never recover from this. In my opinion, it’s far healthier to think of your finished book as merely a finished product. Either it sells or it doesn’t.

But it doesn’t really matter to me becauseI’m well into the land of my next book before I ever find out. Make writing about the journey. Make it about delighting readers. Separate yourself from your books or you'll burn out.

It’s hard for writers to think about having fun with their work because our work is so “important.” That’s a bunch of crap.

11. which is...have fun. Seriously, enjoy yourself.

11th The next tip for a fiction writer is you have chosen the greatest profession in the history of the world. You get to lie for money, and you’re the closest thing there is to a god—you create entire worlds and people.

That’s pretty cool. When you have fun with your writing, it's amazing how you don’t have to worry about burnout.

You also don’t worry about bad reviews or haters. It’s just you, on a wild journey, enjoying the writing process for the sake of the writing process, which in my opinion is writing in its purest and most engaging form. I’d love to hear from you guys on which of these tips resonated with you.

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