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Does anybody have any general writing tips?

Hi there Pink Polka.

Just a few ideas which I use. I have a A4 notebook where I put all my ideas, along with title ideas. I just jot them down, from a few sentences about it, or a few pages of the idea, usually how I would start the story. You may write many ideas which you will never use, others you will want to use and can't wait to sink your teeth into. So far I have filled an entire book and started a new one. I am at 87 ideas so far. Like I said, some I will never use, and others I will.

Now about writing novels or stories.

I tend to have an outline of the story. For me this means writing info down on each chapter, on what you want to happen. Until I have the story in full. I also write a charactor CV, with their names, DOB, appearance etc on. I have read that some people use a photo from a magazine to use for reference. I think that this is a great idea.

I also add maps, house plans and anything I feel will be useful, since I write YA I have their time tables and a school map too. I use as much info as I can.

Once I have gathered all this in my notebooks on the computer I then begin to write.

Well I hope this helps you.

Sarah.

I found it extremely helpful to do character sheets (you can find some good ones on the internet). This way, you know your characters really well and it's easier to discover how they would react to a situation or what they would say. You also get a more realistic/complex/indepth character and you can keep them true to themselves.

-If you're a good artist, draw what you imagine your character looking like. If you get any ideas about your character as you draw (which you will) write the ideas down! It can be a description, a plot twist, or even just a phrase you can imagine them saying.
-Watch movies and listen to music that reminds you of your story. It will help put you in the "mood".
-Listen to the conversations of people around you to help figure out how realistic dialogue should be portrayed.
-Examine yourself in a current situation. How can you imagine your character would act? Maybe at a bus stop, bank, grocery store, classroom... imagine your character is there; what would they be doing?
-Put your main characters into a Mary Sue Litmus test. The results can help you focus on things you need to work on towards improving your characters.

Hope I helped!

My thoughts are:

Write from a base you know.

Know your subject - read, read, read the genre in which you want to write.

Learn how to start, and learn how to finish.

Editing can make or break a story - learn how to edit and how to edit well.

Your first edit is best done by editing from the bottom up - the story doesn't get in the way, and you can see typos.

A 'killer' edit is when you read it out loud. No matter how you hate to do it, this will really help - but don't read it like a 'shopping list' - read it like you mean it. Make lots of notes, you'll need them if you're serious about this.

know yourself--and know your characters better and trust them to lead you to where you need to go.

creating character sheets is great

just don't make the mistake of thinking they should be suffed wholesale into the narrative.

random swathes of information does not make a story. go read the yellow pages if you don't belive me.