Great stories can be truly incredible in the way that they connect with people and bring out some truly intense emotions in them. If you’re a writer or aspire to be one, then that’s the kind of reaction that you should always be striving for. Of course, that’s not always possible. In fact, it can be incredibly difficult. The truth is that for all of the people out there trying to make a mark for themselves as writers, only a small percentage of them are actually going to be able to produce anything of real value. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you can’t learn and improve. With that in mind, here are some things that you can do in order to make your writing stand out from the crowd.
Don’t be afraid to make life difficult for your characters
One of the biggest issues with a lot of writers is that they’re afraid to really let life become difficult for their characters. Either things always just work out for their characters or they’re so amazingly skilled or intelligent that no problem is ever too great for them to easily solve. Sure, you want to show your characters in the best light, but if nothing ever actually causes a problem for them, your writing is going to be boring. Look at a writer like Daniel Handler, who made his entire career out of putting his child characters in horrible situations. By doing that he’s able to wring as much drama out of his stories as possible.
Think in terms of scenes
Another issue with a lot of writers is that they end up either focussing too heavily on moments or on the story as a whole. This often means that the connecting threads throughout the story end up feeling limp and dull. You need to be able to see your story in terms of scenes. That way you’re always aware of exactly what direction your story is moving in and why. It’s often worth storyboarding ideas, even if you’re never going to have illustrations in your story, just so you can get the strongest possible ideas of how scenes are going to play out.
Show don’t tell
This is advice that’s most often used in film but it’s just as true for writing, however odd that might sound. Sure, you’re going to tell just about everything by nature of the medium, but how you tell your audience things changes everything. If you’ve got a character who’s nervous, you could just say “they were nervous” but it’s a whole lot more engaging to show how their nervousness presents itself. Are they fidgeting? Are they sweating? Do they start obsessing over little details or snapping at the people around them? By showing things in this way you instantly bring your story to life in a way that just describing how someone is feeling never could.
The truth is that most of the time, you’re only ever really going to get to the point where you’re writing something halfway decent by writing lots and lots of things that are completely terrible. And that’s okay, practice makes perfect in every medium and art form. Just don’t let yourself become discouraged. Every time you write something, you’re learning and improve little by little. Don’t shy away from criticism and be willing to acknowledge the things that don’t work about your writing just as much as the things that do.