8 Essentials Every Writer Needs to Do Their Best Work

There is a significant difference between professional and amateur approaches in any sphere, and writing is not an exception.

If you are writing an essay in college, it is demanding and you know you must have a plan, apply clear arguments, use proper words and articulate your position.

Writing professionally is attracting your readers’ attention, making them follow your story. Experienced readers can easily distinguish between high-quality product and something that is just ok.

Creative writing is hard. There are also certain principles to observe, but you are not going to take your work to the publisher to persuade them to print it. Before doing so, you as a writer should be absolutely sure that your story or a novel has a huge potential to impact lots of readers and touch them emotionally.

Let’s have a look at the basics of professional writing. Probably this will also be useful for college students preparing to submit their essays.

1. Touch readers emotionally.

There should be characters in your story, and while they move on through the plot you reveal their emotions.

There are connections or correlations between the characters and objects or scenes in the story. The dark grey skies may reflect the key character’s mood – you charge the color emotionally.

You may well understand that readers when opening a book associate themselves with some of your characters and a successful writer uses it to involve the reader in a story’s action.

2. Humor is helpful.

A funny story can draw your reader inside, though it should be masterfully weaved into the whole text. Why not make it memorable, not just a story, to lead the reader from the very first page till the last one.

Outstanding writers combine bright and sad emotions as our life is so tragically funny.

3. Read what you write aloud.

May seem a silly thing, but very helpful. You can read the story yourself or ask a friend, which is even better – you may concentrate on the rhythm of your writing. The melody should be light and enjoyable.

You can try recording yourself telling a story and then write it down and edit it later.

4. Express emotions through layered dialogues.

Characters of your story not only act emotionally but also speak emotionally. Sometimes the stories are written mainly through dialogues, and it requires talents and energy of the author, mainly the scriptwriter.

5. Connect visible and invisible.

You create a portrait of a character through words, actions, clothes, and appearance. You trim your character’s portrait indirectly talking about their education, place of birth, family, their dreams and desires.

Sometimes, when two parts come together, the hero turns out to be a totally different type of personality than the one at the beginning of the story.

6. Constructing a narrative framework.

Simplicity is the rule here. Take a single event and build the story around it.

Don’t forget to follow the hours, the weather, and the environment not to get accidentally confused and bring a character riding a motorbike straight to the swimming pool.

To prevent such flops, think clearly and organize your ideas. Get the potential content together to have the right basis. Add details later while bearing in mind the whole structure.

7. Avoid clichés, cliché thinking and irritating buzzwords.

Meeting hackneyed phrases or words in the text is the sign of non-professionalism, which means the story is dull and boring.

A good remedy to combat clichés is reading your work out loud. You will spot them immediately.

Train yourself to take an unconventional approach to ordinary things: what would I do if I were a fly caught in a spider web?

8. Get focused and prepared.

Identify the area you are going to explore. Read blogs and magazines on the topic.

Before sending your story to the editor, ask yourself: if I were the reader of this journal, would I be interested in the story?

Be prepared for a tough response.

Your work is rejected, what do you do next? Try to analyze the cause of the failure and request if possible the open and honest feedback from the editor.

Improve your writing style and never give up! There is one thing to remember in professional writing as well as essay writing: say more using less. Texts should contain only necessary words. The art of writing is not to write a lot, it is to be precise.

What is your key message?

Everything you write should support your main idea. Your desire to share emotions with the world is fine, but learn to limit yourself.

Be fair with your audience and respect their time. Tell them what they can expect right from the start. Maintain focus, develop your own writing style and don’t lose your way!

About The Author

This article was written by Michelle Brooks. Her professional interests include education, e-learning, self-development and career. Michelle writes short stories and eagerly shares her experience as the author.