Tips for writing from a "non-writer"

When in need of a subject to write about it’s best to just start.  Write whatever is on your mind.  Sometimes there’s nothing specific there.  So another tactic is to keep a notepad handy throughout the day to jot down the thoughts and ideas that come your way.

If you’re working on a specific story, like for a novel, much the same advice applies: just start writing.  It’s ok to draft, or even complete, specific scenes from random parts of your story.  You can wait for the narrative to catch up to them, and maybe you’ll find better ways to write the scenes or better scenes to write.

Regardless, good writing takes work.  This is where I find difficulty with writing.  I’m not particularly patient with writing.  (I also have a hard time just writing and letting words flow, but that’s another problem.)  I’d like if everything in my head would just transfer to the paper and organize itself.  But that’s not the way it works.  I've found that my best experiences with writing are when I start with brainstorming and building an outline.  Then I can build paragraphs around my outline and end up with a half understandable paper.  The next steps are the ones I rarely get to: review/critique/editing and rewriting.

No matter how much sense your writing seems to make to you, it is almost guaranteed to confuse someone, including yourself, at some point.  This wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't so prevalent.  I have gone back and read samples of writing long after I've forgotten what I wrote and have been horrified to find how many parts just don’t make sense, whether because of missing words, impossible grammar, or bad spelling.  One way of short-circuiting such a discovery and saving a lot of time is to have several others read and edit it.  They’ll see the mistakes that your brain simply glossed over when you were writing it.  Beyond this they can also suggest adjustments to your writing style or let you know what you've done well or what they particularly enjoyed.

Finally comes rewriting.  There’s no way around this.  You've just got to sit down and accept or reject the suggestions you've received, making the appropriate changes to wording, sentences, voice, or even plot line.  This is where I kill my writing.  The rare chances I take to have my writing reviewed are rather enjoyable, but are possibly wasted because I rarely get around to rewriting unless it’s an assignment for a class.

So, what do you think?  Are these sound tips?  Have you tried any of these yourself?  Let me know!