All Write - Fiction Advice

Experience provides writers with an understanding and knowledge of an assortment of subjects that would otherwise need a fair amount of imagination to convince a reader of the realism in your story. Our personal experiences of life provide the perfect fodder for our writing, whether they are gained through working in various environments and with certain people, experiences of the ups and downs of family life, or through travelling the world. Experience provides familiarity in writing. If we have some knowledge of or awareness of something – whatever it might be – then as writers we can use those experiences to help build around our writing in order to may it more enjoyable for the reader. I’ve been fortunate to have crammed in an awful lot in my life so far.   Some experiences have been fantastic and unforgettable, some have been hilarious, some joyous, and some just plain stupid, but they are all snippets that find their way into my writing because not only are they a

Everybody has experiences to share.   S ometimes, the best descriptions come from our personal experiences – the ‘been there and done it’ viewpoint.   There is truth in the adage ‘write what you know’. The reader may not know you’ve survived a car crash, and used it in your writing, or that you flew over the Grand Canyon in a hot air balloon, and therefore were able to relay the rich descriptions in a story – the only thing that concerns the reader is that the descriptions are so vivid that they feel real .   They are there , in the action and the story. Personal experiences add depth, perspective and so many layers to description.   That’s because we remember the happiness, the laughter, the sadness or the pain that accompanies those experiences.   We remember specific events or moments – be them tragic or exhilarating – and store them away for when they could be used in our writing. Most of our ideas for stories and novels stem from our past experiences, the kind of thing

As stated in part 1, there aren’t many writers who relish a rejection.   It’s a word that most fear, and some hate, while others – usually those experienced enough to have plastered an entire room with rejections – simply shrug and carry on. But the thing to remember with rejections is that not all are bad.   Receiving one can be a positive experience – although it won’t feel like it at the time. Turning rejection into a positive thing Is there such a thing? Actually there is.   Rejections can be, for want of a better cliché, a blessing in disguise.   Without them, writers wouldn’t be able to improve and develop.   But how is that possible? Rejections, on the whole, usually specify where the story lacks, whether it is weak, or needs stronger characterisation, or there maybe plot pitfalls etc. The editor might have taken the time to point out some possible improvements.   This means that the story could be strengthened rather than dumped into the nearest bin.  

Where writing is concerned, there is something that is always worth visiting time and again; another chance to look at every writer’s worst nightmare – rejection. Every writer will experience this – fact.   But it’s how we deal with the fallout that matters, how we prevent ourselves from feeding on the negativity it produces (or seems to) by seemingly giving up writing altogether in a fit of pique, or whether we spend months in our caves, sulking like children.   It’s all about how writers dust themselves off and carry on. And most writers do just that.   They absorb the news, process it, learn from it and move on.   To deal with rejection, however, writers must first need to understand what it actually means, because receiving a rejection isn’t always a bad thing.   It’s not the end of the world, it’s not the end of a writing career before it’s begun and it is not representative of complete dismissal either.   These are the instant negatives that writers assume. Many w