The final tips article of the school year has arrived, and with this finale, it’s time to go over editing. This step can be hard, as it requires having to read through every single part of the writing, making sure it aligns with each other, and—of course—editing out what doesn’t stick. We all don’t want to take things out of a writing, and definitely not when it’s a piece you’ve worked so hard on. The following tips will give you a nudge on how to begin this editing process.

Tip 1: One More Time—Or Not

It has been covered before, but on the editing level, too much repetition can make the writing stale and lackluster. Mix it up! Look up synonyms for certain words, change them out, see what works best. If you’re writing in a darker setting and have the word “ugly” pop up a few times too many, you can swap it out for words like “grotesque” or “twisted”.  If you use “sweet” a lot (as in candy-sweet), you could use “honeyed” or “sugary”. Use the internet to its full extent, or a dictionary if that’s what you prefer.

Tip 2: Do I Need That?

This part of editing is the trickiest. Sometimes, as we read through the finished draft of a writing, we might notice parts that stray from the main plot too much or just don’t sit well with the flow. That may mean it needs to be taken out. Infodumping can be quite common, especially when we get really excited over a certain topic or scene. However, these instances can slow down the plot rather than enhance it. Instead of chunking all the information together, sprinkle it throughout the book, be vague when needed to keep your readers interested. You can build a plot without having all the wonderful details clumped together. Maybe some information doesn’t need to be there

Tip 3: The Art of Consistency

Brilliant ideas fill a writer’s mind. We need to keep consistency throughout a story for it to flow cohesively. Make sure when you go back through the story that character descriptions, historical events, places, and actions are the same—unless stated otherwise. A reader might get confused if at the start of the book a character, for example, has pink hair and in the next scene they have blue without any explanation in the rest of the story. This doesn’t always apply to parts where the writer wants to create suspense and mystery, but it is important to hint at what happened and how it changed. So, make sure the events and descriptions line up while editing that masterpiece of yours!

Spinning stories and poems from the depths of our minds can be overwhelming. On top of that, correct grammar can add another layer of stress. And when trying to write down that super amazing idea as fast as possible before it slips your mind, who has time for proper grammar? Maybe the way you capitalize and create sentences is to give the reader an enhanced reading experience. For those who struggle with concepts like proper capitalization, end and dialogue punctuation, these tips will hopefully help you gain knowledge of grammar (and not sound like a lecturing teacher).

Tip 1: Professional Yapper

Dialogue can be a key building block to a story—it can even be incorporated into poetry. Dialogue pushes the plot forward, adding character development and depth to the story. It can help uncover a mystery the story is based on, build the love story of pining characters, anything that comes to mind! The words said from characters—or the writer, depending on what kind of writing—builds mass, putting together a framework for reader’s to enjoy and resonate with. Adding punctuation like commas, periods, or em dashes can advance the plot. Periods show the character is done talking, commas show there may be more for the character to say or show who’s talking. Em dashes can show interruption or the character getting a new idea mid-sentence. Be sure to add the right punctuation to make sure your readers know how the character reacts and feels!

Tip 2: Capitalization is Key

Every sentence starts with a capital letter. It’s an integral part of grammar and writing in general. Some letters and words can hold importance with capitalization. Imbuing your writing with meaningful capitalization can add the emphasis you’re looking for. Capitalizing a certain object makes it sound like the one and only, an oddity in its singularity. Titles are also an important thing to capitalize, showing the importance of them and the weight that they carry. Whatever you deem crucial in your writing, it may be helpful to capitalize it.

Tip 3: The End. The End? The End!

Punctuation can pack a punch with just a stroke of a pen or a press of a key. They show finality, expression, and questions. Commas divvy up information to show spacing and that cat, dog, and mouse are not a mutated dog cat mouse hybrid. Ellipses, or the 3 dots conjoined together, can be used to show the trailing of a thought, or the dying of a character’s words on their tongue. Em dashes can also be used to show the interruption of a thought with a different thought or more information. However you choose to emphasize your writing, be sure to add the proper punctuation!

Themes are what sum up the entirety of a piece of writing. It can show the struggles of one person against society, an old tale told to children to behave, or any message you want to convey. Themes are everywhere! They can also be a tough thing to nail down. What is it that you want your audience to get out of your writing? What is the emotion you want to evoke? What should be the lesson learned? Maybe you’ve already written 3,000 words without thinking about the scope of the plot. These fresh tips will help you figure out what theme you want your writing to follow.

Tip 1: From the Top of Idea Hill

From the brains of writers around the globe, ideas seem to appear out of thin air. However, some of these ideas may seem frivolous and not fully thought out. For the ones that you do want to flesh out, key words and initial feelings can help draw out the message you want to send to your readers. Is the idea more dark with underlying tones of angst and darkness? Are you writing about a small little village where every building is whimsical and the air drips with romance? Ideas like these can spark an underlying message you want your readers to walk away with at the end of your writing. Maybe the brooding, shadow-filled city with a brewing uprising is to show the social inequalities of the wealthy and the middle class. Or, maybe the vibrant village with blushing sideways glances and awkward conversations is meant to show that love can happen to anyone in any way. Find that message, and use it to build your story!

Tip 2: Coincidence? I Think Not!

Word choice dictates how the theme of your story is interpreted. Sometimes, certain words will appear more than once. Like the above example, the dark city with an inevitable uprising  can have words like “inequality” or “poverty” orbiting the idea or in an already written story. Reoccurring words that fit well into the narrative can hint at the message you’re trying to convey to your readers, even if you don’t realize it. Use these words that filtered into your writing or mind before you’ve written to construct the theme!

Tip 3: Resonate, Refine, Review

Who is your target audience? Maybe you're writing a story for middle readers, but your word choice is at a higher maturity level. Reconsider your audience, and if you want to keep that target audience, possibly reconsider the words you use to keep them engaged and interested. Sometimes, when it comes to reviewing how well you conveyed your message, it may help to look at other published works that revolve around the same theme. Gather notes on what they did and if you think it would better your own piece of literature. Try things out and see how they fit!

New school year, new tips! These articles will focus around fitting a theme into your writing, enhancing your word vocabulary, correcting common punctuation mistakes we all make from time-to-time, and editing!

We, as writers, have our own dictionary ingrained into our minds from an early age. This dictionary expands and grows as we give it lots of nutrients from books, TV shows, play scripts, poetry, and more! However, a branch of this dictionary could possibly seem…stale. Maybe it’s lacking a word or two, or a word that just doesn’t seem to fit the mood you’ve set. Here are some helpful tips to overcome those prickly branches and let loose a plethora of leaves decorated with brand new words for you to use at your disposal.

Tip 1: Cinnamon Synonyms

Similar words are oh-so-sweet! We all want to make our writing the best we can do, but sometimes we come up blank for a word, or the word you can think of just doesn’t fit. Enter Thesaurus. Thesaurus gives not only a handful of various synonyms, but synonyms for nouns, verbs, and example sentences. There are strong matches for certain noun and verb meanings, as well as weak matches. Thesaurus is a helpful website to find the perfect word to make your writing masterpiece.

Tip 2: Books, Books, Good For The Heart

Books offer great writing tips, even if it’s a really good story or poem. They are everywhere! Whether books are in the form of paper, digital, or audio, they are easily accessible. Of course, to find the paperback and hardback versions of books, you can go to bookstores or the bookstore’s website to buy them. Powells, Barnes & Noble, and public libraries are great examples for finding physical copies. For digital, sites like SORA, Amazon Kindle, Libby, and more offer ebooks. Along with these stores and sites, audio books can be found in them, too!

Tip 3: To Media, and Beyond!

Documentaries, comedies, country, pop, horror, and fantasy. Sprinkled in these types of media are hidden gems of descriptive words. Whether it be in the main character’s dialogue, or the narrator’s telling of the migration of a flock of birds, flavorful words can be found everywhere! Netflix, Disney+, and even basic cable TV can provide wonderful examples of descriptive language. Any piece of media can be the beginning of an adventure to collect new words!

The final tips article for the school year has arrived. With this final article edition, it goes over how you, as a writer, can keep track of all your unique ideas and notes for future or ongoing projects. We have times where we have an amazing idea that we’re eager to write about and think that we’ll remember it, but when the time comes for needing it, we forget! These tips will help combat the reliance of memory so you can remember all of those wonderful ideas.

Tip 1: Good Ol’ Fashion Notebook

Some of us have an easier time writing by hand in a physical notebook. Having a physical copy of your ideas can help you keep track of what you want to write about and the things you want to add to ongoing writings. If you’re out and about, you can carry a small notebook with you to be able to jot down those pressing ideas so you don’t forget them. 

Tip 2: Sticky Note Mayhem

This tip ties in with the notebook idea. Sticky notes are small pieces of paper that can grab your attention wherever you put them. If you write an idea down on one and stick it where you would see it the most, you’re sure to remember that brilliant idea of yours. With a diverse array of sticky note designs and colors, you can assign different topics to the different color or design. 

Tip 3: Digital Realm

Some of us may not like writing by hand, and that’s okay! That’s where digital notetaking comes in. With many platforms and apps to do this, digital note-takers have a wide variety to choose from. From sites like Google Docs to even Canva, these platforms can be used to personalize your notes and keep all your information right at your fingertips.

With this addition to helpful writing tips, this article goes over ways to inspire yourself and create new or build upon already existing writing ideas. Sometimes it is hard to come up with new ideas to write about, often making you feel stuck. To cure this temporary inspiration shortage, here are a few tips to spark your imagination and get that pencil going.

Tip 1: Pick Up A Book.

Everyone has found at least one book in their life they truly loved and felt inspired by. Using these prime examples of literature can help illuminate a pathway of inspiration. Whether it be from classics like Dracula and The Hobbit to other popular novels including Ready Player One and Fourth Wing, the themes of these books can lead to your very next story, poem, or addition of your piece of writing. When it comes to this, however, make sure your writing is of originality and not plagiarized.

Tip 2: Writing Prompts

It is easy to look up writing prompts on Google or even social media, but how many of us truly use them? These short writing prompts can help you cultivate new writing projects to aid you in developing your writing skills. Try one out that fits your style or that seems interesting to you. These can be lighthearted to action-filled prompts that start a whole new story or poem idea. It also doesn’t hurt to try a new genre to spark inspiration.

Tip 3: Memory Cache

We all have our very own stockpile of memories, whether they be our earliest, fuzzy and blurred memories or new, vibrant and bold ones. Using a memory can help boost your inspiration level and help you grow as a writer. You can also use the emotions attached to those memories to build off of when it comes to certain events you want to portray.

This article is about how to keep the writing flow going, and not get stuck on the “what happens next?” questions. When you get stuck, it often leads to feeling doubtful about your writing, wanting to trash the whole idea, or even wanting to stop writing altogether, especially combined with feelings of imposter syndrome or comparison. Here are some tips to maintain your writing creativity and flow.

Tip 1: Go With the Creative Flow

Sometimes going with the flow of your brain is easier than brainstorming how to continue your writing. If your brain has an idea, try it out! There are no wrongs when it comes to writing your very own creation. There’s always a chance where that idea doesn’t quite fit with what you’re writing, but then you now have an idea to use elsewhere. Give yourself the freedom to try something new, even if it doesn’t turn out one hundred percent. 

Tip 2: Timeline Importance

Having trouble keeping the events of your writing straight? Try a timeline! When it comes to writing novels or short stories, and even poems, it can sometimes be hard to keep track of what should happen next and what comes later. Streamlining everything into a specific timeline can be beneficial for keeping track of all your important plot happenings. Timelines help keep track of your writing progress, make it easier to remember what you want to add next, and feel more accomplished. 

Tip 3: Collect, Collect, Collect!

While reading through a book, article, or other forms of literature, sometimes there’s interesting words or phrases used. Keeping note of these fun, unique words and phrases can help inspire your writing creativity! Also study sentence flow, dialogue tags, or any other interesting elements to inspire your own writing. Of course, when noting these phrases, you should always rewrite it and never copy it in order to remain ethical and not plagiarize. But compiling what you find interesting can be very helpful to get back on the writing train, and grow yourself as a writer. 

Welcome to The Waves’ first ever Tip Article! Writing can be hard, but we have advice on how to make it a little bit easier. Each of our Tip Articles will cover different aspects of writing, with helpful advice that can be applied to all genres and all writings, whether that be sci-fi novels or romantic poetry. 

This article is about banning perfectionism. Oftentimes, we want our writing to be perfect on the first go. This can lead to abandoned stories, self-doubt, and the constant pressure that you’re not a good enough writer. Here are some tips and tricks to abandon your perfectionism. 

Tip 1: Write First, Edit Later

Writing and editing are two different mindsets, and both require you to be fully present. You’ll never move on to the next paragraph, the next page, the next draft, if you’re constantly stuck “perfecting” what you’ve already got. To put it another way, you’ll never get to real writing if you’re stuck rewriting. If you feel the need to constantly go back and revise your writing, change your font color to white, that way you can’t read it, and continue this way until you’re done. When it’s time to go back and edit, change your font to black. This exercise helps break the pressures of perfection, and can be a fun challenge!

Tip 2: Set a Daily Word Count – And Don’t Judge!

Setting a daily word count can serve as a lifeline. Keep it reasonable – set yourself up for success by setting small goals and gradually increasing them. This means first focusing on quantity, and then, after you have something to work with, you can focus on quality. After all, you can’t edit something if there’s nothing written. Focus every day on meeting your word count – without judging what you’ve written. Even deliberately not reading what you’ve written for a few days can be beneficial.

Tip 3: Find a Second Opinion

Getting a second opinion on your writing can be a refreshing break from how you perceive your own writing. Ideally, ask someone outside your family. It’s important that they are just as eager to help you improve as well as eager to speak the truth. Getting fresh eyes on your beloved writing can be scary, but it can help you see outside of your own criticisms and mannerisms. Ask for specific feedback (e.g. sentence lengths, plot, places you need help on) to get the best results! Look for support on any shortcomings you think you have as a writer, and ask your ‘fresh eyes’ to help you keep track of these. 

We hope you enjoyed these tips, and perhaps found some useful! Remember, writing is unique to each individual, so some of these may work for you and others not, and that’s just fine! Try to experiment and find what works for you; if you have more tips, feel free to let us know through our contact form. Please stay tuned for our next tip article, and thank you for checking out The Waves: Literary Magazine.