Ten top tips to becoming a better writer

Hi guys @MalikaDreams and @JTaimeToi here

We’re just two friends who are trying to help out our fellow Wattpad writers, so please don’t be offended by anything we say. It’s supposed to be fun and educational so no offence is intended. Anyways, let’s start...

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A lot a people ask about critiquing their story and since I can’t physically read all y’alls stories I’m going to post this with the help of my friend MalikaDreams. In this you’ll find ten top tips which will help you to become a better writer- hopefully :p

This is basically going to be a mini rant sort of thing- so don’t expect anything to fomal :p But it should help y’all to become better writers. I (MalikaDreams) will mainly be giving the ideas in this and JTaimeToi is going to post it :)

So we’re Nicole and Maximus and we’re two very avid readers. However, we’ve noticed that some people on Wattpad have either forgotten how to read, write and sometimes both :p. You want your story to be liked by the readers? Then you have to be prepared to work for it, simple as. Writing isn’t something that happens overnight, even acclaimed authors such as Sarah Desson, Jacqueline Wilson, J K Rowling and Roald Dahl didn’t become great writers overnight. Yes, they probably have natural talent but it doesn’t mean that they instantly became great writers.

Anyways, that aside, here are a few tips that should help you to become better writers...

#1 Read

What has reading got to do with becoming a better writer? You might ask. Everything! Besides why won’t you read? Reading is fun, almost as fun as shopping :p The more you read, the more you’ll find out about different writing styles and the more you’ll be able to improve your own writing. Seeing how other authors write will also give you an eye for what you can and can’t do whilst writing. Basically it will enhance your writing style immensely.

My view (JTaimeToi)

There are too many authors on Wattpad who are writing just because they’ve seen a few authors with loads of reads and they want to emulate that. That’s fine but if you’re writing drivel then there’s a problem. More often than not the said authors write and then they spam people or the SYS club telling people to read their stories. Now, I’m not saying every author is like this, but because such a large number of people use Wattpad, there are loads of people who do this. Their stories in effect lack essence and style. Reading will help to improve this as it will firstly help them improve their grasp of the English language which will in turn help them to write better

# 2 Be Original!

OK, how many best friend love stories, student-teacher love stories, dystopians involving the plight of women or takes on Megan Meade’s Guide to the McGowan boys have you read? (Sorry, I don’t read other genres so I’m not sure of any horror, paranormal etc clichés). Exactly to damn many! I’ve also seen way to many 1D or Justin Beiber fan fics. LEAVE THEM ALONE! [Though if someone wrote a decent JLS one I ‘MIGHT’ read it ;)]

It’s good to gain ideas from other stories, hence why it’s important to read BUT not at the expense of badly copying the story! More often than not authors try to copy something good that they read but they destroy it with bad grammar, spelling and writing skills which even my six year old brother exceeds.

Come on be honest, when you read you liken it to something similar you’ve read before? I know I do...this is why it’s bad to be clichéd. People will not appreciate your writing in its own right even if it’s good... Recently I read a story which was original but it was so over the place that I couldn’t enjoy it, likewise I’ve read really good original stories.