Third month of doing WritingTipWed on my Twitter where every Wednesday I post a writing tip! If you

Third month of doing WritingTipWed on my Twitter where every Wednesday I post a writing tip! If you want to see these weekly, follow me @/EmilyLaJaunie.

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#WritingTipWed 9: Talking to someone will often lead to more ideas and more solutions than mulling it over by yourself. It can be a close friend or an internet stranger. It will also help you catch problematic and/or offensive concepts that you weren’t aware of.

#WritingTipWed 10: If you’re defensive of your writing, like I was when I started, then ask yourself why are you afraid of criticism? Why is it so bad that you didn’t write something good? Why are you afraid of “failing”? Why do you view it as a failure? 

Whether you show someone your 1st or 6th draft, don’t think you won’t receive criticism. If you always think your work is flawless, or you can do no wrong, you’ll always be disappointed. Accept that you’ll make mistakes and learn from them.

If you get negative feedback on your work, you are not a failure, you did not fail. You simply learned how to make it better than it was before. Constructive criticism is necessary to improve as a writer. You can’t get better on your own.

The root of my defensiveness was not wanting to admit I was wrong in front of the critiquer. I learned to listen to them quietly, thank them, think it over alone, and later discuss with them about the changes I made from their critique.

#WritingTipWed 11: Research if you’re writing outside of your race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and/or culture. Know what is considered offensive/a stereotype, how things are described, and how their viewpoints/beliefs differ from yours.

Also, hire a Sensitivity Reader for the groups you are writing about. They will spot cultural inaccuracies, biases, stereotypes, and problematic language. Salt & Sage Books have excellent Sensitivity Readers -> saltandsagebooks.com/sensitivity-expert-consultants/

#WritingTipWed 12: When introducing a new environment, decide how much detail you need to put in your description to set the atmosphere and align with your character’s traits. Don’t make it like a screenplay unless it’s necessary.