#ask scully

READ OTHER WORKS

This is probably my biggest tip when it comes to writing. Whether it’s published, physical works or your fav fanfic author, read what inspires YOU and STUDY IT. Let me be clear, I'm not saying copy that story beat for beat, we never condone plagiarism. But consuming the stories you want to be able to create can be a great starting off point. You’re struggling with filler words? Reading other stories is a useful way to learn new words, or learn how certain words can be used in different prose. 

KEEP PRACTISING

It sounds a bit of an obvious answer, but you truly just have to keep writing and keep editing. You can always edit a weak draft, you can’t edit something when it’s not even there. The amount of times I’ve read over a draft and gone “hang on….this doesn’t make sense” and took the time to adjust accordingly. Maybe you’ve noticed you’ve used a certain word one too many times and it reads a little stiff and repetitive, cool! Now you can fix it (a thesaurus is a wonderful tool for that specific example)

PLEASE don’t be afraid of the word ‘said’, but don’t let it become a crutch

I’m a human being, so about 80% of the time I’m just saying shit with no applicable emotion to it. It’s okay for a sentence to end with “he/she said”. However, that other 20% of the time I’m talking? I’m going to be speaking with emotion. “Said” is a crutch when followed by an adverb. “He/she said sadly”. This might be a personal preference for me, but a good case of showing instead of telling focuses on the physical. You got a sad character? Before they speak their eyes well up with tears, hands balled in fists by their sides. Consider physical indicators of emotion and utilise that to show rather than tell. Readers are smart, they’ll pick up on the emotional indicators. If you feel you’re writing too much internal dialogue, use that physical indicator instead. For example, Character A is having some internal dialogue at Character B because they are currently annoyed with them. Again, readers are smart and we don’t need to hold their hand. SHOW THEM THE ANNOYANCE. When Character B enters the room, Character A stays silent and rolls their eyes. They take a couple steps back, withdrawing into themselves. That will also speak of their feelings without needing that internal dialogue.

This also can tie into descriptions of places or objects; when looking to describe a place consider your own senses. What would you smell? See? Hear? Touch? These are things your characters will feel and experience, adding realism to your world and the story overall. It paints a picture for your reader. A simple smell your character notices on the breeze feels like a simple descriptor, but maybe it reminds them of something. Or someone. “The smell of cigarette smoke wrapped itself amongst her hair, promising to not go anytime soon." As an example which ties into my next point a little-

Personification of objects and places

Cigarette smoke can’t promise you jack shit. But I LOOVEEE when a story utilises language like that to add some weight to a character’s emotions or the setting. It’s more descriptive, more fun to read and fleshes out details that might otherwise go unutilised. It can be a simple change but that doesn’t make it bad or boring :)