8 Best Writing Tips to Become a Best Storyteller

by Laura Watson
http://www.lauralwatson.com/author.html

Readers love a good story. What makes a good story?  It’s the details.  The little things that make a big difference when it comes to writing. Writing is not as simple as it sounds, especially if you want to become an author one day. You need to learn how to create characters and their personalities, build the plot, and add in some subplots too.

You also need to think about the setting, what your characters are wearing, and all those minor details that come into play when you’re reading a book. If you’re ready to take your writing skills up a notch, then keep reading for some useful tips on becoming a better storyteller.

1.    Know Your Audience

Before you even sit down to write, you need to know who you’re writing for. Their age range, gender identity, ethnicity, and even their socio-economic status. This will help you tailor your writing style to match your readership. You don’t want to write something too complicated for children or something that’s too simplistic for adults. It is not something like giving lectures or a formal speech; your tone must be friendly to appeal the audience.

You should also know how many pages you’re supposed to write for each age range. Reading comprehension varies from child to child, so if you want to write for younger audiences, then you’ll want to keep it shorter and simpler. If you want to write for older audiences, then you can go into more detail.

2.    Research, Research, Research

The best way to make your story believable is to get your facts right. Researching the setting, what your characters are wearing, and even their food and drink of choice. Whatever it is that you’re writing about, make sure you get it right. If you’re writing historical fiction, then you’ll want to check out some history facts to help you get it right.

If you’re writing something set in the modern day, then you can make use of online fact checkers to make sure you’ve got the details spot on. You can also make use of Google search to find images related to the topic you’re writing about. This will help you to get a better visual of what you’re writing about, and it will also make it easier for you to add the correct details into your story.

3.    Dialogue Is Key

As a writer, you want your readers to be invested in your story. One of the best ways to do this is to make use of quality dialogue. This will help you to establish your characters’ personalities as well as their relationships with one another. It also helps to move the plot along so it’s not just a series of events that led nowhere. Make sure that you know the difference between exposition, which is when your characters are explaining something, and the dialogue.

Exposition is great for moving the plot along, but dialogue is what keeps your readers interested. If you’re not sure how to write dialogue, then make use of the internet. There are some great dialogue examples out there that will help you get a better idea of how to write great dialogue.

4.    Show, Don’t Tell

This is a big part of writing, especially if you’re writing in the third person perspective. You don’t want to be telling your readers how your characters feel or what they’re thinking. Instead, you want to show them. This means that you should be using action, imagery, and dialogue to help readers understand your characters better.

It also means that you should be using the 5 senses when writing about your characters or setting. You want your readers to feel like they’re actually there. This will make your story more immersive and will help to keep your readers interested.

5.    Be Descriptive

As we’ve already mentioned above, you want to describe your characters and settings as much as you can so that your readers can truly visualize them. This will also make it easier for you to write your story. You don’t want to run into a problem where you’re unsure about how something should look or sound.

Be descriptive with your characters’ clothing, their surroundings, and the sounds they’re making. This will help you to write your story faster, and it will also make it easier to edit once you’ve finished writing. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas on how to describe your characters and settings, then check out some books for inspiration.

6.    Use the 5 Senses

As we’ve already mentioned above, you want to make use of the 5 senses when writing your story. You want your readers to feel like they’re actually there. This will make it easier for them to visualize your story and will help them stay immersed in it. If you’re writing from a first-person perspective, then you can also use the 5 senses to describe yourself. This will help your readers get to know your character better and will also help to move the story along.

7.    Be Relatable

As writers, you want your readers to be invested in your stories, but you also want to be relatable. This means that you need to make sure that your characters aren’t too perfect. Readers will have trouble relating to a story if they don’t have anyone to relate to.

If you’re writing a story about a teenager, then make sure that your character isn’t the most popular kid in school, the smartest kid in school, or the kid with a perfect life. Your readers want to be able to relate to your characters, so make sure that they’re relatable.

8.    Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

Writing is more than just sitting down and putting pen to paper. You need to be a creative person and to be able to come up with new ideas. This is where experimenting comes in. If you’ve ever written a story, then you know that it can sometimes feel like a never-ending cycle. You write a couple of chapters, and then you hit a roadblock and can’t move forward.

This is when it’s time to experiment. You don’t want to force yourself to write something that isn’t coming naturally to you. Instead, take a break. Do some research, write something else, or do something else creative to get your brain going again. Writing is a skill that takes time to master, so don’t expect to be writing best-sellers after a couple of months. This is a skill that will take years to master, but with these best writing tips, you can become a better storyteller.