3 Ways to Grow as a Beginning Writer

By: Kaytlin Phillips

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Hi everyone! Today the awesome Kaytlin Phillips has a guest post for my blog! I am very proud to post it here! Alright let’s get going!

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Hey folks! If you’re just now hoping on the tour my name is Kaytlin Phillips and I am the founder of Writers’ Vision: A Christian Creative Community. When not over there you can find me on the blog I share with my sisters called Sisters Three or more often than not creating or getting lost in a made-up world. That’s a little about me and now for my guest post!

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When you’re first starting out as a writer all the info can be a little daunting or maybe you haven’t even got to that part of writing yet, maybe you just like taking the stories in your head and writing them down. That’s totally okay, whatever stage of beginning writer, or advanced writer, you find youself at these tips should help!

When I first started writing, I just wrote down my story ideas and then I shifted and started listening and reading to everything I could about writing which soon led to being overwhelmed. Everyone has a different opinion on how you should write a book but as Go Teen Writers’ say in their book Go Teen Writer: Write Your Novel, “There is no one right way to write a novel.” If there was someone would be a millionaire already. We’d all be successful and life would be so much easier for writers.

But since it doesn’t work like that, let’s look at three ways you can start improving you writing! They may seem obvious, but trust me they help!

1. Rewrite a Classic

This doesn’t mean you have to rewrite the whole book, just a paragraph or a chapter. Pick your favorite part of a classic and rewrite it in your own words. How would you have written the scene differently?

Then one you do that try rewriting the scene from a different POV and focus on showing instead of telling. Something you’ll notice with a lot of classics is they tend to do a lot of telling because not so long ago it didn’t matter. But now you have to show, not tell. So try it out.

2. Read with Intention

Read a lot of books, in all different genres. Fantasy, contemporary, classics, thriller, mystery, anything and everything you are comfortable with! Try out Middle Grade books and Yound Adult and New Adult and Childrens and Adult…and read with intention. Notice how the writers describe things differently in different genres and age categories.

Notice the way your favorite author describes the sky or the characters eyes. Read with the intent of learning all you can from the writer. This has helped me learn what I like to write and what I don’t and helped me experiment in my own writing with new styles and voices!

3. Pray Before you Write

I see a real difference in my writing when I pray before I start writing. I don’t remember to do it always, but when I ask God to guide my writing and to help me write the story He would have me write, the words come so much better!

So, don’t forget to involve your Creator in your creative process!

And that’s 3 ways to grow as a beginner writer! Let me know if that was helpful!

About: Kaytlin Phillips

Hello, I’m Kaytlin!

A homeschool grad, blogger, influencer, and the author of the MG fantasy World of Silence, Co-Author with my sisters, Marisa and Jaiden, of the YA Fantasy series The Dragon Prince Chronicles, and have been featured in the Seize the Night Anthology.

I first discovered a love for writing at the age of seven when I plagiarized a Roy Roger’s film into my own book. Since then I’ve become more creative and write books of my own invention, which are usually stories of hope, purpose, and redemption.  More often than not you can find me with my nose in a book, whisked away to some fictional setting.

Through my stories I long to present the Savior and His overwhelming love for us, I want everyone to know they are never too far gone for God to save them and that everyone has a purpose!

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