Hope by Terry Tyler, Top 10 Writing Tips, Author Shelley Wilson
Authors, Books, Indie Author, The Writing Process, Thriller, Top 10 Writing Tips, Writing

Top 10 Writing Tips by Author Terry Tyler @TerryTyler4 #Top10WritingTips

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Welcome to week 4 of our Top 10 Writing Tips by… feature. If you’ve missed any of the other top tip posts you can find them all HERE. Please feel free to pop over and connect with the wonderful authors who have taken part.

Next up for the challenge is author, Terry Tyler.

Terry Tyler, Top 10 Writing Tips, Author Shelley Wilson

Top 10 Writing Tips by Terry Tyler

Terry is a writer, with 19 books on Amazon. She’s obsessed with The Walking Dead and all things post-apocalyptic, she also loves South Park, Game of Thrones, autumn and winter, history, and most books/films/TV series to do with war/battles/gangsters. Terry is a vegan who falls off the wagon now and again. She lives in the north east of England with her husband, who she loves even more than Daryl Dixon.

Here are Terry’s top ten writing tips:

  1. First of all: don’t panic if the first draft leaves a lot to be desired. In the words of Terry Pratchett, ‘the first draft is you telling the story to yourself’.  It’s the raw material that you will turn into a publishable novel, the stage at which you get to know your characters, find out which ideas work and which don’t, work out better plot developments as you’re writing―if some of it sucks, that’s fine, because you will be making all those necessary improvements in the redrafts.  Which leads me to…
  2. Redraft, redraft, redraft, and then go over it just once more. Redraft when you’re sick of the sight of it; if you’re not sick of it by the time it’s ready for publication, you probably haven’t redrafted enough.  Start from the beginning each time; don’t jump from one chapter/scene to another, because you need to see the book as a whole.  You get better at it, as you practise the craft; I’ve published fifteen novels, and the most recent are much tighter than the earlier ones.
  3. Understand that it takes a while for your characters to turn into three-dimensional people in your own mind. Think about them when you’re not writing.  Be them; imagine yourself walking in their shoes.  I tend to be quite a way through the first draft before I know who they really are.  Some writers construct detailed bios for them, but I don’t favour this, because people are more than just a list of characteristics/facts.  Getting inside a character’s head is about their inner thoughts, their motivations, their hopes and fears.
  4. As I write early drafts, I compile a list of slang words/adjectives/dialogue tics used by each character, to make sure they don’t all use the same ones. I pin it to the noticeboard in front of my desk, and refer to it constantly.  Be continually aware of not slipping from ‘their’ voice to your own, particularly during a longer speech in which you want to deliver information, or a certain point of view.  For instance, your own word choices might work for Megan, who speaks as eloquently as you do, but Lisa may not; you need to work with each character’s own levels of education/articulation.
  5. If you’re not sure about a fact, like when a film came out, when something was invented, the distance between two cities, or the spelling of a foreign name, don’t guess―look it up. When I first started writing there was no internet, and I had to make lists of all the stuff I needed to know, and go to the library once a week.  Now, we have Google―yes, your readers will notice if you write about Anne Boleyn eating potatoes (they didn’t appear in this country until the reign of Elizabeth I).
  6. During the first draft: before you log out at the end of a writing session, write notes for what comes next, or the next chapter. This way, when you go back to it, you’ll know exactly where you’re going, instead of staring at the screen and your mind going blank!  Read through what you wrote last time, which will help to put you back in the ‘zone’―then, if you have the notes or plan already written down for the next bit, you’re good to go!
  7. Make sure you know when you should use ‘me’ rather than ‘I’. As a reviewer for a book blog team, this is one error I come across time and time again. Not sure?  It’s very simple.  Take these three sentences:

Bob took Sally and I to the pub.

The result was good for Joe, but not so good for Mary and I.

Lily travelled home with Ryan and I.

Ryan and I gave Lily a ride home.

To determine whether you should use ‘I’ or ‘me’, simply remove the ‘Sally and’, ‘Mary and’ and ‘Ryan and’.  If it still reads as it should, it’s correct.  Thus, the first three sentences are wrong, and the last one is right.

  1. You may be one of those writers who is able to do their own editing, if you’re blessed with good attention to detail and are able to write as a reader and be honest when something isn’t working/needs cutting, but everyone needs a proofreader. Don’t believe website blurb―get recommendations from established writers.  Friends can help spot typos, etc, but they won’t have the expertise of a professional; they may not be a hundred percent on the rules of punctuation and capital letters, etc.
  2. …but don’t make the mistake of thinking that proofreaders and editors are good fairies with magic wands. Their job is not to turn a scrappy first draft into a saleable novel; that’s your responsibility.  Your novel should be as good as it can be before the editor gets their hands on it, and it should be one step away from publishing before the proofreader sees it.
  3. You will have read, so often, about the importance of the first chapter, even the first page or paragraph. That it has to hook the reader in, whether that reader is a member of the public or an agent or publisher.  I think, though, that a terrific final chapter is just as important.  If a reader enjoyed a book but thinks the ending was an anti-climax or too neatly tied up, this can turn a 5* review into a 3*.  It’s the bit that will stay in their heads when they’re telling others what they thought―and the last bit they read before they write a review.

Thank you for inviting me to your Top Tips feature, Shelley, and I hope your Writers Workshop students find this list helpful! My pleasure x

Huge thanks to Terry for sharing her top tips with us. If you want to check out her latest release HOPE, then click HERE.

You can also visit Terry on her blog, or follow her on Twitter.

Hope by Terry Tyler, Top 10 Writing Tips, Author Shelley Wilson

‘We haven’t elected a Prime Minister, we’ve elected a lifestyle’.

As the fourth decade of the 21st century looms, new PM Guy Morrissey and his fitness guru wife Mona (hashtag MoMo) are hailed as the motivational couple to get the UK #FitForWork, with Mona promising to ‘change the BMI of the nation’.

Lita Stone is an influential blogger and social media addict, who watches as Guy and Mona’s policies become increasingly ruthless. Unemployment and homelessness are out of control. The solution? Vast new compounds all over the country, to house those who can no longer afford to keep a roof over their heads.

These are the Hope Villages, financed by US corporation Nutricorp.

Lita and her flatmates Nick and Kendall feel safe in their cosy cyberspace world.  Unaware of how swiftly bad luck can snowball, they suspect little of the danger that awaits the unfortunate, behind the carefully constructed mirage of Hope.

Terry Tyler’s nineteenth published work is a psychological thriller that weaves through the darker side of online life, as the gap between the haves and the have-nots grows ever wider.  Whether or not it will mirror a dystopian future that awaits us, we will have to wait and see.

Published by shelleywilson72

Hello, I'm Shelley, an English multi-genre author. I write young adult/middle-grade supernatural and fantasy fiction and motivational adult self-help. I'm a proud mum of three and live in the West Midlands, UK. I love travelling in my VW camper, reading about Tudor and Viking history, and obsessing over to-do lists!

69 thoughts on “Top 10 Writing Tips by Author Terry Tyler @TerryTyler4 #Top10WritingTips”

    2. Thanks, Sam – and you’ll probably find your own way and work it out for yourself, like the rest of us, anyway!! I think it’s just the odd tip here and there that stays in your mind 🙂

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      1. My main problem Terry is fitting it into my day. I have such full days, busy days & I just don’t seem to fit in focussed ‘writing’ time. I guess if I’m serious about it, I’d find the time 🤔😣

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I know, April – I often don’t decide on my ending until I’m some way through the first draft. I know the approximate way it ends, but it often takes writing the book before I find that end with enough punch!

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  7. Thanks, Shelley – a ‘waaaah waaaah’ surprise this morning as I read it back and cringed at everything I’d written, and my bio and photo. And people ask me why I won’t do signing sessions/library events….. I think I’d have to stay at home forever afterwards!!! 😀 😀 😀

    Thanks so much for inviting me, dear Shelley xx

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      1. That’s a nice thing to say – it’s not humbleness, though, but just normal lack of confidence! I read something in the The Guardian the other day, in which Ian Rankin was saying that every time he starts a book he gets scared that it’s no good. I think you maybe need to start worrying when you DON’T feel like that, I don’t know. They do say, though, that self-consciousness is a form of narcissism; it would be nice to be one of those breezy people who just waltz about, doing their thing, not worrying what people think of them!

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    1. Hell, yes. Nothing like reading your own book 6 months later and seeing all the bits that should have been taken out, still there. It’s why I’ve learned to do another draft after the first proofread, because at that stage I haven’t looked at the book for 3 or 4 weeks 🙂

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  9. The ‘I’ or ‘me’ tips are excellent. Now I will always know. Isn’t it amazing what you learn from reading tips from other writers? Something I struggle on always comes over as so simple with the advice from other writers. Now I’ll never get ‘I’ and ‘me’ mixed up. 😀
    Thanks so much Shelley and Terry.

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    2. Glad it helped, Hugh – there’s a rule about who and whom which is really easy, too, but I’ve forgotten what it is – I shall let you know when I find out!

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      1. Lol, I look forward to hearing what it is, Terry. As a dyslexic, all these simple tips help. It’s amazing how I always remember the simple ones. The other one that stills get me is Mother/Father or mum/dad. If you know of a simple way to remember if it’s a capital M or D or a small m or d, I’d be delighted to hear it.

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    3. ps, when I’m writing a new POV, I sit there and imagine myself as them, so I get their dialogue, inner and spoken, right. Give it a go, it works!

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  12. Thanks for these tips Shelley and Terry! I’ve only recently discovered Terry’s books and am devouring them all as we speak. I love the ‘me and I’ tip – along with all the others 🙂 Just fabulous!

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    2. Thank you so much, Debbie – I spotted a review from you on Goodreads, which was gratefully appreciated! I love that you love my stuff…. 😀

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    2. Thanks G!…. yes, I gave that one some thought, because I’ve seen so many advice posts suggesting writing detailed bios and lists of info about your characters, but I’ve never done that, so I sat and thought about how I DO do it. And it’s that – when I’m doing what Carol Hedges calls ‘walking the plot’, I become Evie, or Byron, or whoever (WIP characters!) in my head 😀

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  14. #3 and #6 especially. And all the others, come to think of it! But I particularly like the notion of discovering your characters as you go along, rather than those endless lists the creative writing manuals get you making.

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      1. Thanks, Shelley – characterisation is one of the few things I feel qualified to give advice on, so that’s much appreciated xx

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Yes, yes, yes – to me, that’s the way to write character stereotypes only, Jessica! And I find I really DO do as I said in #3 – my latest WIP has 3 character POVs, and it took until half way through the first draft to ‘get’ the main one, and I didn’t really know who the other two were until I started the second draft. I’ve just had to do some SERIOUS dialogue re-writing!

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  16. Really great tips, TT. I really like this series as there’s always something to learn. I so agree with that ‘if you’re not sick of it’ bit about redrafting. Great tip about the slang and colloquialisms of the characters. I’ll remember that if I ever write another novel. I definitely want to, so I’m storing these suggestions 🙂

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    2. Thanks for reading, VP! Trouble with ‘the list’ is remembering to look at it, but it DOES help…. only yesterday, I was thinking, now, would Evie call Wolf a dickhead or an tosser? Then I checked and remembered….!!!

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