Writers Top Five Important Elements in Writing

Five of my favorite posts on Padlet:  

"Accept Criticism: When you let someone read your work take anything that they say and consider what they are saying. The hardest part is don't become defensive over what is being said."    -- Brett Garden
I have never had problem with constructive criticism, in fact it has been my experience that when I have someone look at my writing the see the things I miss. Sometimes I forget that the reader may not know that my character is burdened.  I need to convey that.  Criticism is such a bad word, it really should be making your work stronger.  I welcome all the criticism I can get.  The great thing about it is you can take the advice or not, ultimately you are the writer but at the minimum you have at least considered the potential mishaps from your readers point of view!

"Point of view - I think this is the most important for me, especially as shifting POV can make an average story much more interesting. There are a few different types of point of view - first person, second person, third person and omniscient. One of my favorite exercises to do is take a story that has already been written and rewrite it in another perspective. Another fun thing to play around with is writing from the perspective of inanimate objects."  --Gabrielle Foster
I believe a good story can be made or broken depending on the point of view that the main character takes.  I once read a book that had to protagonist and they both took a first person point of view, it was terrible!  It was a series (the final) and it literally almost made me cry!  It was so hard to follow it broke the flow. I believe it was a major flaw in the writing.  I believe when you are considering your point of view, you must be careful to select the POV and for the love of all things good and right, if you are outlining and need to change the POV.. do it.



"Outline and Structure: This kind of goes along with the first one. Without a structure and outline as to what you want to write, and how the story will flow, the writing can feel unorganized and messy."   Carrie Jarnagin
 YES! Outlining is not for all writers, but in my experience outlining even if only a little helps keep stories on the right track.  I know non-outliners say it removes the creativity, the freedom I get that, but are you not being creative when you are jotting down your outline?  Yes!  It does not work for everyone and that if okay, for me however I believe it is essential to productive and concise writing.  Characters have a path, they are not wandering -- they do that in the outline process so you can then get very creative knowing what the plot points you are heading toward.  That does not mean that they can't find and follow a bunny trail but if the story is outlined you will discover that the bunny trail is not helpful much quicker. 


"Homonym Abuse- If there's one thing that drives me up the wall and around the bend crazy, it's homonym abuse. You know what I'm talking about. There, their, and they're, too, two, and to; you get the idea. I hate to go all English nerd on everyone, but you've got to admit. Homonym accuracy is crucial."  Olivia Pfeil
Ok I am going to jump on the wagon here. I believe as a writer you should know these simple grammatical rules!  It is important not so much in the beginning stages, during pre-write if you put your instead of you're that is fine.  Pre-writing is about getting the ideas down.  When we move to even the first draft I may let it go, as you are fervently tapping away on your keyboard.  However, by the time you are at the revision stage you need to have this worked out. It makes me crazy when I am doing a second peer edit and the same word is misused repeatedly.  Learning your own language will help you be a better writer and enjoy writing more! No more stops to ask yourself is is their or there?  They should be second nature.


"Have Fun!: If you are writing and are bored with your story, chances are others will be too. Throw some pizzaz in there and make it a good read! If you enjoy it, others will too, and if they don't, at least you are having fun with it!"   Carrie Jarnagin
While this is more advice than a writing element it is true for all stages!  When it is not fun for the writer, it is most likely not going to be fun for the reader.  So perhaps this idea is a part of each stage and is not just important but vital to the writing process.