10 Best Writer Hacks: Tips to Make the Writing Process Easier
- Jenna Moreci
- 7 days ago
- 7 min read
HelloOoOo everybody!
So you wanna write a book, huh? That’s awesome! I'm excited for you. But I'm also terrified, because writing a book is hard as fuck and you're probably gonna lose your mind.
The writing process is complicated. There are so many steps along the way, and it can be really overwhelming. So today I'm helping you out and hitting you with the ten writer hacks that will make the writing process a little bit easier. These are tips and tricks that I employ, or that friends of mine have used and found very successful. Hopefully, they'll be just as useful for you. Let's go through the ten tips and tricks you should know if you wanna write a book while still keeping your sanity intact.
This video is sponsored by Skillshare. As always, all opinions are my own.
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Number 1: For Realistic Conversations, Write Your Dialogue Straight Through Without Any Narrative
A lot of writers struggle with making their dialogue feel authentic and giving it a natural flow. And quite often, shifting back and forth between narrative and dialogue plays a huge part in this issue. Your narrative is your writer's voice: it's professional and correct. Whereas dialogue is your character’s voices: it's messy and real. Switching back and forth between the two can result in clunky dialogue or boring conversations that go nowhere.
Instead, when you come to a dialogue-heavy scene, ditch the narrative and write the conversation straight through. No pauses for description or body language, no dialogue tags, just the voices. This allows you to craft the conversation naturally and without any interruptions. Then you can read through it and eliminate anything that comes across as unnecessary or forced. Once the conversation is up to your standards, that's when you add the narrative and dialogue tags. Writing conversations like this will often make your dialogue way more natural and a lot quicker to craft.
Number 2: When Writing Conversations Featuring a Large Number of Characters, Color-Code
A lot of authors write ensemble casts, which means having to navigate dialogue featuring four or more characters at a time. In order to make these conversations less overwhelming, assign each character a color. For example: Tobias’ dialogue can be red, Leila’s can be purple, Orion's can be gray, and Delphi’s can be blue. Color-coding the dialogue will clarify who is speaking at any given time, making it much easier for you to follow.
And it'll also let you know if anyone's been left out of the conversation. Has a particular character only had one line? Maybe they don't need to be in the scene. Maybe they don't need to be in the book, period. Once you finish the exchange, you can switch the color scheme to black and move on.
Number 3: For Spotting Mistakes, Lulls, and Awkward Wording, Read Your Manuscript Out Loud to an Audience
Everyone knows that reading your manuscript out loud is the easiest way to spot mistakes. The problem is, it's super tedious. Sometimes writers will have a program read the content out loud to them, which can work, except these programs don't usually take inflection or tone of voice into consideration. Thus, a great writer hack that can subvert all of these issues is to read your writing out loud to an audience. You don't need a literal audience. It can be just one friend or one family member.
Not only will this help you spot all those pesky mistakes, but it'll also give you an outside perspective that can tell you if the scene was interesting or if they were intrigued. It'll also help build your confidence, as you're forcing yourself to share your writing with another person. And the more you do that, the easier it'll become.
Number 4: Struggling With Physical Descriptions? Remember F.E.S.H.O.
F.E.S.H.O. is an acronym standing for figure, eyes, skin, hair, and other.
Figure means the character's body type: are they tall and muscular, or are they short and curvaceous?
Next, we've got eyes, which mostly refers to eye color, but you can also include shape and size.
Next is skin, because describing skin color is a must.
Then we've got hair, which refers to color, length, and texture. Like a short blonde bob or long auburn curls.
And last, we have other, which refers to any defining features your character has, like freckles or tattoos.
If you're ever not sure how to describe your character's appearance, just remember F.E.S.H.O., and you'll get that description written.
Number 5: Struggling With Setting the Scene? Remember Your Five Senses
What is your character hearing? The crashing waves or the laughter of the passerby?
What are they touching? Maybe they fell down, and all they feel is hard, gritty dirt beneath them.
Do they taste anything? Are they stuck in a hospital, tasting blood on their lips?
Next is sight, which is the most obvious one. Do they see lush green trees or a cloudless blue sky?
And lastly is smell. Maybe they're inundated with the thick stench of rotting corpses.
You don't need to include every sense, because sometimes certain ones aren’t super relevant, but tapping into them is a great way to get a setting nailed down when you're feeling stuck.
Number 6: For Passive Voice, Fuck the “By Zombies” Test, and Just Use a Passive Voice Checker
Everyone knows that the number one suggestion for handling passive voice is the “by zombies” test. Tack the phrase “by zombies” at the end of a sentence; if the sentence makes sense, then you've written in passive voice. If it doesn't, you're in the clear. The problem is, due to sentence structure and other variables, sometimes the “by zombies” test doesn't work.
A better option is to simply use a passive voice checker online. There are tons of them. If you're unsure about a sentence, slap it into a detector, and it'll let you know if it's passive voice. Not only that, it'll break down exactly why the sentence is passive voice, which trains you to notice this issue on your own in the future.
Number 7: Not Sure Where To End Your Chapter? Use the Roller Coaster Method
When you first get on a roller coaster, it always begins the same way: climbing up really high. Once the ride stops, you're low to the ground, the complete opposite of where you began. A chapter should progress in the same way. It doesn't need to begin on a high note and end on a low note, but it should end in an opposite place from where it began. If your chapter starts off happy, it should end with anger or sadness: a low to offset the high. If your chapter starts off with tension or fear, it should end with humor or romance: a high to offset the low. Implementing this method will ensure that your readers’ emotions are constantly changing, which will get them more invested in the story.
Number 8: Not Sure Where To Take Your Story? Plot Backwards
A lot of writers know where their story begins and ends, but the middle gets them all fucked up. An easy way to make the middle less of a pain in the ass is to start with the climax and work your way back. Figure out the big bang of your book, the moment where everything comes together, and then rewind.
Maybe the climax is a fight to the death between two wizards for the amulet of truth. How do they get into this fight? Maybe the bad wizard stole the amulet, and the good wizard has to get it back. How did the bad wizard steal it? Maybe he kidnapped the good wizard’s mother and held her hostage. Step by step, question by question, you're bringing yourself closer to the beginning of the story, and you're filling the middle with interesting details.
Number 9: Has Your Outline Gotten Overwhelming? Try the Puzzle Method
Outlining can be difficult. You're essentially building an entire story in a very short period of time. An easy way to bypass any frustration is to implement the puzzle phase in your outlining process. If you've watched my outlining videos, then you probably already know about the puzzle phase. This is where you write all of your plot points on post-it notes and organize them on a poster board or a wall. Move the post-its around and find the perfect place for them within your timeline. You know, like pieces of a puzzle.
This gives you a simple visual of your story, and it also makes it a lot easier to create a natural chain of events. And of course, it makes the process fun. Because now you're not working, you're just solving a puzzle.
Number 10: Not Able To Get Words on the Page? Try Writing Sprints
Sprinting is a really easy exercise for people who struggle with word count goals or motivation. The concept is simple: pull out your laptop, set a timer, and write for as much as you can during the allotted time. Sometimes writers even sprint in groups, which is a great way to hold themselves accountable. Now there's no guarantee that what you write will be amazing or perfect, but that's not really the point. The point is to get words on the page despite your hangups. You're producing content that you can edit later.
So that's all I've got for you today!
These are my ten hacks for making the writing process a lot more manageable. I definitely recommend that you try them out and save yourself a headache or ten.
A huge thank you to Skillshare for sponsoring this topic and for always being so supportive of my platform. These guys are awesome, and I am just in love with this service. An annual subscription to Skillshare is less than ten bucks a month. However, as a special little treat, Skillshare is offering two months of Skillshare Premium for FREE to the first 500 people who click the link below. This offer will not last forever; only 500 people get to cash in on it, so click the link right here. Save yourself some money and gain access to a bazillion classes.
*This post is sponsored by Skillshare. As always, all opinions are my own.
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