Guide to Writing

Writing Tip 1: Read (published) books

Ask any writer how they got to the stage they are, and they'll pretty much all give you the first, most fundamental tip: read.

The best way anyone can hope to improve their craft is to study it, and that applies to anything, including writing. However, as much as we love Wattpad, the best way to improve your craft isn't necessarily by reading Wattpad stories - most of the brilliant stories here are still works in progress, unedited, and therefore won't always have the best grammar. To learn your craft, you have to look at the best of the best - and that's published books.

Not that some of the books on here don't deserve to be published, but they don't have teams of professional editors - a published story does.

The more you read, the better you'll become. Reading not only widens your volcabulary, it also helps you learn more about grammar, sentence structure, and all those things you get taught in English class in a way that's way more fun (you won't have to write an essay on it after!) Every writer started off as a reader, because how else would they know what to do?

Not only that, but reading is a form of research. If you want to write a murder mystery, then reading one to know the basic structure is a good idea: how do you draw out the tension, what's the best way to subtly drop hints about who the killer is, or create a misdirection to shock the reader? The same applies to any other genre, be it werewolf fiction, romance, fantasy, horror, sci-fi, etc. The more you know about how your genre works, the more you can not only do it justice, but also put your own spin on it to make it original.

So that's our first, most obvious tip: read not only published stories, but also those within your chosen genre - it's the first step to becoming the writer you truly want to be!

What people have had to say

ViktoriaRay "An English teacher I had a long time ago had this poster in their classroom that said "The more you read, the better you write." It's very true, and my motto now!"

Ammelia11 "I wouldn't be a writer now if I hadn't read first, and this is the tip I would give anyone. To become good at anything, you have to study - for a writer, reading is your way of studying. It just happens to be way more fun than being made to read a story you don't enjoy. "

KatherineArlene "I would also say that by reading you learn how those authors added emotion, how they dealt with dialogue and descriptions, how they slowed scenes down so the reader felt like they were right there with the characters."

AliciaM21 "Reading has a huge impact on many writers. And just like most writers, you can get an idea because of a story you once read. So it's not always about studying its dynamics, but it can be very fun and it can help give you ideas for a book or for a specific scene or something. But be careful. You don't want to copy."

Underworld_skylar "I know most of you hate studying (I do too), but reading a good book doesn't feel like studying at all. I enjoy it because the books are what I chose, not what was chosen for me. Keep that in mind when you go book hunting."

VoldemotYOLO "Reading plays a big role in our writing life.The more you read, the better of a writer you'll become."

angellover254 "Reading published books is definitely something I advise anyone to do. Especially if you're going to write your own stories. They're like textbooks for us. To be a good writer you need to know how to structure it, the rules, etc. And by reading, you'll definitely pick it up faster, and learn from it."

Agree with what we have to say? What are your thoughts on this tip? Comment below to give your own opinions!