I’ve always loved creative writing, and it wasn’t until university that I realized it was one of my passions. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t imaginative, creative, a day dreamer.

Now, at 21 I’ve realized that my imagination is one of my biggest strengths and it would be a shame to waste it.

Last year (2018) was the year I finally started to write with determination. To craft an entire story from nothing in my free time during my studies. Looking back, it was terrible but so is every other first draft.

I’m still regretful that my studies got in the way of my craft because one day I just stopped writing. My interest in the story faded.

Then my creativity found me again at the start of 2019. I was lucky this time around because I was a part-time student towards the end of my BA studies. I had more than enough time to craft world-building, characters, plot and then to sit down and write it. I was so excited and focused. I wrote at least 2000 words a day.

By the end of May to early June, the first draft was finished. About 120k words and 300 pages. Still, poorly written as first drafts are, but it was done. I persevered, thrived and finished the project that meant the world to me. In this time I dedicated myself to my passion project, I learned so much about myself and creative writing.

If you’re an aspiring writer or if you need some perspective and advice, stay here and read the rest of this post. Here are the 8 lessons I’ve learned about creative writing!

Never edit while you write

If I had to think of a metaphor, I’d say that editing while you write is like trying to clean your bedroom and getting distracted by all the things you find in nooks and crannies. I’m sure you’ve all experienced this for yourself at some point. You go to dust a shelf and start fiddling with something on the shelf.

Editing stifles creativity and progress. I wrote the first chapter about 5 times before I moved onto the next one, and that’s because I kept editing it again and again. I wanted it to be perfect. This became a constant activity in my writing process until one day I stopped. I decided that finishing the project was more important than making it perfect.

What I started doing instead was to keep writing. If something popped into my head, an edit or a new idea, I would make a note of it and save it for later. The thoughts you have about editing your work is valuable and important. You just need to bookmark them for later stages of writing. Let your writing become a stream of consciousness if you can. Don’t think about it more than you need to.

2. It’s okay if your writing is bad at first

When you write simply to put words on paper, not all of it is going to be good. It’s not going to be poetic and prose. It’s going to be a jumbled mess of you telling the story to yourself; of the story you see in your head being transcribed onto the word document.

The style will be terrible, the chapters will be shorter, and you will make a lot of errors. You have to make the choice to accept that your writing will be terrible at first. After I finished the first draft, I looked back at it for a couple of weeks. I decided certain plot points didn’t make sense, certain characters didn’t fit well into the character group. I changed so many things around, and I imagine I will change them again when I write the third draft.

Creative writing is like any other art form. If you keep practising, you get better at it.

3. Dedication is more important than inspiration

If you wait for inspiration to strike you, you never know how long you will be waiting. It could be hours, days, weeks at a time. You cannot rely on your muse constantly during your writing process. Taking charge of it is just as important. Dedicating yourself to write is more valuable to your craft than inspiration.

One thing that has worked for me, in the past and present, is setting daily goals for my creative writing. Like writing at least 500 words a day; starting small and seeing where the momentum takes me. Or putting aside an hour each morning for creativity, whether its listening to music, outlining, or writing. Or even trying to write at least 1 chapter throughout the week.

These are all great, productive rituals that help you to focus on writing every day, even when you don’t want to and when inspiration hasn’t struck yet.

4. Stop comparing your work to others

This is something really important and I’m glad I learned it early on. In creative writing, in different genres, there will be stories that are similar to yours. In one aspect or many, it doesn’t matter. It is out of your control. What’s important to remember is that none of those other stories are written by you. Those other writers won’t think and be creative like you.

For instance, the story I’m currently writing is fantasy genre and about pirates. In the writing community on Tumblr, I became extremely unmotivated to write when I came across other young writers’ stories about pirate fantasy stories. I changed things around in my first draft but I couldn’t do that every time I came across another person’s story.

So, I changed my perspective. Now, I understand that in the pirate fantasy genre, there is a limited number of tropes. Hidden treasure, swashbuckling adventurers, magic of the sea. We’re all just taking those tropes and doing something creative with them in our own ways. Just because we’re writing in the same genre, using the same tropes, it doesn’t mean our stories will be alike. Not really. In fact, this is a good thing to know about any genre, any story.

Especially when the idea is thrown around that there aren’t any original stories anymore. We’re all just being inspired by each other and other things. And that’s not a bad thing. As long as you don’t plagiarize or rely too much on it instead of your own ideas.

5. But also make your story unique

Bring something new to your story that sets it apart from others. Like a character, a setting, a plot point. Something that makes the story ‘yours’. A while back I wrote a blog post on my favourite female authors and I wrote about how Leigh Bardugo introduces new settings and a twist on a well-known magic system in her “Grishaverse” books. Tomi Adeyemi does a similar thing in her “Legacy of Orïsha” series.

One thing I did in my pirate fantasy project that is different to other writers in the Tumblr community of writers is that in my story the ships fly in the sky, not on the sea. I also tried to make the magic system more distinct and unique because it’s been done before.

Maybe there are no more original stories but that doesn’t mean you can’t make an effort to be more creative and original when you write.

6. Your own support is the best support

You can have friends and family who encourage you to continue writing. You can have a network on social media of other writers like you who all support each other. At the end of the day, you are the most valuable support to your writing process.

You need to celebrate with yourself. You need to scold yourself when you’re being lazy. You need to remind yourself that it’s okay to take a break. You are the only one who needs to be part of the process; whom needs to be excited about your project.

7. Criticism is a chance to grow

When you give your writing to someone and expect feedback, be open to suggestion. See criticism as a means to improve your writing. It isn’t a rejection of your writing or your desire to be a writer when someone gives you criticism on your writing.

You can be bitter and defeated or you can take it as an opportunity to learn about what you did wrong and what you can do better next time. Also understand that you’re story won’t be for everyone, so be careful about who you show it to for genuine feedback. Someone who only reads non-fiction won’t know what to say about fiction or fantasy.

This is especially important as a student. I took a creative writing course during my studies, and while I wanted to sprinkle in fantasy into everything I wrote, I could tell that the markers weren’t really interested in reading fantasy. The feedback I got wasn’t really helpful because of it.

What you can do instead is build your network of writer friends and show your writing to people you know will be interested. Be selective and be smart about it, and don’t see criticism as a judgement or slur against you. Different eyes means different perspectives and responses to your writing that are different from your own.

8.Keep falling in love with your writing

Last but not least, try to find new ways to fall in love with your writing rituals, your creative process and your project. When I started my first draft, I created a music playlist. I would listen to it on my commute into the city and when I walked up to campus.

I created a visual mood board on Pinterest for the world, the characters, the ships and more. I would make little notes about characters in the story. I treated my own work like it was a published book and I was a fangirl. This was the most important thing to me, to stay motivated to finish my project to its end and to not give up halfway through.