This article was originally published in our review book in July of 2015. The tips you see here were provided by people who were members of the Gotta Read Em All Club at that time. They are basically suggestions about the techniques that these past members used that helped them personally. They may not all apply to everyone, but you may find them to be helpful depending on your own way of writing. They've been edited and republished to allow people to find and enjoy them more easily. We hope that you do!

- d_s_t_e

X (@Darker_X)'s tips:

[X was one of the first members of the GRA. From the third review the club ever did until the summer of 2016, X worked as a critic and later as the Senior Adviser who helped keep everything running smoothly. He lives in India and has a love for peacocks, drinking tea, and using rainbow emojis.]

1. Write. And rewrite. And then re-rewrite. And then do it again. When you keep editing the story, weed out the unnecessary stuff you think will in no way contribute to the story line. Of course, this doesn't mean you keep the story fixed on one theme, no change in it permitted. Write as much as you want— just reread or rewrite it to see whether you think any unnecessary elements are present. They call this trial and error, logically. The process is repeated again and again and again until the right answer's been found. And trust me, writing isn't all about letting your feelings out on a big vast story.

2. Grammar. This is paramount to a good story, and I don't know how else to say it. Proofread your book back and forth— one or two mistakes are fine, but no one will love a book that's so full of grammatical and spelling errors. Technology's advancing— make use of it. Type your story out in Microsoft Word— or something similar— and weed out the grammatical errors. The best books are spot-free of grammar problems.

3. If you're having trouble envisioning a story element or a story line or a character's personality, there's a little pastime I use to eliminate that problem. Other people call it daydreaming. No, really. Place yourself inside your story's world. What would you do if you were there? What would you do if a thousand peacocks descended on you from the sky? Would you look up in awe? Would you scream in terror and run hanky-panky? Would you build a big shelter for all the peacocks to reside in? What if your Prince Charming— let's say Gold and Silver, for argument purposes— suddenly showed up on a cruise boat ? What would you do? Would you run over to Gold or Silver and give him a big hug, or would you sit and sweat all your weight down to the ocean? Once you start thinking about how you'd respond, it's easy to modify the equation to how, say, Clair would feel if Silver would show up. (I imagine she'd strangle him with her cape, but that's left to you.)

4. Details. When you make a movie, you don't just dress up the main character into fancy costumes and leave the surroundings drab and disgusting. Everything around the scene should be perfect— not describing how the Turkish delight tasted to Edmund Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia wouldn't reveal more about his character, it would've made him look like a sneaky brat. How the boy was manipulated with simply a delicacy shows his vulnerability, not that "the violet pudding, when meeting his lips, tasted as pleasant as heaven and made Edmund forgot his surroundings" added any more readers.

5. Don't get your hopes down if your statistics don't satisfy you. The best books on Wattpad are probably the ones that no one have laid their eyes on. Statistics are statistics— they don't mean you don't have the odds in your favor. Keep writing with the motive that you're writing to improve yourself and give solace to those few people who take their time to read your books. Writing isn't a stone in a slingshot, to travel great distances when it's launched. It's like a plant. You need to give it the right kind of nourishment for it to grow. Be patient. You'll grow.

Gren (@Grenineon)'s tips:

[Gren now goes by rose-golds. She was still active as of November 2018, although she has moved away from Pokémon fanfic. She worked as a critic in the early days of the club and later returned as fanfic recommender for a period of time. She's a very kind and friendly person who is always a pleasure to talk to.]

1. OUTLINE THE STORY

This is probably the best tip I know of. Having an outline of the story helps so much. I outline my stories like so: 

Plan every chapter out. 

Make a draft for each part and write the very beginning of the chapter. 

After getting the basic idea of the part— I typically jot down about one to two hundred words—write what else'll happen in parentheses: all the important events, what characters'll be introduced, foreshadowing moments, etcetera. Basically, every single thing you want to happen in that chapter! 

Later, when you come back to write that part, write the story so it includes everything you want; of course, you can add/remove more events! 

After naming that part, move on to the rest of the chapters. 

This method will not only thwart writer's block from hitting you, you'll also remember to write every single plot event!

2. WRITE EVERY CHARACTER DOWN

This is also another good method which I recently discovered. It helps a lot, but it's mainly for OCs since canon characters already have their own personalities and such. In a notebook of some sort, write one of your OCs' name down. On that page, include the following: their appearance (make sure to add original details to their looks; not every person looks the same!), their personality (friendly, excited, loud, perfectionist, you get it), their flaws (give them flaws—you most certainly do NOT want a Mary-Sue), what they like to do, what they act like/think about, and any other defining thing about them! Be creative with this! Whenever they appear in your book, have them act like so, with their traits and such.

3. USE SPELL CHECK/AUTO CORRECT BEFORE PUBLISHING A CHAPTER

If there's one thing that turns me off from a book, whether it be in the first chapter or the last, it's the spelling. If everything is spelled correctly or if there are only a few misspelled words throughout the whole entire book, then I'm most likely going to enjoy the book. If there are tons of typos/misspelled words, then I'll probably not enjoy the book. If you write on the computer: use Microsoft Word, or even Wattpad's spell check! If you write on a phone: there are spell checking websites where you can copy and paste your chapter (it'll find any typos for you!), and there's even auto correct.

Scarlet (Scarlet_Regnar)'s tips:

[Scarlet is a person who you might be most familiar with through his work with the Pokémon Watty Awards. Having entered it in its first ever year, he objected to the fact that it was run as a popularity contest and ended up taking on the entire responsibility for transforming and subsequently running it. Originally a critic, he spent a long time as the fanfic recommender due to the huge amount of books he read. He also spent some time as the vice president when I (d_s_t_e) first took on the role of admin. He hasn't been around much since he got busy with college, but this community owes a debt to him for all he's done to get us to where we are today!]

1. Always keep a notebook nearby in order to "inspiration dump"

Sometimes you'll be stuck on writing something and then inspiration will hit out of nowhere: when you're sleeping, when you're in class, when you're reading, when you're driving, etc. Often times you'll think you can remember your idea, only to find out later that it's gone. I always keep something with me so that I can write an idea down at a moment's notice (after carefully signalling and pulling off to the side of the road, of course).

2. Write characters and plots that stand out

As a person who reads 50+ fics every summer for the Pokemon Watty Awards, plot and characters, the two main components of a work, can make or break the work. I understand that some people write characters better than plots and vice versa, so even if the story's a bit typical or if the characters are meh, having really strong characters and character development as the story goes on or having a really unique plot that no one can anticipate the twists of can make someone keep reading it. Again, people should try to work on developing the side they're not good at (for me it's description and characterization), but make sure at least one of the pillars of writing stands strong.

3. Plan ahead

I know not everyone's an outliner, but the best way to not only keep yourself straight but to gather the most eyes to your fic is to plan ahead. At least keep a bare bones outline of the necessary events and any ideas you have established so you can prevent plot holes and retcons later, especially if you're writing a series. As for planning when to release, try to have something written and published at least once a week, twice if you can. You want to keep people hyped and interested and not (like I did) abandon them to find other fics to read.

4. Don't "inspiration publish"

Often times (I am guilty of this) you might wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea for a chapter or for a story, so you stay awake and write it, and when you're done you think it looks as great as the Bible or Shakespeare or To Kill a Mockingbird, so you publish it. Later on you come back and in horror realize 10 different things wrong with it. Always try to put the work down for a little while. A day or two is great, but just leaving it alone and doing something else for an hour will help clear your mind of the author bias you contain. Also be sure to print it out, as we read print vs digital text differently.

Secondly, besides sending it through free programs like Grammarly or PapeRater or Hemmingway, try to have AT LEAST one good proofreader/beta reader take a look at your writing and give you feedback since they catch so many things you might let slip through.

5. Write for you

Don't write for fame, for recognition, for views, for votes, or for praise. Write because you have a message to share to the world building up inside yourself that you have to let out! Put your heart and blood and sweat and tears into your work because eventually people will recognize you for your work. It may be months or years later, or even after you are dead, but a good work that has a soul of its own inside it and makes you feel things deeply will eventually become noticed.

Ji (Shaymin-)'s tips:

[Ji stayed with the club for a long time under the role of semi-regular critic, popping in from time to time as her schedule allowed. Her help was always appreciated.]

WRITE CHAPTERS IN ADVANCE in case you don't have time to write them later. Then you can just publish them and you don't need to worry about uploading late.

PLAN AHEAD whenever you write a chapter. I usually just have a basic plan for each chapter, then when I'm actually writing them I go into more detail about the plan so I know exactly what I'm going to write instead of writing a long filler.

DOUBLE CHECK YOUR GRAMMAR AND SPELLING before you publish. Grammar mistakes and spelling mistakes really bring down the quality of your writing, so make sure to get those right.

DEVELOP THE PLOT AND CHARACTERS with each chapter. That may sound simple, but plot twists help the story a lot and characters who seem real are easier to sympathise with. That being said, don't just add deaths in your story for the sake of it.

Lostie (@LostSilverFangirl)'s tips:

[Lostie now goes by Trevor, username PumpknHead . He had two stints as a critic for the club and is currently working as a judge for the Pokémon Watties. I'm sure many of you are familiar with him!]

1. I would recommend planning out your book thoroughly before writing. Some people like to take a basic idea and see where their writing takes them, but I honestly can't do that. I prefer planning because if you plan it well enough, you know everything that will happen, which can help prevent writer's block. I'll show you the format I use for planning.

I start with a form to fill out for making characters.

Name-

Age-

Gender-

Race-

Sexuality-

Height-

Weight-

Appearance-

Health-

Flaws-

Strengths-

Voice-

Gait-

Intelligence-

Temperament-

Happiness-

Attitudes-

Self Knowledge-

Unconscious Assets-

Habits-

Backstory-

Motivations-

And after I fill out that form for any characters that I need to, I plan out the basic story line. I do the exposition, rising action(s), climax, falling action, and resolution. Then I plan out each chapter and jot down any other information that I may need to remember. This is just how I do it, but it works for me. It makes writing stories a lot easier and more fun in my opinion.

2- Details do matter. Do you want to set the mood well? Well, details can help a lot. I once read this great article written by an author where he described the same place three times. He made the house seem creepy the first time, welcoming the second time, and depressing the third. He later talked about pointing out the right details and choosing the right words. Seriously, he used pretty much the exact same details each time, but he changed the adjectives he used and the way he described them. The words you use and the details you provide can mean a lot to the book.

3- DON'T MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS PERFECT. Give them flaws, fear, and a backstory that isn't completely perfect. People get more attached to flawed characters because it's easier to relate to them. If you want people to be sad when a character dies, it's best to make them relatable. Like, in Pyro_Maniac's A Scarred Past, the main character Sora is extremely flawed. That just makes your relate to her more and more as she gets stronger between that book and its sequel. That's why you can relate to and even pity villains sometimes, because those characters aren't perfect.

4- Saying "said" a lot ISN'T BAD. Take a look at Harry Potter, most quotes use "said", not a variety of adjectives. Now, it's fine to use adjectives, but don't go overboard. 

Watch, look at this- 

"How are you?" John inquired. 

"I'm good," Susan replied. "What about you?" 

"I've had a rough day..." John mumbled, sighing. 

"Would a story cheer you up?" Susan suggested. 

"Maybe," John mumbled quietly. 

And look at this one- 

"How are you?" John asked. 

"I'm good," Susan replied. "What about you about you?" 

"I've had a rough day..." John said with a sigh. 

"Would a story cheer you up?" Susan asked with a small smile. 

"Maybe," John replied quietly. 

They're both almost identical, right? Which one sounded better to you? Personally, I like the second. If you are always freaking out, trying to use anything but "said", it'll start to become harder to read your story, and readers will have a harder time forgetting that they're reading a book (like, when you get lost in a book and start imagining it as a movie in a way). 

ALSO, a character can't sigh, giggle, laugh, etc. By that, I mean that they can say something WITH a sigh or a giggle or a laugh, but they can't giggle a piece of dialogue. I hope this made sense and was helpful ^-^'