You can be on Entrepreneur’s cover!

15 Tips to Make Writing Less Hellish Writing doesn't need to be a tedious and frustrating task. Consider these tips to get your creative juices flowing.

By Laura Hale Brockway

entrepreneur daily

This story originally appeared on PR Daily

Not everyone who writes for a living always enjoys writing.

Writing can be a tedious and frustrating task: Staring at a blank screen, knowing what you want to write but being unable to call up the proper words.

Canadian author Ann-Marie MacDonald says, "Writing is a hellish task, best snuck up on, whacked on the head, robbed, and left for dead."

What follows is some of the best advice I've received to make the writing process less hellish:

1. When you're stuck, don't keep staring at the screen. Take a break, and come back to it.

2. Write first; edit later.

3. Don't bristle when another writer or editor corrects your work. Put your ego aside, analyze the feedback, and use it to improve your writing.

4. Read your work aloud.

5. Stop thinking in terms of how to draw people in. Today, your primary concern with your writing is not to drive people away.

6. "Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose." --Elmore Leonard

7. Writing informally is not dumbing down; it is writing so busy people can understand your content.

8. You can start a sentence with a conjunction.

9. Don't be afraid to try new words.

10. Capitalizing certain words does not make them more important.

11. "Good writing consists of trying to use ordinary words to achieve extraordinary results." --James Michener

12. Chose clear, active verbs instead of throwaway verbs, such as utilize, implement, leverage, and disseminate.

13. "The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or word processor." --Stephen King

14. Outline. Outline. Outline.

15. "The fact is that writing is hard work, and sometimes you don't want to do it, and you can't think of what to write next, and you're fed up with the whole damn business. Do you think plumbers don't feel like that about their work from time to time? Of course there will be days when the stuff is not flowing freely. What you do then is MAKE IT UP." --Philip Pullman

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

This Highly-Debated Piece of Cinematic History Just Sold For Over $700,000 at Auction

The wood panel from "Titanic" is often mistaken as a door. Either way, he couldn't have fit. (Sorry.)

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Business News

From Tom Brady to Kevin O'Leary – See Who Lost Big in the Wake of the FTX Crypto Collapse

The crash exposed an $8 billion hole in FTX's accounts, leaving investors and customers scrambling to recoup their funds.

Side Hustle

I Started a Semi-Passive Side Hustle That Earns $33,000 a Week on Amazon: 'Selling There Is a No-Brainer'

Dr. Jenny Woo wanted to create a product that would help people connect, and it turned out to be a lucrative one.