There are hundreds of fantastic books about writing for hopeful authors to choose from, but most of them are boring, complicated, and bogged down by filler. This little book is brief, straight forward, and easy to understand. I hope it will serve as an easy-to-read manual to help serious writers perfect their craft. I should say right off the bat that I am NOT an expert; I forget my own tips all the time! However, I do know what generally works for me, so I thought I could pass it on to my friends at Wattpad. One last note: this book is for writers who have a basic understanding of grammar and story structure. If you’re interested in more fundamental steps you can take to write a great story, check out the companion to this book!

If you're struggling with punctuation, dialogue, spelling or grammar, have a read of this simple guide to the components of writing, copyright, and publishing. [UNEDITED VERSION- Full, edited version to be released soon!]

Some basic writing tips to help you become a more effective storyteller.

Welcome Wattpadders! This book will be short and to the point. I won’t bore you with mundane grammar rules or the crap you learn in English class, but I will offer simple suggestions on how to improve your writing. These are tips that I use every day when I sit down to write. Nothing fancy, just the basics. I can’t promise that your “hotness” will go up, but I can guarantee that you’ll be a step above the people who don’t implement these techniques. Also, I encourage you to link to this book when commenting on other’s work. Sometimes it can be draining typing out the same suggestions over and over. I’m not trying to gain votes or comments with this book, I’m just here to provide budding writers with simple methods to hone their skills. So, with that brief introduction out of the way, let’s figure out how to improve your stories on Wattpad!

The advice you will find here follows the Chicago Manual of Style which is widely used by American publishers. There are some variances in style from country to country (and even from American publisher to American publisher.) **It may be easier to search the Table of Contents, as there is no rhyme or reason right now to chapter order.**

I'm CJ Lyons. And I'm a writer.... If you also need a twelve-step program to stop writing, then you've come to the right place. I don't like rules. I don't like people telling me what to do. I don't like complex formulas or graphs or charts that I have to consult because that's the "right way" to create a compelling story. So I've taken everything I've learned about the essence of good storytelling and I've distilled it all into a few simple concepts. Things so easy that by the time you've finished this book and practiced using these techniques, you'll be able to not only craft a great story but also to complete your novel. In fact, by the end, you'll be saying: Wow! This is so easy, it makes so much sense! I can use this every day I write... NOTE: I’ll be uploading parts of this how-to book every Thursday. If you’d like to buy the complete book it’s available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XTWZA2 (and was previously published as No Rules, Just WRITE!) There's also a companion workbook available on NoRulesJustWrite.com ABOUT CJ: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-one novels, former pediatric ER doctor CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge Thrillers with Heart. Winner of the International Thriller Writers’ coveted Thriller Award, CJ has been called a "master within the genre" (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as "breathtakingly fast-paced" and "riveting" (Publishers Weekly) with "characters with beating hearts and three dimensions" (Newsday). Learn more about CJ's Thrillers with Heart at www.CJLyons.net

YOU WANNA FIGHT? FIGHT ME! Or we could have a cup of tea and a biscuit if you prefer. Ever found it hard to get to grips with how to put together a fight scene, or a battle sequence? This guide runs you through the basics, talks about different styles of fighting and weaponry, how to put together fight scenes, plan out battles, and talks about how you include Fantasy or Magical elements as well as the various Dos and Don'ts of writing Action. Now with added flamingos... are we sure that it's spelled like that? There's an aardvark with an Uzi somewhere too.