Writing Engaging Stories
Last February 26, 2021, General Education Department of Enderun Colleges organized a talk about how to write engaging books and stories which enables the students to know more about the writing process and how to improve it. This talk features Ms. Izzy Matias, an Enderun Alumna, author, full-time blogger at izzymatias.com where she teaches a course on how to start a profitable blog, and writer with over 10 years of experience. She is also back as the managing editor of INK Enderun, the official student publication of Enderun Colleges, where she was the Editor-in-Chief for two years while studying.
In this talk, Ms. Izzy shared her journey of writing her book entitled “The Hush Society Presents…” which ranked on Amazon as the #1 New Release in the Teen and Young Adult Music eBook category. She also shared key points on how to write engaging books and stories, how to improve your writing style, and the things that we should keep in mind when writing.
Here are some of the key points that she shared during her talk:
Always write down your ideas. This step might be simple but a lot of people tend to not do this because they trust their memory so much. On a daily basis where there is so much going on, stopping for a minute to write down your idea would not be much of a hassle. Every story is a product of an idea that pops into your mind whether you are eating in the cafeteria, watching movies, talking with your friends, or the simplest acts that we do in a day, that little idea of yours might turn into a wonderful story. Ms. Izzy actually started her novel by just writing down ideas and jotting information into paper hence always write down your ideas wherever you go.
When you are writing a story, the first drafts will be messy and imperfect, and that is totally okay. There is no such thing as a perfect draft and that is why it is called a “draft” because it is open for editing and revising but that comes later on. What is important is to just get started and squeeze out your ideas to get the first draft of your story out. “Done is better than perfect” as Ms. Izzy said because you cannot let the idea of perfection stop you from writing the story that you want to tell.
This next key point depends on your writing style, outlines are not necessary, but they help. There are other writers who need their outlines to write their stories because they help you organize the flow and give more structure to your article. There are also writers who prefer to let the story come out naturally. With this key point, it is best to figure out your writing process and what works better for you.
Practice makes perfect, as a writer hone your skills by writing as much as you can. The best way to improve your skills is to write, write, and write, reading is additional. Be open to new challenges and growth to improve your skills, attend writing workshops, or get extra help if needed. If you want to be a feature writer, then practice writing a lot of feature articles. If you want to be a creative writer, then practice writing manuscripts or a short novel. Practice is the key!
It is okay to keep rewriting your story until you find the right one. Editing and revising do not mean that you will change the whole story, it is just a way to improve and make your story interactive and in this way, you will find the right story that you wanted to tell all along.
Lastly is to never give up on your dream, just keep going. Rejection is part of our lives. It does not matter how long will it take to achieve your dream, but if it is truly something that you want to achieve then just keep going. You would not want the regret of not pursuing your dreams in the future.
This talk refreshes the mind of aspiring writers that it is okay to go back to the basics for you to find the story that you want to tell. The story of Ms. Izzy inspired the students to just start even if it is from scratch. What matters is you have started something and to not get tired of trying. Keep trying until you have found the right story that you wanted to tell!
If you want to read more about Ms. Izzy’s book and blog, kindly check out her website at izzymatias.com and The Hush Society Presents on Amazon. You can also learn more about her online course on how to start a money-making blog here.
