If you are thinking about writing a story, maybe a full length novel, then I hope I can help inspire you. I've looked back at the experiences I've had between now, and when I was a kid, and compared it to some other people's experiences, and I think I have five tips, which honestly, I think other people have shared with me from time to time, which will help you.

They can help you write a better story to share with others, whether it is your own life story, or a story of a life of a character in your own settings for a book or book series.  With that being said, let's get into it.

The first tip would be, know what version of you, that you want to be. If you are putting yourself into an imaginary world for a story, imagine a version of you within that world.

What is your past, what is your present like, and how would you like for things to change from here on out?  What kind of adventures do you want to go on?

What would it take for you to actually get up and leave the house to do something?  How many times would you have to try something before you get it right?

Feel free to both exaggerate, a little, and still be somewhat realistic. Once you kind of know this version of you, you are ready for the next tip.

The second tip would be, find a group to interact with who looks forward to the version of you that you want to become.

If you are writing this story, whether a novel you are writing, or just to write a story of your life that you would prefer to be living, then add characters to your story that accept you, and that you want to be around.

There's a possibility that one day you'll find a copy of this story, and realize that some parts of it actually came true, or are still coming true.

Either way, with this group with you, you'll be better prepared for the unexpected moments life will bring into your story, and the unexpected twists that you may find yourself adding to the stories you are putting your character through, who will also find that they are better prepared, because they have friends who can help them through it.

So let's keep going, with the third tip.

The third tip would be, sign up for the long trip.

Whether it'll take a month or three, or a year or three, or whether or not you'll spend the rest of your life at this, be ready to stick with it.  Think about your legacy.

Even if you don't become world famous, and rich before you die, will you consider it worth it to create something so wonderful, so beautiful and amazing, that people will be sharing it, and reading it, crying and laughing and enjoying it long after you are gone?

Granted we don't have much left from 5,000 years ago, but there are new books being written today that were inspired by works like Homer's Oddessey.

Even though Homer is long gone, his story has managed to survive, and continues to inspire people.  I think that it is possible that in thousands of years, there will still be new stories of space travel and interactions with aliens whether or not we leave earth behind and find someone out there, inspired by Star Trek and Star Wars.

Somewhere, stories will be written by people inspired by the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings to write about trolls, and elves, orcs and men wielding swords and lances on horseback.

Hopefully, amid all this, there'll be some people who are still inspired by my stories, dreaming about dragons who enter planetary atmospheres like meteors burning through the sky, who battle aliens called demigods to protect whole planets, sometimes who never even see or interact with them.  Sometimes aided by people like us, but all of it in another galaxy.

Whatever legacy you decide you want to leave, follow the next tip to help it.

The fourth tip would be, make your story, uniquely yours.  Almost every story has elements that overlap with elements of another story.

Sometimes a story or series of stories launches a whole genre of stories that all revolve around the same beings, often humans like us or humanoids who are different but have similarities.

Sometimes these stories simply introduce a new world for these beings to inhabit, sometimes these generic stereotypes of beings are divided into new races creating a new dynamic that isn't in the old books.  Such as the now popular dark elves including Drizzt Do'Urden.

A new character sometimes is all you need, or can be a good way to introduce a new world or society into an otherwise older story universe.  In the end though, the better you differentiate your own story with that of someone else's, the easier it will be to stand apart, and not get lost among all the similar stories.

But if you follow the last tip, you don't even need to worry about it, because great things will happen anyways.

The last tip would be, have fun with it.  Whether it is your life as you become a dentist, or your first novel, or story anthology, or whatever, have fun with it.

The more fun you have while doing what you do, the more enthusiastic you are, and the more entertained by it, the better it will be for you, and for the people who discover you and what you have done.  This could also be said as, loving what you do.  Which, in a way, ties into loving who you are.

If what you do defines you in this moment of your life, then if you love what you do, if you enjoy it, you'll enjoy being you, you'll love being yourself.  Which, is something I think many of us want and could be a big part of living a long, happy life.

Of course, when you enjoy writing a story, you'll keep writing it.  You'll be more likely to finish it.  If you love it, if you enjoyed writing it, and enjoy reading it, you'll be more likely to publish it, and others will be more likely to get it, read it, share it, and love it as well.

Love, and fun, can be contagious.  In fact, I hope that as much as I've enjoyed writing this, you'll enjoy reading it, and as I enjoy applying these five tips to the stories I write in the future, they'll be better than my first book.  As much as I love my first book, I didn't always enjoy it.

Some of the stories I had cool ideas for at first, but I had to apply tip three to finish them.  I had to stick to it, and keep working on them.

When I got new ideas for a moment in the story, something that got my interest into it again, it started to flow again.

I hope next time things go much smoother.  For me, and also for you.

Todd Tucker is a story writer, electronic musician, and enthusiastic gamer and builder of things out of plastic bricks.  You can become better acquainted with him on patreon.com/todd5747 .

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Radu Balas

Radu is the Founder of Publishing Addict and author of "Sell More Books Using Your Author Website | The Easiest Way To Brand, Build, Market, and Manage Your Authorship" Soon available on Amazon.