76. If you don’t know how to start a piece of writing about a person, try remembering something that person believed. Write that belief out and attribute it to the person. What can you write that bounces off of those words? (You can do this when you have a non-personal subject, too, by starting with a sentence that states what someone you read or know believes on that topic.)
77. It is the moments that have made us laugh and cry that we write from. Write them down when you remember them or just after you have experienced them.
78. When your writing has a boring teacher, hysteric, or social butterfly quality to it that is distracting or oppressive, listen for what these responses are covering up–the areas you are protecting yourself from exploring.
79. When you share your writing-in-progress to get responses to it, be sure to share only the words on the page, so the person listening to you responds only to what you’ve written. Don’t explain, defend or ask until your readers having finished giving you their responses.
80. Sometimes good writing comes from comparing how things are to how you wish they were or how someone else wishes they were for you.
81. If you want your writing to argue a point, think of the opposing arguments and be sure to address them in your writing.
82. Instead of wishing that you had time to write, write something, even if it is only a paragraph or a note to yourself about your writing project or a list of possible clever words to include in a piece of writing.
83. Become conscientious about looking up books you hear others mention as helpful to writers and about getting online to reserve them from your library. If you do this often, you will continually have calls saying the books you wanted are in. You don’t have to read all of each book–peruse them and read where something jumps out at you. Make a note of what intrigues you.
84.  Make a habit of looking up words you come across that you don’t know the meaning of, even if you think you sort of know their meaning. Keep a list of these words and try to use them in your writing.
85. When you have a writer’s question such as, “What is a query letter?” or “How can I get my work published?” or “Where can I find a literary agent?” at least begin your research by typing your question into a website search page such as Ask.com (formerly “Ask Jeeves”). You will find many valuable links and can read through them later, but seek at least a bit of information so you don’t let your unanswered questions nag at you.
86. To get some distance from a draft before you revise, read it out loud to anyone who will listen without commenting. You will “hear” their reaction as you read–there’s something about listening that is almost auditory and will let you know where you are on the right track and where the listener loses interest.
87. One way to see your work with new eyes is to mail a copy of it to yourself. When it comes back to you and you open the envelope and sit down and read, this work will seem new to you and you will be able to hear more about where it is working well and where it needs more work.
88. The poor man’s copyright is an unopened, postmarked envelope with the work inside. This provides proof of a date when the work was finished.
89. Pay attention to rhymes inside sentences or at line endings in poems that you didn’t mean to write and that may lend an unwanted humorous tone.
90. As a writer, see your job as taking readers beyond truisms and common knowledge; write with specifics and details so they view the subject with new eyes.
91. To write well, you must stay focused. Therefore, find a place to write that, for you, is free interruptions and has distractions that inspire.
92. Trust what arises as you write–even if it seems like a shift in subject. There is some reason the unconscious wants you to consider what it brings to the writing. Trust that you will recognize in revision what your mind and writing were up to.
93. Don’t let the need for specific geographical and cultural facts stump you. Visit The World Fact Book, which was compiled by the CIA, and Internet Public Library from the University of Michigan.
94. Build an audience before your work is out to agents and publishers, give talks, build a website, write op/ed pieces and letters to the editor and find a publication for which you can review books. These activities will help people associate your name with a particular topic. Editors will take better notice of your inquiries.
95. When you are writing, put disparate subjects, images, people together. Discover why they fit together rather than rule them out.
96. Human traits that are useful to writers are ones that lend themselves to dramatization: speech, behavior toward others and self, social and cultural outlooks, styles of movement and dress.
97. Believe in your work. Think of rejection as an opinion that can offer guidance, not as final judgment.
98. Writing is an act of hope, even if we are writing about discouraging subjects and attitudes. Have the courage to invest in hope.
99. Ritual acts can help you return to the retreat space of writing; make your favorite tea and take it to your writing area, read a passage you enjoy before you put your hands to the keyboard, concentrate on an object that inspires you that you keep in your writing space, read a verse from Song of Songs, listen to a piece of music that helps you focus on inner thoughts and moods.
100. When an image or phrase or sound stays with you and persists, allow other images and phrases to attach themselves. You might enjoy keeping this in your head for a while, but as soon as there is any length to this–more than two lines–write the words down.
101. Write because you have to, because if you don’t, you don’t feel real. Write because you believe that by doing so, you will learn more than you can any other way.
102. If you need response, even a non-writer can help you. Ask any trusted readers to tell you the words and phrases they enjoyed. Ask them what feelings your writing evoked for them. Ask them where they were confused or felt left out of the essay, story or poem. Ask them where they are curious to know more. Their answers should help you get to your next draft.

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If you’d like more, here are links to Sheila’s previous tips:

Tips 1 – 25 – published June 2, 2005

Tips 26 – 50 – published August 11, 2005

Tips 51 – 75 – published February 16, 2006