Strong Verbs

When you write, you should always use strong verbs. Strong verbs tell more about something than a weaker verb.

Walk is a weak verb.
You can change it up to be swagger, hobbled, zoomed, etc.

Look is a weak verb.
You can change it to appear, peer, stare, etc.

You don't always have to use strong verbs, but in most cases, it engages your reader a little more. It can tell more about characters. Or it can make a better paper.

Verb Tense

For Essays: Always use Past Tense!

In creative writing, you have a choice between past and present. Future is difficult. It's wierd and hardly works.
For present, there is a sense of urgency. You need to be reading what is happening to me right this second because it is very important and happening right now.
Most writers just stick to the past because it is easier to play off and makes it more timeless. I mean, if someone picked up your work in a thousand years and it was in present, then people might not truly get it. For me, it's all about sticking to the past.

BUT! Most importantly, whatever tense you pick, stick to that tense. If you do use past, though, make sure that in dialogue, you use present tense because we always speak presently when we are talking in the now.

What You Need to Do

If you are very very serious about writing, then you need to read. This might be a duh thing to some of you. But as you read, you really learn how to write at the same time. Take one of your favorite authors and take the first chapter and mock their writing style with something from your mind. It will really help you get away from your own writing styles and work toward something new. Then, you melt different styles together and come up with something greater.

A LOT

A lot is two different words. Not one!

They're Trying to Figure Their Differnce There and There

There
They're
Their

There is a difference between these three words.

There- A place
Example: We went there to see the Justin Bieber concert.
OR: We went to the mall to see the Justin Bieber concert.

They're- contraction for they are (the a gets replaced with an apostrophe)
Example: They're going to watch Glee later tonight.
OR: They are going to watch Glee later tonight.

Their- possession of a group of people
Example: The family cat is all of their responsibility.
OR: The family cat is all of the family's responsiblity.

Dialogue

When it comes to dialogue (what your characters are saying), people tend to think it is the easiest part of writing creatively. However, it is probably one of the most difficult elements of writing. No one wants to have to spend extra time reading frivolous dialogue. So, really think if what your characters are saying is important or not. If it isn't important, leave it out.

Likewise, dialogue should move the plot along. Every time someone is saying something, it needs to have some relevance to the plot. If you just put in a random conversation, say about pigs, and it has nothing to do with the rest of the plot, then your reader won't understand why it is there at all. Now, if there is a reason to be talking about pigs, say because someone is vegetarian or they live on a farm, then it would make sense.

Also, dialogue can help characterization move along as well. The way people talk, or the words people say tell a lot about them. Such as, if a person is witty or saractastic, that can easily come through in your dialogue.

Most times people write dialogue that just isn't realistic. In talking, we don't say things like "Do not do that, Johnny." Instead, we say, "Don't do that, Johnny!" The do not is too jolted and would not work when we would be yelling at Johnny to not do something. In most all cases, we use contractions when we talk. In the same fashion, reread what you make people say and see if you could actually see someone saying that. Then, go further and see if that's how your character would actually say that.

Titles

A very important element of writing that people often forget about is the title. The more you can get your title to make your reader think and wonder what your work is about, the more likely they are going to read it. For instance, if you write an essay about Once and Future King and you title it "King Author's Fall" people won't be as interested in reading it as if you make the title "Love Brings Down the Castle Walls."

In fiction, a lot of books tend to have a character's name as the title. For things like Harry Potter this is perfectly fine because there is the addition of and the... Other titles that grab my attention in the book store have strange words in them, such as Geek, Chill, or Dangerous Pie.

Lastly, chapter names are something to look at as well. If you choose to label your chapters, be creative about it. Something like "That Time Again" isn't going to pull attention as much as "We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium." However, Rick Riordan is master of creating chapter names that do what they should do, which is, make the reader want to move onto the next chapter ASAP.