I recently started seriously getting into writing and attempting to be the best I can be at it. I was just wondering, what methods do you guys use to improve your writing skills and creative writing ability?
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Basic Writing questions is not a crit forum. All crits belong in Share Your Work
A question towards more experienced writers.
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QFT.
And honestly, any other advice you get is almost always going to be of the YMMV variety. What works for me won't work for you, etc.
But in order to improve your writing, you must study language (read), and work with language (write). People may learn at different rates, but there are no shortcuts.
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Go to the Share Your Work forum here at AW and read a bunch of threads. Members share something they wrote, and others come along and offer critiques. It's a wonderful source of information about what works and what doesn't. It's also a great way to learn about newbie writing mistakes and how not to make them.
Yep. Read. Write. Rinse. Repeat.
I read a lot of books on the craft. I particularly like James Scott Bell's books. His newest, Just Write, was a fast favorite.
I read a lot of books on the craft. I particularly like James Scott Bell's books. His newest, Just Write, was a fast favorite.
And don't only read how-to-write books (I know this isn't what you meant, Carrie). Read widely, in different genres.
caw
Here's what's working best for me: read a lot, write a lot, critique other writer's work (helps you to understand what works, what doesn't, and more importantly, why) and get your own work critiqued with an open mind/willingness to carefully consider all feedback and using that feedback to improve your writing, and also to apply a critical eye to my own work - skills learned from critiquing others being applied to my own writing/editing.
This thread is full of excellent advice, so I can only second what other people have said. Reading, writing, and critiquing (or being critiqued) are immensely important for becoming a better writer.
IIWilliamII,
This is great advice--I've been learning a ton from looking at the SYW posts. Just make sure you only comment on recent ones, which will be the last few pages.
Here's a site about writing I learned a ton from, very inspiring:
http://theeditorsblog.net/
You can search for specific questions you might have.
One more thing, if you're going to write a book, go ahead and take advantage of the post your first 3 words, or 200, or whatever you can. The generous critters here will help you make sure you're starting in the right place.
Best of luck with your writing!
Hi IIWilliamII, I would suggest you set out a story line, from start to finish then edit,edit and edit. The story is the most important as it will capture and engross the reader. I have written a novel in weeks, but editing can take months.
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Read, write a lot, study the craft, and if you can, find a writers group of people who can critique your work and you can critique theirs. This will help you both with getting others opinions and reading what other people do with their writing, and you'll better be able to recognize what does and does not work.
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Read and write. And write consistently. That's how your brain learns and you get better.
These are really the only ways I know of. They're not guaranteed to make you a better writer, but almost no writer with any amount of talent doesn't do a whole lot of both.
Workshops help, if you can find them/if you have the time. Failing that, AW is an excellent resource.
Welcome to the forums.
Has anyone mentioned reading a lot and writing a lot..? 
But read actively, as well. When you've read a book you love, read it again a few times.
I would avoid how-to-write books, but that's just me. Some people love them.
But read actively, as well. When you've read a book you love, read it again a few times. I would avoid how-to-write books, but that's just me. Some people love them.
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Echoing the "read and write a lot," with one qualification: read analytically.
Start by going back to a book you're familiar with - one you know well enough not to be distracted by the story. Read it again, this time making note of what aspects of the book work for you. Think about things like plot arc, characterization, narrative voice and pacing. Pay attention to nuts-and-bolts stuff, like where chapter breaks occur, why a new paragraph is started, how sentences are constructed and dialogue is formatted. I think you'll find it helpful.
Start by going back to a book you're familiar with - one you know well enough not to be distracted by the story. Read it again, this time making note of what aspects of the book work for you. Think about things like plot arc, characterization, narrative voice and pacing. Pay attention to nuts-and-bolts stuff, like where chapter breaks occur, why a new paragraph is started, how sentences are constructed and dialogue is formatted. I think you'll find it helpful.
I'm not sure I agree with this, entirely. You get from reading a lot of stuff subliminally, through a kind of osmosis, that isn't "analytical". But the main point remains: READ.
caw
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A lot of them are on youtube. I let talks and presentations from writers workshops play in my headphones while I'm online. Picked up a lot of nuggets this way.
As far as reading verses analytical reading: devouring a good book always rekindles my desire to write, but if I burn myself out after a writing spree (writers block or whatever) I like to sit down and copy pages out of my favorite books into a notebook longhand. I copy everything, every bit of grammar. Sometimes it's helpful just to study how the pros put words together. K.M. Weiland recommend this tip and I really like it.
+1
Oh my God, I've learned so much in the year I've been lurking around here, it is ammmmmazing!
JCornelius
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Zen and the art of staring at the same thing over and over to the dismay of friends and loved ones
Choose a chapter by some author you like and keep rereading it at least once a weekend.
Little by little it will yield its secrets.
After a dozen weekend rereads you'll know by heart the action-to-description ratio, why every word was chosen the way it was, how character is shown, and how the POV is managed.
The chapter will at first be a monolithic thing. Gradually, different elements will appear here and there. Then, the chapter will no longer be a monolith, but a collection of very different elements cobbled together. And finally, the chapter will once more be a monolithic thing, but you'll be able to perceive at the same time all the elements and how they interact.
You could parallel this with an episode of a TV show and watch it over and over until it also becomes first a collection of elements, and then again a single thing, yet made up of different segments connected through shifting lines of interaction.
Basically, aside from everything else a beginner writer and storyteller does, this additional half hour every weekend to revisit the same thing over and over is guaranteed to bring about a conceptual breakthrough sooner or later.
After the breakthrough--possibly signified by a sudden rush of adrenaline, sweat breaking out, and a loud triumphant holler as an additional dimension finally stops flickering in and out mysteriously but becomes a stable new element of your perceptions--your own writing will suddenly stop being crawling around in the dark, exchanging superstitions with other crawlers concerning how to reach the fabled cave; you'll actually start seeing what you're doing and how it works out. Also the books by other writers will start being multidimensional works of craft you can appreciate on a dozen more levels than before.
Brute repetition makes quantity turn into quality. Patience and focus is what it takes, with this method at least.
Choose a chapter by some author you like and keep rereading it at least once a weekend.
Little by little it will yield its secrets.
After a dozen weekend rereads you'll know by heart the action-to-description ratio, why every word was chosen the way it was, how character is shown, and how the POV is managed.
The chapter will at first be a monolithic thing. Gradually, different elements will appear here and there. Then, the chapter will no longer be a monolith, but a collection of very different elements cobbled together. And finally, the chapter will once more be a monolithic thing, but you'll be able to perceive at the same time all the elements and how they interact.
You could parallel this with an episode of a TV show and watch it over and over until it also becomes first a collection of elements, and then again a single thing, yet made up of different segments connected through shifting lines of interaction.
Basically, aside from everything else a beginner writer and storyteller does, this additional half hour every weekend to revisit the same thing over and over is guaranteed to bring about a conceptual breakthrough sooner or later.
After the breakthrough--possibly signified by a sudden rush of adrenaline, sweat breaking out, and a loud triumphant holler as an additional dimension finally stops flickering in and out mysteriously but becomes a stable new element of your perceptions--your own writing will suddenly stop being crawling around in the dark, exchanging superstitions with other crawlers concerning how to reach the fabled cave; you'll actually start seeing what you're doing and how it works out. Also the books by other writers will start being multidimensional works of craft you can appreciate on a dozen more levels than before.
Brute repetition makes quantity turn into quality. Patience and focus is what it takes, with this method at least.
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Oh wow! A guarantee! Oh, no - wait... It's not a bad idea. I don't think it's a guarantee.
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If, by 'more experienced writers', you meant writers who've not necessarily been published, but may have written one or two novels...or five, or...
Yep, read a lot and write a lot. And do avail yourself of SYW and QLH. Read others' critiques, you'll learn a lot, especially from the more venerable critters. And add your two cents, even if you're green around the gills. Not only will that help you learn to view writing analytically, but you'll learn from your own (and others') mistakes. You'll gain confidence in your ability to consider writing with a more critical eye; invaluable when you're editing your own stuff.
And if a majority of critiquers are telling you something relative to your own writing, listen, because there's probably some merit in what they say.
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JCornelius
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I hope you enjoyed doing that and it brightened up the day and raised self-esteem; farewell and good luck with everything.
I feel like there's a message here....
I'm just saying it might not be good to give Guarantees. If writing was only that simple... As I said - it's not a bad idea. It's just not a guarantee.
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