Two things every writer should be doing

InkFinger

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If you are a writer there are two things that you should be doing. They are obvious things, but things that are not universally done. A writer must write, and a writer should read.

No matter who you are or how good you are, the story you don't write down is the one that never gets published or even read. I know all kinds of people that say they are a writer, that want to be a writer, that have many stories to tell, but when they sit down to write nothing comes out. I've learned that we become good at the things we do. At the very least, we get better at the things we do. That means if you talk about writing, but don't, you are actually practicing the art of talking about writing, not writing. On the other hand, if you write something, whether it's the rawest work of a newbie or the practiced tale of a master, you will learn from that experience. If you do that consistently, you will inevitably get better by the act of sheer repetition. I do recommend that you spend time with what you write and learn from it so that you are getting better at story craft and not just the speed with which you can get down a story of the same quality, but either way, you will get better at what you do.

You should also be reading. I have trouble with this a bit, because there's only so much room in my head for stories and I tend to read less when I'm writing, but even then I read. It does more than entertain. When you read you see the way others put stories together. You learn new ways of saying things. And get a view of how other people think. I even learn from bad writing. Your time is not wasted reading. For centuries the foundation of a classical education was a specific set of books that everyone read, not just because it gave them something in common, but because it exposed them to the ideas that propped up society. Read. Read everything you can, from every genre you can, because it will improve your writing.

That is all for today. I invite you to come out to the Erotica-SYW forum to share something you have written and get or give feedback. That's part of the process too. For those not interested in Erotica, there is a SYW forum for most genres here, please go there and do the same. We are only as good as what we put in.

Cheers and welcome.
 
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InkFinger

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ConnorMuldowney, it's here because I wrote it. More than not, this is the watercooler I hang about. The folks that hang about here with me need the message as much as anyone.
 

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(Not to mention that's not exactly water in the cooler...)
 
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Liz_V

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