How do I improve on my writing skill, any suggestions?

How exactly do I improve, I have heard that by reading, writing will improve. I have also heard of keeping a writer's notebook, but how exactly do I use it?

I have created my own writer's notebook but I do not know how to start. Should I do this, or that?

They say reading helps, I have read many books and only recently did I discover that you are not supposed to read for pleasure but to study it. How do I do that, I have really no clue.

Any ways, please?

Hi Pen,

First of all, there are no universal rules of writing - everyone does it differently. So be prepared for conflicting advice.

The way I see it, improving as a writer has its own holy trinity: writing, reading and reviewing. Each one of these three informs the others. When you read you refresh your love of stories, learn new techniques and encounter new ideas you can use. When you review you develop your understanding of the mechanics of writing and build bonds with other writers. When you write you put everything into practice.

You need to do all three. A lot.

I think the advice you heard about not reading for pleasure might have been a bit garbled in translation, but if the adviser actually meant it, I strongly disagree. Reading for pleasure is incredibly important. If you can't enjoy reading, you're not going to keep doing it. If you're not devouring everything you can get your hands on, you're missing out on fascinating stories, compelling protagonists, exciting plots - things that will both entertain you and inform your own writing. Read good books. Enjoy the heck out of them.

What you do need to do, if I could pick up on the "studying" element of that suggestion, is learn to read critically - not critically as in disliking everything you read, but critically as in analysing what you read for techniques. Good writing seems like magic, but like all magic, it's created through hard work and clever technique. When you enjoy a book, ask yourself why you enjoy it. Is it the protagonist? The plot? The world-building? The writing? What's new here that you haven't seen anywhere else? What can you learn from this book? What would you improve?

It's exactly the same when you review. If this story doesn't excite you as much as your favourite book, why is that? How can you help this writer get better?

Then when you write you can try to capture the magic of these books yourself.

I don't personally use a writer's notebook, so I'll leave that angle to somebody else. Hope this helps, Pen.

Cheers,
Karsten

Writer's notebooks can be a great tool. Basically, it's a place to keep track of those random thoughts and story ideas you have. It should be something that relates to writing, though. What you had for breakfast and rants about your mean teacher belong in a diary, not your writer's notebook.

I've been keeping one for a year or two now. I'm not sure what everyone else puts in theirs, but in mine I usually put:

- Interesting dreams that I might be able to use in stories later on
- Plot ideas
- Character sketches or names that I like
- Metaphors and similes I think of
- Quotes that I might be able to base something off of
- Observations
- Seed ideas
- Things that would be a good title for a novel

Of course, those are just the things that I put in mine. Write down whatever you think will be useful. Hope that helps.

There's no sure fire way to improve your writing, it takes time and a lot of practice.

PenNPaper wrote:
They say reading helps, I have read many books and only recently did I discover that you are not supposed to read for pleasure but to study it. How do I do that, I have really no clue.

When people say read book and "study" it doesn't necessarily mean jotting down notes. You can, but I don't. And you are supposed to read for pleasure, but also as a source of learning. That means if you're reading a book and you like how someone uses figurative language, you pay close attention to how they do that, and then you'll subconsciously begin to use better figurative language in you writing. Same thing for other subjects of writing like sentence structure, choice of words, description, style, ect.

Most of all, just write. Edit, too, you're own work and others. When you point out a flaw in someone else's work, you'll be more likely to point it out in your own.

Good luck! God Bless!

Honestly, if someone told me to study a book outside of school, I'd scream.

When you read and find something interesting or worth remembering, write it down. Don't study a story line-by-line, because eventually it will bore you to death. Just find some little nitpicks that you feel will come in handy when you are writing your own novel. That saying, if it doesn't suit your piece, forget about putting them in.

It is true, though, that you do become a better author when you read frequently. Especially when you read something out of your comfort zone. If you like romance novels, try reading a fantasy book, and if you prefer action, try reading poetry and so on and so on. Broaden your reading and you will broaden your skills. Simple as that.

To me, the only way to improve your writing is just the way you would improve your video game or soccer skill. You just do it. All the time.

Classy

Don't stay on one genre alone. Try to get a feel for others and experiment maybe you might like it more than your original favorite genre. I try at least to read a new book every week of a different genre and analyze the writers style and fluency. Also I try to write everyday in a journal and weeks later I reread what I wrote and edit; noticing how much better or worse my writing has gotten; I also compare it to my other documents.

I second Karsten, she's a genius

Write an hour a day even when you don't feel like it

Karsten wrote:Hi Pen,

First of all, there are no universal rules of writing - everyone does it differently. So be prepared for conflicting advice.

The way I see it, improving as a writer has its own holy trinity: writing, reading and reviewing. Each one of these three informs the others. When you read you refresh your love of stories, learn new techniques and encounter new ideas you can use. When you review you develop your understanding of the mechanics of writing and build bonds with other writers. When you write you put everything into practice.

You need to do all three. A lot.

Look no further then this. Excellent answer.

Write!
There's no other way to improve. All you can do is write. Write as often as you can.
And read a lot too.
Now, you're thinking about the books you've read, and how your writing compares. You figure out what you loved most about the book authors writing style- cliffhangers, suspense, etc, and put it into your writing.
Voila! U have improved!