To hone down on your writing, there are two things you need to do: understand and practice. Let's look at the first step of the process: understanding the craft of writing.
Understanding the Craft
Reading is arguably one of the best ways to understand and improve your writing. How do we know this? Well, most acclaimed writers are actually avid readers. Authors regularly read other writers' works, as shown from their online promotions and the comments they make on the back of other authors' book blurbs. But reading other works is not just a marketing tactic for a writer. It's also a way for them to improve on their writing skills. By regularly reading, a writer is exposed to a variety of techniques that helps them find innovative ways to write. It's important to use reading as a tool, or a stepping stone, to improving on skills.
Practicing the Craft
The second step of the process is to practice the craft of writing.
Of course, this goes without saying that you can't get anywhere without practice. A concert master violinist did not earn their position by sheer luck. He has likely practiced for many years before becoming the leader of his orchestra. Likewise, you cannot be a good writer unless you do it often, practicing as much as you can to reach whatever goal you have set for yourself. Writing a book? Do a page a night. Just trying to get better? A prompt a day. It may sound complicated to write a lot, but experience is the most valuable thing to have when trying to hone your craft, whatever that craft may be!
On Writing (Amazon Affiliate)
Stephen King, the most critically acclaimed and highest-grossing author, shares this very piece of advice in his book called "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft." Below is a link to the book on Amazon, where you can check it out for yourself.
In this memoir, King helps aspiring writers like you and me by talking about his own life and how he became a writer. He talks about writing frankly and practically, mixing tried-and-true pieces of advice with anecdotes about how some of his books came out. If you want to be a writer, you will find this book to be invaluable to your craft and you will definitely walk away as a better writer--or at least, a more enlightened one--even from the first few pages.
One key take-away that I would like to share with you from King's memoir is this: "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." As mentioned before, understanding (by reading) and practicing (by writing) are the two key factors of honing your craft and becoming better at it.
King also writes, "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."
If you truly care about writing at all, reading is the necessary tool you need to write. You cannot have one without the other, so it is important to make time for them and to practice them accordingly. Eventually, you will reach your goals and be an overall more confident writer.
The next blog post will be about discovering those writing goals, so I hope to see you around next time!
Comments