How did you become a better writer? Best method?

[SuperWriter]

Just through time, developing your own style? Having your writing critiqued? Or studying successful authors?

 

[HeyAll]

1. Reading a lot

2. Writing a lot


But I'd say reading a lot of authors you admire is the best way to learn. Doesn't have to be erotica. If there's a thriller writer you enjoy, just keep reading that and studying that, then you'll learn the techniques.

Because in the end, writing is about knowing the techniques, set-ups, words, structures, etc...

No one is born knowing these things.

 

[SimonDoom]

Number 1 is writing a lot. Like anything else, you don't get better unless you do it. You can't become a good guitar player just by studying or listening to great guitar players. You have to play guitar, first and foremost.

Number 2 is reading a lot. Figure out what you like. Study great writers. Think hard about what makes them great, or about what you like about them. Learn from their example. You can learn from them even if you don't want to imitate them.

Number 3 is getting feedback for your writing.

Number 4 is reading articles and books about writing. This includes learning and mastering the basics of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and style.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

All good suggestions, but I am reminded of the old line about why school teachers make the best hookers. 'Cause you're gonna do this over and over and over again until you get it right!

A baby learns to walk by falling down. We learn to ride our first bicycle by falling off. One becomes a good lover by shedding one's inhibitions and dignity and getting into bed. Similarly, one becomes a good writer by writing, analyzing the merits and flaws in those works (and especially by allowing others to do the same) and then by writing more while trying to avoid those identified flaws. Easy-peasy.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

And then there are those of us who feel no matter how long we do this we will never live up to our favorite authors.

Do I think I have gotten better over the years? Just a little. Of course I have better tools than I did went I first stated. And the tools I use have gotten better. But good tools don't make a great writer. They help, but that is all they do.

Read, write, read, write, read, write not necessarily in that order.

 

[8letters]

* Having an editor. I was terrible at grammar and the technical side of writing at first, and having someone correct my sentences helped me a lot
* Getting detailed feedback on a story in the Story Feedback forum. A very successful LitE author spent a lot of time giving me both high-level and detailed feedback on one of my stories, and I learned tremendously from that
* Getting a better editor. My first editor went silent for a long time, told me he was having health issues and then I never heard from him again. He wasn't very knowledgeable about the technical side of writing, and I was ready to work with a more knowledgeable editor. That second editor really helped me grow
* Getting beta-readers. Once I started getting really glowing PM's, I started asking some of those people to beta-read for me. I strongly encouraged them to say whatever they feel is lacking in the story. I then do major rewrites on my stories based on that feedback

 

[SimonDoom]

school teachers make the best hookers.

Great title for a story.

You've got my wheels turning.

 

[KeithD]

Reading and writing a lot, especially in areas you are writing, are good answers, but what really helped me was going back to the university to study editing and publishing after retiring the first time. Although there will always be mistakes in the writing, becoming steeped in the basics of the mechanics helps clear a out a lot of the minutia while you are writing so that you can concentrate on the creative aspects of the writing.

 

[weftandwarp]

The commonest advice is to write lots and lots and then keep writing. I disagree. Excessive writing simply entrenches bad technique, bad habits.

I think the most important thing is to have a cogent plan to what you want to write and then to present it as best you can. Think about what you are doing as you're doing it. When a project is done find a new one and keep going. I love listening to some people as they talk because of how they construct their speaking patterns. I have used some to copy and love it.

Some say one must find one's style. I hate that. I don't want a style. I want the ability to write in personas. It is more work but it is also very rewarding. In my other writing I have many personas. I find that each persona only lasts for a short time. I don't know why but my head will only accept them for so long and it then demands a break.

When I stop writing it isn't done. I keep it for a few months and then read it again to correct any mistakes. Then I put it away again and repeat the process. I'm slow but I don't mind. It is a part of my education and a good education is always expensive.

My goals are high and when I think about it I've done well. I left school basically illiterate and it has been an ongoing project since. I was told I'd never be able to fill out a form. I can now. I still get them wrong sometimes but It's ok. A lot of forms have been changed because of me. They are "clarified". I've been accused of doing it deliberately. I wish I had. It's funny, even if I'm the only one laughing..

 

[8letters]

Reading and writing a lot, especially in areas you are writing, are good answers, but what really helped me was going back to the university to study editing and publishing after retiring the first time. Although there will always be mistakes in the writing, becoming steeped in the basics of the mechanics helps clear a out a lot of the minutia while you are writing so that you can concentrate on the creative aspects of the writing.

Keith, at some point I asked about what book would be the best for improving my grammar skills and you recommended to me a book that, if I remember right, was essentially a work book on grammar. I didn't have the money at the time to buy it, and that post is lost in the sands of time. I've got the money now. What was the book?

 

[KeithD]

Keith, at some point I asked about what book would be the best for improving my grammar skills and you recommended to me a book that, if I remember right, was essentially a work book on grammar. I didn't have the money at the time to buy it, and that post is lost in the sands of time. I've got the money now. What was the book?

I recommended two, from way back; maybe they've been updated. I tracked them down when I had to send workbooks out to foreign writers worldwide in an international news agency to boost their technicals and to provide them fast, easily understandable reference on deadline fly. One was English Grammar by David and Barbara Daniels, from the HarperCollins College Outline series, and the other was Punctuation, Capitalization, and Spelling by Eugene Ehrlich from the Schaum's Theory and Problems series.

 

[8letters]

I recommended two, from way back; maybe they've been updated. I tracked them down when I had to send workbooks out to foreign writers worldwide in an international news agency to boost their technicals and to provide them fast, easily understandable reference on deadline fly. One was English Grammar by David and Barbara Daniels, from the HarperCollins College Outline series, and the other was Punctuation, Capitalization, and Spelling by Eugene Ehrlich from the Schaum's Theory and Problems series.

Thank you so much. That'd be this and this one, correct?

Edit: Had wrong book for second link

 

[SamScribble]

On the subject of getting feedback, I would caution be careful whence it comes.

My first editor - yonks ago - wanted me to write the way that she wrote. Fortunately, she retired. My next editor encouraged me to write the way I wrote - while he offered helpful advice from the sideline. Mike taught me a lot more than Joyce ever did.

 

[KeithD]

Thank you so much. That'd be this and this one, correct?

Edit: Had wrong book for second link

Those are the ones, yes. The Ehrlich one has a different cover from the one I have but it's marked as the same edition.

 

[ElectricBlue]

On the subject of getting feedback, I would caution be careful whence it comes.

My first editor - yonks ago - wanted me to write the way that she wrote. Fortunately, she retired. My next editor encouraged me to write the way I wrote - while he offered helpful advice from the sideline. Mike taught me a lot more than Joyce ever did.

Yes, I've been fortunate to have had two beta readers who challenged me to lift my game, not by rewriting any content (at most, commas) but highlighting words or phrases with a question, "are you sure about that?" They've gently guided me, but never told me what to write.

On the subject of "getting better?" With me, it's always been writing the next story, experimenting, somehow refining what comes naturally, listening to my inner voice, having the hubris to take on something big. So my best method is to write more, and not be afraid. I think it's mostly working.

 

[SuperWriter]

I think all of you have very valid points. Admittedly, I should read more but writing and having it judged on Lit was how I got better

 

[SamScribble]

So my best method is to write more, and not be afraid. I think it's mostly working.

Well, it certainly seems to be working, Blue.

 

[TxRad]

Write, write, and then write some more.

I was lucky when I had an ex professional editor offer her services for my stories here at Lit. I learned a lot that I had forgotten over the hundred years since my last English class. I then made a big mistake and encouraged her to write stories of her own. She found writing to be much better than editing.

A short time later, I had another person offer to edit for me. I learned a lot from her also. She had major health issues and passed away a year or so later.

Then I posted a non-erotic short story here. That led to three mainstream novels and an editor that is worth her weight in gold. Right off the bat, she gave me the best advice I ever received. "You write it and we will fix it."

So, write, write, write, and find an editor you can work with.

I have two or three good people I can call on here at Lit for editing but I very seldom use them as they all write and I hate to take up their time for a free site. You get what you pay for in the long run.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Well, it certainly seems to be working, Blue.

Thanks, Sam .

 

[John988]

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[KeithD]

Collecting experiences goes in there someplace too, I think. Having rich experiences to ponder on, glean from, and include in your writing will, I think, make your writing a lot better and more interesting.

 

[John988]

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[SimonDoom]

I would challenge the idea of "write, write, write." You obviously have to write a lot to get better, but in the initial stages, I think a lot of reading is a much better approach. Critically (and I mean super critically) reading good writing is the best way to get a sense for what good writing is. Then, of course, when you get some ideas, write. Dive in and write something, anything. Once that's done, keep reading, and compare your work to what you see.

It's also key to read more than one author. Authors definitely do settle into a style of their own, and if you only read in their style, you're gonna start to mimic it. You need to read a lot of stuff from a lot of authors to see what fiction writing can look like. Technical writing has wonderful guidelines and formats to follow, but fiction... not so much. Not at all, really. You definitely learn by doing, but if you're starting out, just doing won't get you anywhere 'cause what you're doing just isn't gonna be that great.

And definitely be wary of getting feedback. There are some great sources of feedback, but there are also some terrible ones. If you're looking for an editor on here, read their writing first. If it's not the kind of writing you are going for, look for someone else. And be super wary of the Story Feedback board on here. It's great if you get good writers and editors to comment on it, but comments from random people can lead you astray.

Fortunately, one doesn't have to choose. You can write a lot and read a lot.

Writing is like any other skill, and I can't think of any skill you get better at doing without practicing a lot. It doesn't matter how many great piano books you read, if you don't practice you'll always suck at playing piano. Same with writing. That said, I agree it makes sense not just to write but to expose yourself to great writers. Reading and writing go together. The better you become at one the better you become at the other. But I do think there's no substitute for doing, if you want to become good.

 

[8letters]

Hanging out in the Story Feedback forum has helped me. When I read for pleasure, I'm not reading closely. When I read for providing comments in the Story Feedback forum, I think a lot about what is working and what isn't working in a story. And I see that this person noticed this while I noticed that.

Similarly, I get some of my story ideas from good-but-not-great stories, where I felt like the author had a good premise or hook, but didn't take full advantage of it.

 

[8letters]

On the subject of "getting better?" With me, it's always been writing the next story, experimenting, somehow refining what comes naturally, listening to my inner voice, having the hubris to take on something big. So my best method is to write more, and not be afraid. I think it's mostly working.

What do you consider experimenting? I picture writing a story in the style of Gertrude Stein.