Hey Writer Person

Hey Writer Person 🖋 On Getting Better

Hey Writer Person,

How do I improve my craft? How do I get better at writing?

Ewf. If you figure it out, let me know. I think the only way to improve and grow as a writer is to read. Read a lot. And don't limit yourself to one or two genres. Shake it up. I've ways been a big reader of science fiction and fantasy. So when I first started out as a writer, naturally, I figured I'd write what I liked to read. I decided I was an SFF writer. THIS IS ME WORLD, WATCH ME BARREL DOWN THIS PATH! And after a while I'd find myself stuck in my writing, unsure how to move the story along, or what style I could bring to a story to help really bring it alive. Even the books I was reading in the genre I loved were starting to bore me for some reason.

And then I read a book of short stories.

The last time I read a short story before then was in University and it was something that bored me to tears. But THIS book of short stories made my brain EXPLODE. It was a totally different reading experience to what I was used to, and it was completely inspiring, showing me how many POSSIBILITIES there are in the way we approach a story. Now, I read everything. I still read my fave genres the most, but I dabble outside of it happily and often.

So read outside your comfort zone, Writer Person. Try books and stories in genres and formats you haven't read before. Have you ever read a screenplay? A steamy romance novel? A graphic novel? When was the last time you tried a short story? These diversions from your usual reading can open a door to a new way of thinking about your own writing, your own stories, and inspire you to try something different!

And another thing that really helped me when I felt like I wasn't growing/getting better? Reading out loud. A professor told me to do it, and I remember later staring at my laptop in my dorm room, unhappy with my words and thinking 'I'm not seriously gonna so this, am I?'. But what was there to lose by trying? So, a little embarrassed in front of myself, I read the scene out loud. One paragraph in, I had HEARD a bunch of problems that I hadn't been able to SEE. Now I read my work out loud all the time. I even do the voices. I can't recommend it enough. If a scene isn't working, a passage, a chapter, read it out loud! Let your ears catch what your eyes can't!

I don't think writers ever stop trying to be better. Trying to grow and change and improve their craft. I am constantly learning, and that's what makes each story a new experience. And no matter how much I learn, I know I will learn even more with the next story.

So keep pushing, Writier Person. You're getting better every day.