Scribbles: How to Write

THE 0TH LAW OF WRITING

There is one sure-fire way of improving your writing. Write.

I know, I know, it's hard, and it takes up time, and nothing you write is ever good enough. But suck it up, and keep writing. It's OK to take a break, it's OK not to write every day, but the more you write, the better you will be at writing. Even if it doesn't look like you're improving, because guess what? If you look at a paragraph you wrote a week ago, and think 'oh god it's awful what was i thinking', which is familiar to ALL WRITERS, EVERYWHERE, that's good. That's great! That means you know what went wrong. Stuff you did a week ago looks bad because your writing has improved. You're getting better, without even noticing. You're doing great! Keep it up.

And if you can't keep it up, if your well has run dry and you have no idea what comes next, go and read. Find your favourite book. Look at the way the sentences flow together. Pay attention to how you feel as you read, what the author is doing to make you smile. Peek behind the curtain, and marvel at the view.

Then pull yourself up your bootstraps and write.