Believe You Can - And You Can
Improve Your Writing

Do you want to improve your writing?

I still want to improve mine. Even after 36 years practice!

What do you do now to help you write better? Hundreds of choices are available to try. If one thing doesn't work for you, try another. I've used dozens of methods over the years, and found a few that work well for me.

And I've found one overriding way to help me get better.

Here are my favorite ways to keep improving what I write everyday.


Exercise Your Mind - And "Pen"

One of the things I used to do regularly to improve my writing also helped me learn how to write novels a lot better. Writing exercises. Try some to see if they improve your writing, too.

Writing exercises can be as simple as choosing a scene from a novel you enjoy reading (it can be one of your own, if you wish, or someone else's). The you rewrite it.

If you need practice in keeping to the correct point of view, rewrite your chosen scene from someone else's point of view. Or change it to first person if it's in third person.

Try removing all the adjectives and adverbs. Then try to make it as strong or stronger without those by using words that create sharper images on their own. Without modifying them.

Take a page of dialogue and make each character speak enough differently that you can tell who's speaking without any dialogue tags (he said, she said and the like).

Rewrite a descriptive scene being sure you have no passive "There was" sentences, only sharp, active ones.

Alternatively, try to make a scene as bad as possible by adding too many adjectives and adverbs, slapping "he said" after every line of conversation, bopping from one person's viewpoint to another and starting too many lines with "There was..."

Sound silly? It'll teach you plenty about how to improve your writing if you deliberately write poorly. You may find you have a few bad habits that need cleaning up.


Just in Time

Writers block got you stymied? Here's another method to improve your writing that should also tame the savage "block".

Timed writing.

This is exactly what it sounds like. You set a timer and write your fingers off for the specified period of time. I recommend about ten or fifteen minutes.

Write freely, ignore typos and poor grammar and just let it all out. If your "block" is bugging you, start by writing something goofy like "Why in heck can't I write anything? No one else can possibly have this as bad as I do..." Once you begin, words should just start flowing.

With writing exercises like this one, you have to give yourself some slack. Don't criticize what's coming out. Even if you think it's garbage. If nothing else, it's clearing the garbage so the good stuff can emerge.

Maybe you secretly think you're bad at writing. That's no excuse to put it off. Overcoming procrastination of that sort means sitting yourself down and applying fingers to keyboard or pen to paper. So you do get better.

Timed writing is just one more way to improve your writing.


I Have an Associate

I talked about using word association and brainstorming on my fiction writing tips page. This is another way to improve your writing, simply by opening your mind to more possibilities.

Start with a word that intrigues you. Blustery, for example. (It's a windy winter day while I write this, hence the word choice.)

Now, let your mind roam at will and jot what comes up. Winnie the Pooh (doesn't matter if it's goofy), knife of air down the neck of my coat, snow melting through my pants at the tops of my boots, below zero, wind chill...

You get the idea. It doesn't have to be single words, but whatever comes to mind once you begin with one word or idea that inspires you.

Or take one you hate and see what happens. You may either end up hating the word or idea less, or find great inspiration for a bad guy or plot conflict! Now that's a good way to learn how to write a story !

The True Secret to Writing Well

About a year ago, I stumbled upon a "secret" that has helped me in every area of my life, including my continued education in how to write a book. It can help improve your writing, too.

I know I've said this on other pages, but the very first thing you need to do is:

Believe in yourself!

Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Oh, I believe in my ability to write, so in that respect, I believe in myself. But in other areas, I flunk big time, even after a year of practicing these techniques.

So if you don't believe that you can write well, here are some actions to take to help you get over that mentality.

Start by paying attention to what you're thinking. As often as possible during the day, catch yourself when you think anything that has to do with writing. A lot of it might be more unconscious than you realize, so this will take concentration.

For every negative thought - every "Why I can't write anything but garbage!" - replace it with a positive one. "How can I learn to improve my writing?"

Now, instead of making a self-fulfilling prophecy come true (I can't write), you've opened your mind to finding resources that will help you get better at it. Until you can confidently say "I write well!"

If you find yourself unconsciously slipping back into the "I can't" mentality, forgive yourself and shift back. Eventually, you'll stay in that mindset most of the time.

Next, dream big. Start small, if you need to by focusing on something immediate. "I want to write the first chapter of a novel in one month." Focus on that thought daily. Take appropriate action to meet that goal. Set aside time each day to work on it. Study writing tips in books, online, through classes. Whatever works for you.

Then change your positive thought to something bigger. "I'll have the first draft of my novel done by June, and editing on it done by December." Give yourself goals with deadlines, or you're likely to just procrastinate long beyond when you should have accomplished it.

Imagine your novel as already done, all its problems already solved, the entire manuscript already written. What does that feel like? Let yourself feel that for a few minutes (or more) every day, and your enthusiasm to write and finish your novel will soar.

I keep a new type of journal, these days. A gratitude journal. Every day, I think about what I'm grateful for in my life. It might be a family member who did something nice for me. It might be that I had a wonderful time doing something I loved and had the free time to do it.

The idea is, I'm focusing on what's positive in my life and therefore drawing more positive into my life. Try it, if you don't believe me. Just keep in mind you can't write that you're grateful if you don't take the time to feel that gratitude, at least for a few minutes. I know. That's how I did it at first and it didn't help at all!

Now I've got more positive things coming my way every day.

Basically, if you want to improve your writing (or anything else in your life), keep this in mind:

If you think you can't, believe you can't - you can't. If you think you can, believe you can - you can. You're creating your own reality by not believing in yourself - or by believing in yourself.

My conviction is deep that I write well, and because I believe it, I've practiced it for over 35 years, and now it's true.