5 Ways to Become a Better Writer

Being a writer isn't easy, but here are five ways to help you improve your skills.

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RELATED VLOGS:

Why Writers Must Read: http://bit.ly/ywmrv

Why You Need Critique Partners: http://bit.ly/wuCPsv


RELATED LINKS:

THE FIRE IN FICTION by Donald Maass (review): http://bit.ly/1rl4ZoV

PLOT & STRUCTURE by James Scott Bell: http://bit.ly/1s2zHH8

REVISION & SELF-EDITING by James Scott Bell: http://bit.ly/1rl56AT


AWESOME INDUSTRY BLOGS:

YA Highway (general YA writing tips/industry info): http://www.yahighway.com/

Nathan Bransford's blog (former literary agent with amazing archived posts): http://blog.nathanbransford.com/

Agent Sarah Negovetich's blog (lots of great info here for writers): http://www.sarahnegovetich.com/

Writers Helping Writers (many useful posts for writers): http://writershelpingwriters.net/

The Write Practice (more super useful writerly goodness): http://thewritepractice.com/


WHERE TO FIND ME:

Writability (aka my blog)! http://avajae.blogspot.com/

Twitter (where I spend way too much time)! https://twitter.com/Ava_Jae

tumblr (because pictures! and inspirational thingies!) http://avajae.tumblr.com/

Facebook (where you can like me)! https://www.facebook.com/AvaJae

Goodreads (where you can add my book to your TBR shelf!)! http://bit.ly/BtRgr

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Closed Caption:

Hi community of awesome, I'm Ava Jae, this
is bookishpixie, and today we're talking five
ways to become a better writer.
Let's get started.
One: read a lot.
I already did a vlog about why reading is
so important for writers, so I'll link to that
below, but the short version is this: reading
allows you to discover different tools and
techniques that you can use in your own writing,
as well as see stylistic effects that you
don't like that you don't want to incorporate
into your writing.
Not to mention that being aware of what's
already out there is extremely important both
before and after you're published. Read in
your genre, read outside your genre read absolutely
everything you can.
It's important, so make sure you make the
time for it.
Two: read books about writing.
This is related to the last point, but it's
more specifically focused on reading non-fiction
books about the craft of writing.
This is really important, especially in the
beginning, because you can learn a lot from
the pros who have taken the time to sit down
and share some tips for writers.
I especially recommend THE FIRE IN FICTION
by Donald Maas, PLOT AND STRUCTURE by James
Scott Bell, and REVISION AND SELF-EDITING
also by James Scott Bell.
Related to this, reading industry blogs from
editors and agents and published writers can
also be really helpful.
I'll link to some awesome writing and publishing
blogs that you guys can check out below.
Three: critique.
I already did a vlog about why critique partners
are important, so this is basically that point,
get critique partners, get your worked critiqued
and make sure you critique other people's work.
I've said this before, and I'll say it again,
but it's honestly one of the fastest ways
I know of to improve your writing skills.
So do it.
Four: edit your work.
Getting all that critique and reading all
that information on publishing blogs isn't
going to help you if you don't then sit down
and take the time to apply what you've learned
to your manuscript.
Editing is not optional.
One thing I will say on this point is editing
is much more than copyediting or line editing,
it involves structural changes, changes to
the characters, the plot, the voice, it is
incredibly in-depth and much more than changing
a comma here and there.
It's hard, and frustrated, and time-consuming,
but you need to do it if you want to improve
your writing and your manuscript.
Five: write. A lot.
In the end, the best way to become a better
writer is to write. And write. And write.
A lot of people say that in order to be a
writer, you have to write every day, and while
I don't agree with that at all, I do agree
that writing frequently is incredibly important.
The only way for you to learn from all the
blogs and books and critique partner feedback
is to actually sit down and write.
They say practice makes perfect, and I don't
think it makes perfect, but it definitely
makes better.
I absolutely believe that you learn from everything
you write, whether it's non-fiction or fiction,
a full book or a chapter, a blog post or an
article, whatever it is, you learn from it.
So it only makes sense then that the more
you write, the better writer you're going
to become.
As a writer, your number one priority should
be writing. So make sure you don't lose sight of it.
So that's all I've got for today! If you liked
what you saw, don't forget to subscribe and
comment, and I'll see you guys next week.