12 actions you need to do right now to be a better writer

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ART + marketing

7 min readOct 13, 2016

You can be a better writer. So many posts offer you advice. Most of it you just look it, kind of file it away, and never return to it. That’s why I’m offering actionable steps you can take right now. So hop to it!

1.Write down 10 ideas every day, or work on a story every day -

just like every other part of your brain, that part that produces ideas (and don’t ask me what part that is, I’m not a scientist ) needs to be used or it will get rusty.the more you use it, the faster and better you will get writing ideas.-read more about this

2.Read 2 chapters every day -

“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.
Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”
― William Faulknerv —

read more about why you should read lots here. I recommend two chapters a day becouse that’s what i do, and i think that’s very doable. I read on public transportation.

3.use Hemingway or grammarly -

No, shockingly enough, it is not your editor’s job to take care of all your spelling and grammar mistakes. Don’t worry, i thought it was also. When you hand in a writing with too many mistakes, it looks messy and unprofessional. The editor will almost definitely return it and ask you to redo it. save yourself-and him the time.

I like to use Hemingway. they way it works is that it highlights different mistakes in different colors. For example, a red highlight means that your sentence is very hard to read, while a green highlight shows passive voice. But don’t bother memorizing that- they show you all that on the side.

Here’s what Hemingway takes care of:

passive voice
hard to read sentences
phrases that can be said in simpler language
adverbs (they don’t like them.)
passive voice.

And it’s free! Remember, they are just giving you pointers. if you really think it sounds better, trust your gut. keep it.

As a writer your gut will help you establish your writing voice. if you think something sounds better even if it’s highlighted, keep it.

Many great books have grammar errors

4. find a writing partner -

No online tool is a substitute for a real person. Go find someone who you know will be able to give you constructive criticism. (a.k.a. please do not ask your mother to review your book). Find a friend with a flair for writing, or ask for one on a online group. You will be amazed at how much your writing will improve.

Again, trust your gut. Most of the time, the advice is great. But don’t allow yourself to lose your voice to make others happy.

5.subscribe to a writing advice website

I mean, following me is a great start, so you can do that. :) But besides for that, here are some other writing sites i follow so you can get great writing tips and advice to help build up your inner author.Here are the top 10 (plus a list of 100)

fiction university
Live to write-write to live
go teen writers (good even if you are not a teen)
She’s novel
creative writing now
imperfect writers of the web
the writing cooperative
create, make, write
carlos lewis
100 best sites for writers in 2015

There are many more, you can just check out who i follow on my profile or my pinterest (though not everyone i follow writes about writing) but I didn’t feel like you wanted a really long post. maybe one day we’ll do a full list.

Let me know if you would appreciate that in the comments.

6. Get words of the day and grammar tips in your social media feed-

Good writers +good vocabulary +good grammar= a way higher chance to get published. it’s as simple as that.

oh, another list!here’s some more things to follow on pinterest:

>cool words and definitions

>word

> words\language

(everyone has such original names, i know)

> words, words, words

7. Write at least once a week

So people will tell you to write every day. And if you can, do that, that’s great. But i have a chronic illness. I can’t physically write every day. And unless you have nothing to do but write- i don’t know how easy it is for you to write every day.

So set goals for what you can achieve. Once a week, twice a week, every day.

as noone but me ever said:

Set goals you can achieve, and you will succeed

8.make a compliment jar-

I found this idea over here, and i loved it so much I had to share it.

A compliment jar is basically you keep one of your old jars, clean it out, put some motivational stickers or a label on, and keep in a place where you can have easy accesses to it.

Every time someone gives you a compliment, slip it into the jar. Whenever you’re i need for a boost, just pull a few out.

This idea can used for everyone, but i think it’s really important for writers becouse we often get down about our work. We frequently miss deadlines and get rejections. But- that doesn’t mean we are not awesome! That doesn’t mean we are not great writers. All it means is we have to try again.

consider this quote and maybe even put it in your jar:

The biggest hurdle is rejection. Any business you start, be ready for it. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is the successful people do all the things the unsuccessful people don’t want to do. When 10 doors are slammed in your face, go to door number 11 enthusiastically, with a smile on your face.- John Paul DeJoria

9.join writing groups

whichever social media network you are on, there’s a few great groups for you to try on so you can get feedback on your work, find writing partners, get and give encouragement, promote your work and ask your writing questions.

Here are some across networks:

Facebook:

writers\bloggers network — runs on threads

Reddit:

google plus:

The writer’s community

writer of google +

If you want a bigger, more involved writing community with contests, consider joining wattpad or figment.

10.make writing goals

So you have this dream. getting a blog up and running. being published in a magazine. Publishing your first novel.that’s awesome. Now how on earth will you get there.

By committing to goals.

“Goals are dreams with deadlines.”
― Diana Scharf

Goals are actionable, bite sized actions you can take to achieve your writing dream. Make writing a part of your to do list. even a page a day piles up over time to become a masterpiece.

set deadlines. put writing in your to-do list. and you will find you writing dream so much closer when you keep to them.

11.act out scenes in your head

This is one of my most powerful tools while writing. I know, unconventional.But that’s me.

Here’s why:When you act out a scene in your head without figuring out voice and tone and which word should i use, it all flows more naturally. Once you have a feel for the scene, it’s easier to write everything down and making it sound natural- becouse it’s perfectly natural to you.

12. Try different genres-

there are lots of people will tell you not to. And there’s good reasons for that. It’s confusing for your reader, you need to get established first blah…blah..blah… But here’s why i think you should dabble in different genres.

you can find which genre speaks to you the most- it may not be the one you think
you can find which genre you write best in- it may not be the one you think
you expand your talents and horizons by pushing past your comfort zone.

now you choose- what do you think- is it best to stick to one genre or dabble in a few?