Comments on: Better Writing Habits

By: Collect Writing Resources for Better Writing : Writing Forward

Collect Writing Resources for Better Writing : Writing Forward — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:06:26 +0000

[...] nobody gets by on sheer talent. You’re going to need to acquire some solid writing skills and better writing [...]

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:46:33 +0000

That’s great Meredith! Just keep on writing and you’ll be fine! Oh, and don’t forget to read too!

By: Meredith

Meredith — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 00:55:35 +0000

This is a great post! It makes me feel as though I’m doing at least a few things right. That helps a lot.

By: How to Master the Creative Writing Process : Writing Forward

How to Master the Creative Writing Process : Writing Forward — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:03:40 +0000

[...] shared them, along with a host of other writing tips, was to help us be more productive and produce better writing. A lot of techniques and strategies are beneficial. But it’s our responsibility to know what [...]

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:35:08 +0000

Thanks Danielle, I agree with you on all points. Reading is the number one activity that every writer should engage in regularly.

By: Danielle Ingram

Danielle Ingram — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:22:20 +0000

Totally agree with you here, you should never stop learning!

Of course, it is important to be creative but writers should not lose sight of the technicalities such as spelling, grammar and punctuation.

As a writer I find that the best way to progress is to read, read, read and most definitely write as often as possible!

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:45:14 +0000

Reading is, to me, the most essential task for a writer. Far too many people want to write but don’t want to read. Thanks Alik.

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:44:26 +0000

That is something all of us writers think about, constantly. I think it’s a great strength for a writer to identify areas of weakness. It means you take the craft seriously, and provides you with the foundation that you need to grow and improve your writing.

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:43:02 +0000

I guess that’s not a bad reason for being disliked

Your solution (listening to audiobooks) is a good one for getting more reading into your daily life. I’m not sure what you can do when the urge to write strikes while you’re working, other than take notes and try to flesh it out later. Many, many writers recommend choosing a time each day and committing to that time – even if it’s just fifteen minutes (come on, that’s nothing!).

The idea is that you can probably draft a whole page in fifteen minutes. If you do that every day, you’ll have 365 pages at the end of a year. That’s an entire book!

By: Alik Levin | PracticeThis.com

Alik Levin | PracticeThis.com — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:41:46 +0000

“Read as much as you cam” is my favorite as this is what i practice and this is what gets me best insights. To read as much as a can i use simple principle of “kill dead time.” Any time i have a free time (duh…) i have a book with me, or a PDF abstract, or link to interesting article, or offline blog posts my RSS reader sucked while i was working
Good tips, i like it.
Alik Levin | PracticeThis.com´s last blog ..Powerful Consulting – #2

By: AravisGirl

AravisGirl — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:30:55 +0000

I was just thinking about what in my writing could use improvement.

By: t.sterling

t.sterling — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:30:01 +0000

Forgive me if I’ve said this before, but sometimes I dislike you for being right all the time.

I’m only saying that because I recently just told someone exactly what you wrote here. Okay, so I didn’t say ALL of what you said verbatim, but the points you made about writing everyday and reading more. Especially setting time aside to do these things. That’s my main issue: time management. But I do like what you said about this process takes some time. Indeed it does. There are many times I’d love to just stop what I’m doing to write, and I’ll tell myself “Tonight, after work, it shall be done!” But it doesn’t happen because there’s something else I need to do or I’m not feeling that urge.

Regardless, I need to force myself when I have the time and even if it’s crap, surely I can recycle it into something better at another time.

Unfortunately these urges to write happen while I’m at work, which I can only engage in if I’m ahead (lately that hasn’t been the case). Coincidentally, this is also usually when I read your blog, but my job has been busy lately and I blame you for writing such intriguing material because that sucks up time I should be doing my job.

Nevertheless, when I have started putting time away on the weekend to do some kind of writing until I’m able to write more often and eventually everyday like I had been doing. So thank you for the tips, encouragement, and being one more person to annoy me in a good way to just do it already(ya know, like a nagging mother who wants you to do your best).
t.sterling´s last blog ..a night at foxwoods