Authors, writers, or bloggers don’t have to finish a degree to earn their titles. There’s no need to study officially at a university for any number of years.

The written word is ingrained in us from a young age. You can’t get through school without writing, that’s where you learn the basics, that’s where you are likely to discover whether you have a knack for it, a desire, a talent, or you’re simply doing it to pass and get the the hell out of there.

I wish I paid more attention at school. I wish I spent more time after school expanding my knowledge. I was always an avid reader but I probably should have applied myself more.

Writing is a skill that cannot be taught but it can be learnt.

It’s a skill that only improves through practice. You need to write in order to become a better writer. Reading about it isn’t going to help you if you’re not constantly putting into practice what you have learned.

I believe anyone can learn to write well. Shit can become good. Good can become great. Great can become epic.

Here are three things that will help you become a better writer.

Write

Simple yet so misunderstood. If you want to improve as a writer you have to write. This year I’m hoping to exceed one million words. It sounds like a lot but it’s only about 2750 words per day. It’s doable. It’s going to help me become a better writer.

But it’s not enough just to write in the same fashion you’ve always written. That’s misleading your learning. If you want to learn you have to challenge yourself by writing in different styles, genres, point of views, formats. You practice by writing novels, short stories, poems, articles, and blog posts.

Your primary focus may be to become a better author, but those other formats can grow your skills and flow over to your novel writing. Just write, and keep writing. You’ll become a better and more confident writer.

When you write, you also get permission to call yourself a writer. It took me a good fifteen years to own up to the fact that I was a writer. I write. I’ve published blog posts, articles and two books. I am a writer. Own it.

Learn new words, practice description, dialogue, setting, and flashbacks.

Look at your weaknesses. That’s what you need to be working on. If you can’t make a conversation sound realistic you need to be working on that until it feels natural.

You will never become a better writer if you’re not writing. Put the words down. Even if they’re shit. Just do it. Day by day you’ll improve and then there’s no excuse.

“Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.”
– William Faulkner

Challenge 1:
Commit to 15 minutes of writing every day. Or if you prefer try for 100 words and increase it by 50 until you’re writing 1000 words per day. You can achieve so much with very little if you commit.

Read

Why do you want to be a writer? Probably because you’re a reader first and foremost. I can’t imagine being a writer and not loving to read. The two go hand in hand. Reading fuels creativity, it’s like adding wood to the fire to keep the flame burning. As a writer, ideas are your assets. If you don’t have them then there’s not much writing you can do.

So read. If you want to be a better writer you need to read a lot. Not just the stuff that you enjoy reading but also the stuff you don’t. You learn from it all.

Good writing will show you what works. Bad writing will demonstrate what doesn’t.

But how do you define good and bad?

We have different tastes, likes and dislikes. What you like your friend might hate. A story you couldn’t get into may have one a national competition. The book that’s raking in millions in sales has been helping put you to sleep each night.

Tastes vary, the definition of good and bad varies. So read everything you can get your hands on and then decide whether you thought it was good and bad.

Read non-fiction too. Learn the rules of writing. Once you have them down pat, you can learn to break them to create your own writing style.

Books are not essays meant to be handed in to a teacher for marking for perfect sentence use. They’re not academic papers to be filled with fancy words that half the population doesn’t understand. Books are meant to be readable, friendly, and most importantly entertaining.

Read them all.

I’ve set myself a goal to read at least 52 books this year. 26 fiction and 26 non-fiction in various genres. We’re at the end of February and I’m already sixteen books in. I’m also confirming what I’ve known since I was a kid – I love crime thrillers, espionage and action books. I’m picky with my sci-fi and fantasy. And I can tolerate a little bit of romance.

As a writer I’m also tempted to try writing in different genres thanks to the books I read. Could there be a erotic romance in the future? Maybe a garlic-loving vampire coming of age story? Reading fuels my mind with ideas which means tomorrow, anything is possible.

“Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” – Stephen King

Challenge 2:
Try reading outside your normal genre. Start reading the top 100 books on Amazon or the Top 100 Before You Die. Always reading fiction? Give non-fiction a try. I’ve read some great non-fiction books. I remember Confessions of An Economic Hitman read like a novel, so did The Wolf of Wall Street. Non-fiction can spice up your writing and fill up your idea pool if you’re feeling a bit dry. I’m reading Hitlers Secret Children and it’s forcing ideas into my brain. I need to create a better idea folder!

Live

Life experience can be an awesome ingredient for a writer. While you don’t have to write what you know (otherwise we might have a lot of housewife and bored office clerk based books), you do tend to draw traits and emotions from our own experiences. Sure you can pretty much research anything you want on YouTube, Wikipedia, or Google, and probably get it right. But life experience is something else, it gives the most overused story idea a unique spin because it’s told from your perspective.

As a writer, even if you’re a shy or introverted one, as many are, you need to live a little. Try new things, take chances, feel alive.

One of the things I love about being a writer is that I can try some of the things I write about. Last year, my husband and I went to the shooting range. It was fun and exciting and I’d definitely do it again. This time around I’ll be going with my notepad so that I can take notes and talk to the people in the gun club so I can use it in my writing.

This year I’m hoping to try a dozen new things that will challenge my body and mind. I might not enjoy all of them but they are sure to teach me things. And just because they’re not for me, they might just be perfect for one of my characters.

Travel is also good. Of course we’re not all capable of travel. It’d be naive of me to think otherwise. Our geography, upbringing and lifestyle will impact on how far our backyard stretches. I’m fortunate enough to be able to travel once a year and I live in a country that has a lot to offer and there’s so much I hope to experience. All this and more will add colour to my stories, my characters, and my settings.

So liven up your writing by living a little. It can be as simple as heading out to a different part of town, having coffee at a new-to-you cafe, taking a road trip, signing up for a course, learning a new language, checking out a new running group, booking a holiday of a lifetime, throwing a dinner party.

“You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Challenge 3:

Make a list of all the things you’ve wanted to do no matter how big, small or outrageous they sound. Keep going till you have a hundred of them. Do it now.

Awesome. Got it.

Now split the list to things that are free, cost under a $100 and those over a $100.

Great.

Which one of those things can you do this week? This year?

Get started. Don’t look back.

As a writer it’s your job to constantly work on improving your craft. You want each article, book, blog post to be better than the one that came before it. With each piece, long or short, you’ll be able to convey your message, story, tip in a more entertaining and effective manner.

With each word you write, every book you read, and the new experiences you encounter, your writing will flourish.

What are you doing every day to improve as a writer?