5 Ways to Become a Better Writer

I'm not a great writer. But I do manage to publish 3 blog posts a week currently!

Becoming a Better Blogger or Writer

Writing a blog might be a hobby for you, something from the past or something for the future. You might aspire to turn it into a source of income or your main income.

For me it's currently my work. I'm not a literary writer or a particularly insightful one. Most of my published works are collections of lists for cooperative roleplaying games!

But I'm always looking at ways to be a better writer and blogger so here are a few ways to improve as a blogger.

1) Be Prolific

When you write more, you will get better. This could be short stories, pages every morning, published articles or whatever medium you are using to write.

This doesn't mean publishing half-formed works. But we often don't know which of our writing will touch others and what will be met with indifference.

But showing up consistently and publishing is a powerful way to get better. And find out things you do and don't want to write more of.

2) Try Different Forms

Within your work you can try different ways of writing.

This might mean trying different types of writing such as poetry, blog posts, short stories, long form posts, limericks, something humorous, marketing copy!

Or it might be variations on what you already write. Writing with a time limit, shorter or longer than normal, a list, a collaboration, an interview. A series on a particular form or fulfilling a challenge from someone you know.

3) Brainstorm Writing Ideas

Set aside some time for thinking about ideas for writing. Not actually doing some writing, just time for thinking about ideas.

Use a pen and paper, phone list, vision board, accountability partner(s) or whatever works for you.

Look at your favourite and most impactful writing and how you could add or follow up on these. What's going on in your life and the wider world. What things are running in your head and could do with coming out. Ideas that have been surfacing for a couple months or a few years but haven't got around to putting into words.

And secondly take a time to look at your new list or older ideas. What resonates with you, what brings up emotions or makes you excited. Look more at those and think of writing a few sentences to see where it goes.

4) Consume other Writers

Read and consume the works of others.

This might be fiction, non-fiction, poetry or something else. Physical book, e-book or audiobook. Deep and thought provoking or trashy comfort reading. Get suggestions from others or try some "Top X lists" for genres you love or would like to look into.

But others write in many ways, so this could also extend to challenging films, interesting podcasts, listening closely to songs or looking at how an engaging social media post is put together.

5) Push Your Writing

Try other ways to push your writing. Think of your own as each writer is unique or take a look at my own.

• Take a Writing Course. An online video course, a book, a free course or paid,
• Join a writing group. Meetup or other sites might have one local to you. There's one in Porto where we just write and be in the same room. It's more accountability than anything.
• Enter a writing competition. NaNoWriMo happens every November if you can't find anything else or want a place to start.
• Try Morning Pages as detailed by the Artist's Way. The act of writing every morning. Mine is only a page every morning but enough to make a difference.
• Write outside your comfort zone. Those things that are a little bit uncomfortable. Maybe subjects you avoid or things that need a bit more thought.
• Compare your earlier writings, but not in a critical way. See how your style has changed and how your writing story has progressed.

Finishing Up

Hope someone found this useful!

What's made the most difference to your writing?

Duncan