I find that the more I write, the better I become at writing. What has helped me lately is writing short pieces, like essays and poetry. Those can be about any topic that interests you. That interest is a big incentive to stay with the project. They may or may not require research. I think it is good to start with writing projects that require little or no research so that you can concentrate on your writing. Later, you can do more research.
Research can entail anything from looking up a few words in the dictionary to reading several articles and then writing an essay to bring those ideas together and draw conclusions. For fiction, you may need to research a specific locale or culture. You might need to delve into history. With the internet, it's not hard to find photos of places or things that you want to write about and this can help greatly with description. If you are researching, whether on the internet or in books or magazines, it's a good idea to confirm your facts with at least two sources, especially any major facts that tie into the plot.
There are lots of "rules" for grammar and for writing, and these rules are often broken to great effect, but it is still a good foundation for you to know the rules before you start breaking them. Your writing will be more solid and you will know which rules to break and why in order to get a special effect.
I find it useful to do some writing off the cuff and some writing that more strictly conforms to a set of rules, such as a sonnet with its rhyme schemes and line restrictions. This helps me get comfortable with different ways of writing.
I hope to learn more about voice and tone--it seems to me that a writer should have control of those elements as well as others, but I don't know enough about them to know what I'm doing yet. A combination of reading and writing will help that situation--at least that is what I am hoping.
Do you have any ideas about practicing writing that you'd like to share?
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2 comments:
I do not know a lot other than the fact that I try to use variety in lengths of sentences and also try to use words in the same case such as laughing and loving rather than laughed and loving.
I like your comment about knowing the rules before breaking them. When I took a Composition class at my University, I received a 100 per cent on the English test. However, my application of the rules is so narrow. It was like I knew what I was looking for as we had been studying all that. Since taking Editing at the University, I am even more paranoid that I am lacking in my English abilities. But I don't let perfectionism keep me from writing!
I do have a theory that a great deal could be gained by practicing writing single sentences in a variety of forms such as sentences with gerunds. I remember doing that in about the 6th grade and feel that you have to gain a skill from practice.
I may come back and share more when I have a chance. I am very open to ideas!
Barb, thanks for your comments! I know that I don't know a lot, either, but I think that's where practice comes in. Your idea about writing single sentences in a variety of forms is a very good one--it would let you see what is the most powerful way to say something. It could also let you know what would be a softer way of saying something, if that was the mood you were going for.
I'm a fan of diagramming sentences, too. It helps me see how the different parts of speech fit together. Plus you wouldn't have to just diagram your own sentences, but could do that for sentences that someone else wrote that really struck you. Then you could see how those sentences were put together.
Those sorts of practice could help a writer see the inner structure, or scaffolding, of writing and see what all can be done with it.
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