Nobody starts out as a great fiction writer or any sort of artist, to begin with. We start out by copying others since we’re little.
We are all ‘inspired artists’. As artists, we watch and learn and pick up certain useful and creative tricks from other artists like us. Austin Kleon encourages it in his book, Steal Like An Artist.
Writing, like any other craft, can be learned and worked upon. We may not be born with spectacular writing talent. Remember those scribbles in your diary when you were a child? They were passe but it didn’t matter because they were for your eyes only.
We watched and learned, picking up nuances, vocabulary, styles, voices from other writers.
It was probably subconscious but now that you’ve started the journey of a writer, you may want to improve your writing craft consciously. Your writing has probably undergone several changes over the years. You may now want to give it your own special touch.
It is natural as a creator that we desire to better our work, improve on what and how we create art. If you’re interested in ways to improve your fiction writing, here are three ways to do just that.
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1. Read more and read widely
Reading is the numero uno requirement for better writing. As readers, we subconsciously pick up nuances from the words we read. We watch how the sentences flow, our eyes follow sentence lengths-short or long, we see the cadence of the words. We feel how the words catch us unawares or make our hearts race.
You may want all that and more in your own writing. The way to imbibe some of the craft that captivates you in another writer’s writing is to read books that you enjoy.
Re-read a sentence or paragraph that you especially liked to see what the author did there. What words struck you as brilliant? How did the writer entice you into that scene or present a picture so vivid that your eyes were glued to the page?
Go over the chapter again. Make note of what you liked. Write down the phrases, words, sentences that moved you or caused you to stop and think about them again. Put those little notes in a diary where you can look at them whenever you want to feel inspired.
Also, read widely.
Romance writers may read a lot of romance books but you can also read a variety of genres like fantasy, adventure, mystery, as well as non-fiction to implement the elements from other genres into your book too.
For example, a fight scene in a thriller will teach you about pacing and the use of shorter sentences to create a sense of urgency in the writing. It may inform a scene where your character is trying to meet his lover in the middle of the night, for example, and needs to see her quickly to deliver a message to her.
Picking up dialogue writing tips from a mystery genre could teach you how to keep the words sharp and succinct in your own story. Ask questions like: How does the writer create intrigue in the mystery? How does one character evade questions by another character?
By studying the high points of stories that you enjoy, you can bring some of the same techniques into your writing genre too.
2. Use Copywork as a daily writing practice.
Reading great fiction can help you a lot as a writer, but you know what? Copying the sentences of writers you admire makes you better at writing.
Other artists do it too. Haven’t you practiced singing by singing a song by another artist? Haven’t you played a popular tune on your guitar? Then, why don’t we do the same for writing?
It is a great practice to pick up a writer that you admire and practice copying his/her words daily as part of your writing practice. You use a pen and paper to meticulously copy each word, along with the punctuation, into a book that you keep aside for Copywork.
Famous writers used Copywork to develop their writing. Jack London is said to have taught himself to write by copying Rudyard Kipling’s books in longhand. Malcolm Gladwell says he attributes his writing success to the habit of copying his favourite authors for years.
Make Copywork a “deliberate” practice.
Writing down the exact words as the writer has used allows you to see for yourself how the writer uses punctuation, how the dialogues flow. Ask questions. How many sentences does the author use to create a ‘setting’? How does he develop the setting? How does he work in the interior monologue? How does he start and end a scene? How does he create a narrative flow between scenes?
Studying another writer’s work so minutely can help you subconsciously develop good writing habits that will flow into your own writing. It helps you pick up the artistic elements of your favourite writers.
Mix genres. When copying words from a book/author you love, try to learn a particular writing technique. Practice for 15-20 minutes and make it a daily practice. You can even try this as a brief writing routine to exercise your writing muscles before you start your own writing.
It goes without saying that you do not post this writing, plagiarise, or try to pass it off as your own. This is for your own personal development only.
3. Practice a writing skill until you get better at it
Find out the weaknesses in your writing. You may be weak at writing dialogues or flashbacks, or perhaps, you cannot form a scene too well.
Once you learn a skill from either a book or by studying another author’s work, practice it in your own work.
There was a time I would write short stories where I would focus on elements like setting or writing flashbacks or writing emotions.
Implement what you learn in your writing. Focus on improving one aspect at a time, and slowly over time, you’ll have picked up some great arsenal that will prove tremendously useful in your own writing.
To sum up, reading a lot and reading widely, using Copywork, and practicing a writing skill until you get better at it are ways to improve your fiction writing craft. Use them as often as you can.
Even if you’re going through writer’s block, use these tips to read, write, and practice writing and see how you get back to your writing as soon as possible. Don’t believe me? Try it!
Here are some book recommendations that you may find useful:
If you’re feeling lost in the creative world and want to get your creative mojo back, buy
Steal like an artist BUY FROM AMAZON.IN | AMAZON.COM
If you’re just starting out and struggling to find your creative voice, check out:
Find your Artistic Voice BUY FROM AMAZON.IN | AMAZON.COM
If you’re looking for inspiration and to discover and recover your creative self, check out
The Artist’s Way BUY FROM AMAZON.IN | AMAZON.COM
For more inspiration and encouragement to write your best writing ever, check out
Writing Down The Bones BUY FROM AMAZON.IN | AMAZON.COM
Write to me at sudha@sudhanair.com and let me know if these tips were useful.
