Best Ways to Write Daily
When it comes to developing your writing, it's a lot like every other skill. In the end, practice makes perfect. As a result, one of the best ways to improve your creative writing is by making a point of doing it every day. Here are a few great ways to work on your writing, no matter how busy you find yourself to be.
Creative Writing Prompts
When you've got a busy schedule, working on your current novel just isn't possible on a daily basis. It can be too hard after a long day to pick up your book and work on it for just twenty to thirty minutes. Doing this, you run the risk of having a disjointed story that constantly changes tone, Instead, doing a different creative writing prompt each night can keep you actively writing, but protect your story from off days. What works even better with this approach, doing a variety of creative writing prompts can help you look at your longer projects in different lights and make you think about writing in new ways. So even though you won't be directly working on your novel, doing creative writing prompts can make it better.
Work on your novel
Ultimately, this option is what everyone wants to do, but often is too afraid to attempt on a daily basis. With only a thirty minute window to write on busy weekdays, people will be afraid to work on their novel, because they need time to "get in the mood." However, if you ignore these opportunities to work on your novel, you are giving up a valuable two or three hours every week, which adds up quickly. If you are afraid to write new sections of your novel during week nights, try reading over sections and editing them. In this way, you'll keep fresh on what you have so far, and be able to jump back into your novel when you have more time. Another option is to free write different parts of your novel, to see if anything comes to mind that you might be able to add later on in the novel.
Brainstorm story ideas
Sometimes, we're just too busy and it's impossible to even consider writing. I know people will say there's always time for writing, but with a long commute to work or kids that need a lot of attention, there are unfortunately days where there isn't a spare minute to sit down with a pen and work your magic. These days are the best ones to brainstorm new ideas for storys or segments in an existing story. When you're driving in the car, or even just sitting in the shower, think about writing and what stories you'd like to someday write. When you hear a song, see if it inspires a story idea. Or think about pieces you're working on, and what different ways you can take them. In this way, even though you aren't working on your writing, you're still keeping your body tuned with creative writing and thinking.
Free Writing
And of course, when all else fails, you can always just free write. Treat writing like a diary and take fifteen minutes before bed to let it all out. Don't feel like you have to write about anything, just put words on the page. In the end, the simple act of writing is enough to keep yourself fresh, and you never know what this process will reveal.
Latest Articles About Creative Writing Tips
- Why You Should Join a Writers Workshop - 2011-02-19 11:08:27
A writers workshop is a great opportunity to network with other writers and get your writing looked at. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider attending a writers workshop near you.
- Fictional Character Development - 2011-02-20 18:38:04
Characterization is one of the biggest challenges for writers to master. Here are some great tips to help you turn your characters into three dimensional humans.
- Novel Editing Tips - 2011-02-25 08:05:12
Editing is one of the most important parts in developing your story. Novel editing is the actual molding of your story, and here are some of the best ways to do it.
- Elmore Leonard's Writing Tips - 2011-03-03 09:10:43
Elmore Leonard is the successful author whose work inspired the film 3:10 to Yuma. Here are a few of his tips for aspiring writers.
- Importance of Good Characterization, and How You Can Do It - 2011-04-11 12:09:16
Strong characters can carry a mediocre story, and can turn a good story into a great one. However, learning characterization is a challenging task.