5 Easy Exercises to Improve Your Writing

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Writers are like athletes. They're constantly looking for ways to improve their skills, to top themselves, and to deepen their knowledge of the craft. In other words, they don't allow themselves to stay comfortable where they are at. Wherever you may place yourself on the literary spectrum, from well-established author to aspiring writer, here are 5 easy exercises to improve your writing skills. 

1. Increase Your Vocabulary

Widening your vocabulary pool will make you a versatile and well-rounded writer. Here's one way you can do it: (1) As you read a novel, write down all the words you don't know. (2) Then, look them up in the dictionary. (3) Finally, practice using each word in a sentence the next time you write. I forget half of the things I look up. However, the moment I apply that knowledge, it's locked in my memory safe. 

2. Build on Random Sentences  

Select a random sentence from somewhere, perhaps a book or a movie, or even a conversation you've had. Then use it to free write. Travel with it in any direction you desire with no restrictions. Sometimes, putting that first sentence on paper takes up 30 minutes of our precious allotted writing time. This approach improves your writing skills by eliminating some pressure and promoting you to branch out into creative avenues. Don't worry about being structured, just put one word in front of the other and write.

3. Go Full-On Editor Mode

Sort of like a good pianist gets measured on their ability to read sheet music, a good writer needs to be a good editor. Find other writers who are searching for people to proofread and critique their work. Get into the editor's mindset and look for things that you like or dislike. Look for confusing prose, wordy sentences, misspelling, passive voice, etc. You can even use tools like Grammarly, which point out these errors to you. It's okay if you can't spot them out yourself at first. When you train your mind to look for these things, you'll return to your desk a more polished writer, because you'll know what to look for in your own writing. 



4. Absord Good Media

By this, I mean watch movies and shows or listen to songs. Do so with a literary ear. Look for dialogue that interests you, and pay attention to character development and plot. Find important scenes and look for ways to expound on its details to enrich the experience. Books are obviously one of the best sources to improve your writing, but it isn't the only one. Plenty of people develop a love and passion for writing from cinematic stories and resonating musical lyrics. Maybe you like the twist and turns of a Game of Thrones, or the dark humor and toughness of a Dean Winchester. You can't just copy characters and stories, but you can use them as inspiration to create your own.

5. Schedule Time To Write

I received some harsh advice from a good friend once. He said, "Either write your book already or shut up about doing it." Talking about writing isn't writing. Learning about writing still isn't writing. I get you're busy, and assuming you're a college-aged student like myself, you'll be busy the next 40 years. Put it in your planner or calendar to write, even if for just half an hour a day. When you do this, you force your day to adjust to your writing time instead of forcing your writing time to adjust to your day. When you do something long and often enough, you get good at it, then really good, then great. So keep writing. 

"When you do something long and often enough, you get good at it, then really good, then great. So keep writing." Click to tweet.



References
https://app.grammarly.com/
https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2017/09/21/watching-movies-revolutionize-writing/

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