How to Become a Better Fiction Writer Even if You’re Just a Beginner
Read a lot. Write a lot.
It’s one of the most popular pieces of writing advice, right up there with ‘Show don’t tell’ and ‘Kill your darlings.’
Many great writers have touted the importance of reading and writing a lot. While it’s not particularly bad advice, it’s just as useful as digging a tunnel with a teaspoon.
Let me put it this way. If all you do is simply read stuff, especially very badly written books, you’ll end up learning bad habits as a writer. And because you don’t know what you don’t know, you don’t really know that you’re doing the wrong thing.
Makes sense?
You build your writing muscles by writing a lot, no doubt about it. However, to improve your craft — creating stories that tug at the heartstrings of readers — simply writing a lot won’t cut it. You need something more.
That begs the million-dollar question:
You have a friend or a family member you’re incredibly close with. You know them so well that you’re completely in tune with the way they talk, their mannerisms, quirks, and so much more. Slowly but surely, you start using their favorite expressions, just like they do.
Hell, you’re even putting pineapple on pizza, when only a few months ago you frowned at them in disgust for doing exactly that. But they made you try it once, and now you can’t stop.
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