Inexperienced writers tend to seek the recipes for writing well. You buy the cookbook, you take the list of ingredients, you follow the directions, and behold! A masterpiece! The Never-Falling Soufflé! Wouldn’t it be nice? But alas, there are no recipes. We have no Julia Child. Successful professional writers are not withholding mysterious secrets from eager beginners. The only way anybody ever learns to write well is by trying to write well. This usually begins by reading good writing by other people, and writing very badly by yourself, for a long time.

Learning to write comes from reading, both the work of published writers and of our peers, and from using one’s powers of insight and creativity to analyze what one reads and figure out why it works when it does and what is missing when it doesn’t. This is where knowledge is gained, and it’s slow and frustrating, nebulous, diffuse, much less direct

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1) Write. There is no substitute. Write what you most passionately want to write, not blogs, posts, tweets or all the disposable bubblewrap in which modern life is cushioned. But start small: write a good sentence, then a good paragraph, and don’t be dreaming about writing the great American novel or what you’ll wear at the awards ceremony becaus

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“3 tips for getting started as a writer:

1. Publish on a schedule. Consistency develops ability.

2. Share your writing publicly. Writing is a magnet. It attracts like-minded people.

3. Write about what fascinates you. You don't need to be an expert. Curiosity leads to expertise.”

New writers make one big mistake.

They think great writing is about writing.

Nope. I mean, writing is a part of it. But there’s SO MUCH MORE.

Great writing is about:

• Strategy.


• Structure.


• Research.


• Editing.


• Hooks & headlines.

Great, great question. In the world of writing, everyone wants to succeed immediately and without pain or effort. Really? Or they love to write books about how to write books, rather than actually writing . . . a book that might actually be about something. Bad advice is everywhere. Build a following. Establish a platform. Learn how to scam the sys

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Author and writing instructor Natalie Goldberg on how to improve your writing (or anything else):

“In order to improve your writing, you have to practice just like any other sport. But don’t be dutiful and make it into a blind routine. “Yes, I have written an hour today and I wrote an hour yesterday and an hour the day before.” Don’t just put in you... See more

"You won’t write well until you understand that writing is an evolving process, not a finished product. Nobody expects you to get it right the first time, or even the second time."

“A few tips on how to be a better writer:

– write about what fascinates you

– make one point per sentence

– use stories to make your point

– cut extra words like “really” and “very”

– read the whole thing out loud

– post publicly (you’ll try harder when you know others will read it)

And finally, be more thoughtful about what you consume. The quality of id... See more