January Update - My own tips to become a better writer

Writing, like many other things, is a skill. This means it can be learned and enhanced - and by extension will be improved by doing the act of writing itself. For the January update, I thought I'd share a few tips that has helped me tremendously improve my own writing over the years. Some are obvious... but that doesnt make them any less truthful.

1) The obvious one - Read!

Read as many books as you can and not only in the same genre as your own. Rather, find something you need to improve (perhaps you suffer from White-room syndrome like I used to, or your characters are two-dimensional, or perhaps pacing is something you struggle with. Once you identified an area of weakness, search for books that are strong in this idea and read them. Take notes! Why are these writers nailing the parts you are struggling with? The first draft of my first novel initially suffered a lot from characters being unique, but not expressing their uniqueness in their PoVs. I then read "The First Law" trilogy by Joe Abercrombie and it was an eye-opener. Ever since then, the uniqueness in my characters have not only been improved, but something my critiquers find as a strong point. I couldnt have done this without reading - because it showed me HOW. Then, all that was left for me was to LEARN.

2) The less obvious one - Critique! (and get critiqued)

This is something I have only recently started doing but it have made a MASSIVE impact. If you have ever been decent at a skill, to the point where you start teaching it to others, you might be familiar with this. You only get REALLY good at something once you start teaching it because you start to understand the content from a different angle. It's the same thing with critiquing other people's work. You not only get insight to what makes good writing, but you start to reflect on your own writing in a whole different way - and you learn from other's as well, in the same way you do when you read.

I've recently joined the site Scribophile (not sponsored!) - a site where authors can critique fellow authors and it works wonders. In a month, I have learned more about writing, and my own writing, than I've had in the entire year of 2020! Feedback is your best friend, and giving feedback is your best teacher.

3) The very obvious one - Write!

I know a few people who want to write badly, but cant get themselves to start because they think they are bad. No kidding! It's a skill, and the first time you do anything you will naturally suck at it (unless you are among the 0,01%). But once you start writing, its like a curive that just keeps going up and up. Dont be afraid to start writing the words. You will delete most of them, but every writer delete most of what they have written. Writing is 20% writing and 80% re-writing, even for a lot of good ones. So just write - write anything that comes to mind! You need +10.000 hours to be talented at a sport - writing is no different.

So in short: You need to read to fuel the fire and get your weaknesses addresses. You need to critique to see your work from other angles, and get critiqued to learn where you need to improve. And you need to write - because any skill requires effort and nobody becomes the champion of the world without putting in the effort. All you can do is learn and improve - that's what any skill is all about - especially something as challenging and beautiful as writing.