Q&A: How do I get better at writing?
Getting better at writing means letting it be messy, picking one skill to focus on, and learning from everything you read, write, and break.
How can I get better at writing?
Oh, I love this question.
Not because it’s easy—but because it cuts through the noise.
Most writers don’t ask how to improve; they ask how they can get published. If you’re asking how to get better, you’re already doing something right.
Here’s what’s worked for me—some of it the hard way:
Read. A lot.
Read critically, sure. But also read for fun. Let yourself fall face-first into a book that wrecks you a little. When you find something that hits hard—you can’t put it down, you forget you're even reading? That’s a clue. It teaches you what you respond to. What kind of magic you want to put in your own work. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or if it’s bad or if it’s popular. What matters is that it worked. Identify that, and you’re one step closer to identifying your voice, the thing that makes your writing undeniably yours.
Read outside your lane.
Write romance? Go read horror. Write fantasy? Try a memoir. Read nonfiction. Read scripts. Read weird little essays and craft books and self-help manuals and deep-dive threads by people smarter than you. It all goes into the big writing soup pot.
Write disgustingly bad first drafts.
I hate this one. But it’s true. I had to learn how to write bad pages without spiraling into shame about it. That’s how you learn. That’s how you finish. You can't revise something that doesn’t exist, and you can’t get better if you don’t let it be messy first.
Critique people. Let people critique you.
This one stings—but it’s invaluable. Learn to give good notes. Learn to receive them without crawling under a blanket for six months. Both skills will make you a better writer faster than anything else.
Pick one writing focus per year.
This is my favorite trick. Every year, I pick one thing to focus on. I’ve done dialogue, character, atmosphere, pitching, editing, cohesion, concept, structure. Right now I’m deep in cohesion—trying to make everything tie together like it was built that way. What would you pick if you could work on one thing all year?
Keep a writing journal.
Not for word counts. For you. Write about what’s working. Rant about what’s not. Track what’s getting easier. That kind of awareness will teach you more than any course or guru or algorithm ever could.
So—how do you get better at writing?
You stay curious. You let it be messy. You pick your battles. You build a system that lets you fail without quitting.
And then? You just keep going.
Do you have a question? I (might) have an answer!
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