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Becoming a Student of Writing

To become a writer, you should do what writers do: Write! Follow the tips on this page to begin.

Write for yourself, every day.

Start a journal in which you write about your life. Daily writing helps you sort out your thoughts and know yourself.

Read for yourself, every day.

Find stories that you love—and savor them. Learn their tricks for characters and description and plot. Then try writing something similar, but in your own voice.

Write about subjects that truly interest you.

Did you know that high-interest topics immediately improve your writing? That’s because you know and care about them, and you have the vocabulary to express lots of ideas.

Focus first on ideas . . . and work toward correctness.

Start off by simply expressing yourself. You can fix punctuation and spelling later.

Learn the craft of writing.

Work with the traits of writing. (See pages 17–22.) Discover your own process of writing. (See pages 29–77.)