The other day, I was sitting on the sidelines watching my son's soccer practice. On the field behind me a football coach was yelling at his players, saying, "If you're not sweating, you're not working hard enough!"
My first thought was, “Man, I’m glad you’re not my
boys’ coach.”
But that line bothered me for the rest of the day.
Was he right? Will working hard make them better players? My thoughts turned to
writing. If I worked harder, wrote more, would that make me a better writer?
The conclusion I came to was ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Yes, in
that the more you do something, your craft is developed. But at the same time,
if you’re doing it wrong, it’s like banging your head against the wall. It can
hurt your craft and frustrate you.
How can we as writers be smart in our craft?
1. Write
as often as you can. I work a full time and part time job. I’m a mom and I’m
taking classes. Time is more valuable than gold. But if I want to write, I just
have to suck it up and sit down and write. That means I might only have an hour
a day. But the reality is, the more I write, the better I get.
2. Read.
When you read, study the way the author has constructed the story. Pick one or
two elements that you feel are lacking in your book such as plot, character
arcs, or conflicts within a scene. Focus on those two elements as you read and
see how that author has developed them. Write down notes in your journal at
what worked and what didn’t. Read another book and do the same thing. I find I
learn so much by reading other author’s books.
3. Find
critique partners who know their stuff. These people don’t have to be writers.
Sometimes your best critiquers are actually readers that have the eye for when
a character isn’t being true to themselves or the plot is sagging. Trust them.
Listen to them.
4. Attend
writing conferences. Develop your craft by learning from experts. Your focus
might change over the years, but there will always be new ways to develop
yourself as a writer. You will never be too accomplished of a writer to not
learn.
5. Try
something new. One of the best ways to stretch yourself at anything is to break
out of your box. If you have this fabulous new idea of a book you’d love to
write, but you think it will be too hard to accomplish, that means you need to
write it. It may end up taking you many drafts and many years, but you’ll be a
better writer by challenging yourself.
6. Get
online and know what’s going on in the market. If you’re reading this right
now, you are already doing this point. I learn so much from other bloggers on
what’s happening in the market as well as ideas to make myself a better writer.
What about you? What are smart ways that you make the most of your writing time?
