How to Improve Your Writing
My regular readers know that I am currently studying for my Master of Arts in Creative Writing.
One of the ideas impressed upon me by most of the lecturers and tutors last semester was the importance of striving to improve one’s writing. There is always room for change and improvement in any manuscript, whether that be a story, novel, article, essay or poem. The writer should always aim at producing the very best piece of writing. Careful editing, proofreading and rewriting are all part of this process.
How can we improve our writing?
There are many ways of improving your writing. Here is a list of some ways of making improvements. It is not an exhaustive list; I am sure you can think of many more. You can share them in the comments section. I’d like that.
- Check your spelling. Have a good dictionary handy – or access one online.
- Check that your work is grammatically correct. Let someone who has a good understanding of grammar check your work.
- Check that you have used the correct punctuation.
- Read out your text aloud; if you stumble over a word or phrase it may indicate that there is a problem with that sentence.
- Get someone else to read the text aloud to you.
- Watch out for obscure words; a simpler word may be better, and lead to better reader comprehension.
- Watch out for long sentences; they can easily ramble on for far too long and this can lead to reader confusion and hinder communication. Many readers will just give up and go to something else.
- Cut out
allunnecessaryand superfluouswords. Be ruthless. - Consider every word – have you used the right word?
The list could go on and on.
The most productive and effective way to improve your writing I’ve left out of the list above.
If you really want to improve your writing, just keep writing. The more you write the better you will become.
Good writing.
What I am reading: picture books
Earlier in the year I wrote about the Master of Arts in Creative Writing course I am undertaking this year. I am currently on a five week break between semesters, hardly enough time to catch my breath. My main interest in writing is books for children, in particular picture books. Over the duration of the course so far I have been regularly reading vast numbers of picture books, just to get a feel for what is being published these days.
There are other benefits too. Writers are readers, first and foremost. If you are not a reader you will struggle to be an effective writer. Period. The picture book genre is a particularly demanding one. A very restricted word count means that every word is important. There has to be balance between the text and the illustrations. Some publishers require a strictly limited vocabulary while others have restricted themes or topics. It is a very competitive field and one that is hard to break into.
Half way through the first semester I had to write and submit the text of a 700 word picture book to the lecturer. The title changed several times during the editing period but it eventually became “Brave Alice,” the story of a little lamb who pretended not to be afraid. The idea came from seeing a flock of lambs frolicking in a paddock in the mid-north of our state (South Australia) about four years ago. The concept simmered away happily until crunch time came; I had to submit a text as an assignment. Would it be good enough? The lecturer – and my fellow students – were a part of the development process, all giving valuable feedback as I developed the text.
The final day came and I submitted the manuscript to the lecturer. A few weeks later I received it back: Distinction. I should not have worried. While that result was very satisfying for all the work put into the text, it counts for very little. The big test is to submit it to a publisher. The frightening prospect of the manuscript being returned still awaits me.
Perhaps I should be like Alice in my story: Be Brave!
What I am reading: picture books
1 Comment »2nd May, 2008; Category: Books, Master of Arts course, Picture Books, Writing for Children, Young Readers
One of the units I am studying at present is called Writing for children. Our lecturer is award winning author Rosanne Hawke. In our early lectures and workshops we looked closely at how to write picture book texts. Writing this kind of book is a passion for me; I love reading them and sharing them with children – and adults.
One of the things that Rosanne impressed upon us from the very beginning was the importance of reading picture books – as many as we can get our hands on. I’ve always read plenty of picture books, first when I was a teacher librarian, and then as a classroom teacher.
When I retired from teaching four years ago I drifted away from reading picture books as regularly as I used to do. Rosanne has given me the impetus and reason for getting back into this exciting and enjoyable area of books. So once again I’ve reactivated the use of my library card and I am borrowing ten or fifteen a week to read. And I’m thoroughly enjoying the activity.
There is another incentive: we need to keep a reading log of what we are reading, as well as write some short reviews of the books we read. This is a required, assessable component of the course. It is a very enjoyable part of the course I might add.
Good writing.
Good reading.
Writing Poetry
One of the units I am currently studying for my Master of Arts course in Creative Writing includes writing poetry.
Since my teenage years I have often written poetry. Over the years I have written many hundreds of poems, many of dubious quality. Some of the better ones have been published in magazines. One was even a runner up in a poetry competition. (The prize was an extra copy of that issue.) So you could say I’ve always had a keen interest in writing poetry.
It was with eager anticipation then that I commenced the unit of study on writing poetry. This study has taught me several things.
- Some my earlier poems need a great deal of rewriting; they are truly appalling, especially those written in my teen years.
- The second thing I learned was that any poem, no matter how good, can probably do with at least some reworking, rewriting, editing, tightening or general improvement of some sort.
- The third thing I have learned is that I cannot afford to be too precious about my writing. Each poem we wrote was work-shopped in a tutorial group. This included reading the poem aloud and then getting constructive feedback from the group. It was so confronting yet very stimulating and helpful. At times I realised that I had not entirely grasped the exercise requirements. I learned quickly.
Having learned what I have about poetry this last term, I hesitate to make a link to the poetry pages on this blog, but if you are game you might want to read some of my poetry here.
What I am reading: “The Canterbury Tales”
One of the required units of study for my Master of Arts course in Creative Writing is a unit on English Literature. It covers some of the great themes of English literature from Beowulf through to modern times. With such a broad scope there quite a deal of reading involved.
One of the texts I needed to read was Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. It had been over 40 years since I last read any of these fascinating tales. It was initially a struggle to come to terms with the version of English used at the time. As I got into it more, and as we read aloud from the text during the tutorial, I become more comfortable with reading it.
We weren’t required to read the whole work; that’s a major study in itself. We read sections only, dipping into several of the tales to sample some of the major themes. As I became more accustomed to the language being used I was amazed at the accomplishment of this important poet and storyteller. Some of the tales are hilarious and most that we read are good yarns. It was good to revisit them again after all those intervening years.