“Love. Fall in love and stay in love. Write only what you love, and love what you write. The key word is love. You have to get up in the morning and write something you love, something to live for.”
– Ray Bradbury
Writing is not a science. In the simplest of definitions, it is an artful expression through words. And everyone is a writer. We write when we scribble a note and post it on the fridge for the kids to see. We write when we’re jotting down a grocery list. And–for those of us with a bit more passion (and no weekend social life)–we write when we sit in the basement in front of a computer screen, dreaming of fantasy lands and starting page 432 of our novels.
I don’t claim to be an expert on writing. At the time of writing this, I am twenty years old, mostly unpublished, and attending school for a Professional Writing degree. I have done most of my writing in secret since I was in third grade, only sharing my work publicly on rare occasions. But then I don’t think that anyone can be an “expert” on writing. Writing is about self-expression; it’s the communication of what we feel and think and believe on the inside. No one can be right or wrong when writing.
That being said, I believe there are certain tips we can all adhere to and practices we can all exercise to achieve great writing. First and foremost, just write. Whatever, whenever. Try watching your favorite TV show and summarizing what you see. Maybe take your dog on a walk and, when you get back, scribble down what you think he was thinking about the whole time. You could even try to describe what your first crush looked like. What is important is that you are writing, and always. Even when you have no pen and paper, you can be thinking in words, noticing interesting objects or scenes or people and spinning stories in your head.
What I hope to do with this blog is offer some tips on how to improve your writing and fight through writer’s block. And certainly any tips you as readers might have for me and other readers are welcome because every writer has something unique to bring to the table (like maybe a less cliche way of saying, “every writer has something unique to bring to the table.”)
Most importantly, try to live by one rule as a writer to measure your improvement: If you can’t look back on something you wrote a year ago and notice how much you’ve ostensibly improved, you’re not growing enough as a writer.
Hopefully this blog will offer ways to help each of us see that growth every day.
Tim-Tips for Creative Writing 