In a lame attempt to actually promote my my lifelong dream of a project I have decided to write a few blog posts on how to become a better writer. I am not going to claim that I am an authority on writing, but somes kills that I have acquired over a very long career in amateur writing. As I go along I may incorporate my thoughts on some other blog posts as I completely believe in taking advice from people who are more informed on a particular subject matter than I am.
A Google search regarding reading and writing will bring up millions of search results that explain exactly what I am about to summarize – the more that you read the better of a writer you will become. The two cannot be separated from each other. A blog post on writetodone.com gives some suggestions on how to use reading to improve your writing skills. The first is quite obvious – develop a habit of reading and make sure to stick to it. If you are like me, a public transportation commuter, pick up the daily newspaper and read through all the articles that you can on your trip. If you happen to stroll by the cheap novels go find one that interests you and make a habit of reading a few chapters each day while on your subway grind.
The more that you read the more you will want to read, but make sure to choose something that interests you. One particular suggestion that is made in the aforementioned blog post is that you should read great writers. While I absolutely agree with this statement I do not believe it is a prerequisite to building a reading habit to foster a writing desire. Because I have been a reader most of my life there is rarely a book that I won’t at least attempt to read, but I have found that most of the “classics” bore me. I am not a person that is drawn to reading romance, drama or anything in between. I often find myself picking up young adult novels because of the interesting story aspect. When you are first embarking on this journey read what you believe will keep you interested. If you happen to stroll across some great novels at the book store, give them a whirl, you can often find them for about five dollars at Barnes and Nobles.
After spending a couple of months becoming a frequency reader you’ll quickly notice that your comprehension, vocabulary and reading speed have all dramatically improved. The fact of the matter is the more words that you take in the more you are likely to recall when you are writing. Please remember that Words Are Power. If you have a few minutes watch this short YouTube video with Morgan Freeman. When you are reading keep your mind open because inspiration for writing may come from the words in front of you as well as the life you’re walking to everyday.
If you want to help me out with my writing movement, whenever you write a blog post, story or newspaper article be sure to reference the #iamwriter, #iampoet and #iamreader hash tags on Twitter. The more writers, readers and poets we can inspire the better off the world will be.
For as long as I can remember writing has always been an intimate experience for me. There is not a single day that goes by where my mind does not wander, painting a story in my head involving the strangers in my morning commute, an intricate plot that I sometimes get a little carried away with. My weekly commute lets my brain get back to a place where I feel like a child again, kick-starting my imagination and providing more than enough to keep me awake throughout the day. I find that not enough people in the world express themselves with words. Some of us go through our lives and have never put a pen to paper since high school. Those same people are the ones that have never enjoyed a poem, let alone written one, and are the least likely to walk into a book store for leisure.
The Internet has really given us a free outlet to express our feelings. Be it reading news, typing a few quips to followers or sharing your life with long lost high school friends, we have taken our life and digitized it. With “smart” phones that are now connected to the Internet wherever we roam there is no longer a digital divide – we live our lives with computers, no longer amongst them. We can embrace this technology to become a better writer, poet and reader. You can start by creating a free blog over at Tumblr, like I have done for myself, which has an application that downloads right to (most) mobile devices.
I believe that one of the solutions to this growing problem is to identify yourself. If you are on your way into work on the train, riding shotgun on a road trip, or sitting in a boring lecture, scribble your thoughts down on a piece of paper and when you have a free couple of minutes post them up on your blog. Make use of these two hash tags, #iamwriter and #iampoet, to let the world know that you have not forgotten the imagination of your youth. Take your words and post them up for all to see. When you are bored go take a gander at some of the other writers all over the Internet and do what Krista Finch, and so many others are doing. Maybe a little inspiration is all that they’ll need as well.