How I Became Better at Writing (And Started to Enjoy it, Too!)
These steps made all the difference
For a long time, I didn’t really like to write. I guess I was okay at it and could crank out something decent when I really got down to it. But I sure didn’t love it. Times New Roman; twelve-point font; five body paragraphs; transition words; a clear beginning, middle, and end. Often after hours and hours of procrastination, I would trudge through the writing process, eventually ending up with something clean, tidy, and neat. Something safe. But writing — and art — isn’t supposed to be safe. It pushes beyond the boundaries, it questions the unquestionable, it inspires us and others to think, it expresses, it exists. And at a certain point, I was sick of being safe. I wanted to start making art. In this post, I will share the process that helped me to not only become more creative and engaging in my writing but to gain the confidence to actually enjoy doing it.
A short disclaimer: I can say right now that as a student, I am still learning myself how to write well. This is what has worked for me, and may or may not work for you. Feel free to modify or adjust this process to your own needs, or use it as a starting point to come up with your own writing processes or genres. Happy writing!
Here Goes… “The Ten Step Process to Writing With _________*”
*Still TBD. Greatness? Creativity? Enjoyment? Coffee? You decide.
Step One: Set Up the “Write” (get it??) Environment
Consider where and when you are the most motivated and creative. Do you work best inside or outside? In a coffee shop or at home? In dead silence or with the music on? Typing on your laptop, or scribbling in a notebook? Before the sun rises or in the wee hours of the night? For some, such as myself, some of these factors may change depending on one’s mood or what one’s writing. For example, when I am writing something more on the creative side I will tend to write later in the night, whereas if I’m writing something more formal I will try to write it earlier in the day.
Some people also like to set up two (or more) environments — one to generate ideas and brainstorm, the other to type and edit. In his book Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon suggests having an “analog” workplace with supplies for hands-on work and a “digital” workplace with a laptop, printer, etc. In the next section, I describe the importance of idea generation.
Being in an environment that inspires you and makes you happy will allow you to enjoy the process more and ultimately produce better work.
Step Two: Collect Ideas
If you only remember one thing step this article, remember this one. Giving myself space and time to freely generate various ideas has helped me immensely — and I think it can help you, too. The trick is that once you’ve come up with a topic, start thinking of ideas which relate to it. This is helpful even in creative and non-research-based writing. Now is not the time to start editing before you begin or even start drafting or organizing. Just allow your brain to work its magic listing and connecting different ideas. Here are a few ways you can do this:
- Look up quotes and sources on your topic. Use databases, newspapers, magazines, blogs, even Twitter or Instagram.
- List your own knowledge and experiences with your topic. Depending on the context in which you are writing, this can be just as valuable as other sources of evidence. I also like to go through my old writing for relevant ideas.
- Watch a movie or Youtube video, or listen to a podcast related to your topic.
- Talk with others about your topic, especially those who may have different opinions than you.
- Draw, paint, or visualize your topic.
Don’t be worried if you get lost in a research rabbit hole (or a few) as you’re doing this. It is okay to let your brain wander and explore topics you weren’t originally aware of, or even seemingly unrelated fields. It’s also okay to change your topic or angle here. I tend to actually come up with some of my strongest ideas when I do this.
Ultimately, giving yourself time to explore your topic will enable you to make deeper and more unique connections than would otherwise be possible. If you are surprised and engaged by your ideas, your reader will be too. Adam Grant in his book Originals describes how this type of “procrastination” has been used by creative thinkers from Martin Luther King Jr., to Abraham Lincoln, to the creators of Warby Parker.
Step Two and a Half: Give Yourself a Break
Make sure to schedule breaks from your writing to do something that you wholeheartedly enjoy. Go watch a play, read a book, play fetch with your dog, listen to a podcast, take a walk. Obviously, this prevents us from getting burnt out, but it has another, science-backed benefit as well. In the MOOC “Learning How to Learn” (which I highly recommend), co-instructor Barbara Oakley describes that the brain has two modes: the focused mode, in which you try to concentrate very hard on something, and the diffuse mode, in which you allow your mind to wander without restriction. Although we aren’t consciously aware of it, the diffuse mode allows us to make big-picture connections and process what we are currently working on. By taking a break, you can let your brain create a deeper understanding of what you are writing about. And, of course, breaks are fun!
Step Three: Organizing Your Ideas
When you feel ready, you can start to comb through your ideas and group them into different categories which will become your “outline.” Remember, there is no pressure here or anywhere else in the process to get it right on the first try. In fact, this step is often the most difficult for me. There have been times where I’ve done this a dozen different times before landing on a structure that I was confident in. So don’t worry if you aren’t getting it the first, second, or even twentieth time — because trust me, you’ll get it eventually. And it's an amazing feeling when everything finally “clicks.”
Step Four: Free Write
I usually make use of this step throughout the process, but I’ve found it is especially helpful here. At this point, you will start to combine your ideas into more cohesive chunks. I use the brief structure that I’ve come up with for my paragraphs in step three and begin to write them out fully. However, at this point, I don’t worry if they make sense or if my language is clear. I just write, and write, and write, to get my thoughts down on paper. As someone who has struggled with writer’s block in the past, this step is a lifesaver.
Many people like to use a writing software or app such as “Write or Die” to help them do this — which will delete your work if you stop writing during a certain time. However, you also can use paper if that works better for you.
Depending on what I am writing, I either repeat step 4-onward for each one of my different sections, or just free write all at once. Feel free to do whatever works best for you.
Step Five: Break it Down
This may be more personalized to my own writing style, but I really like to break down whatever it is that I’m writing into paragraphs or even sentences. I often will create a new Google Doc for each paragraph (or sometimes even for each sentence!) that I’m writing. This may sound strange, but it has really helped me write more clearly, powerfully, and with less stress, because I am only focusing on one thing at a time. At this point, I sit down with my free write, and organizational outline for that paragraph, often breaking down my ideas even further, putting all my creative energy into making that one paragraph as strong as possible, typing and reworking my ideas until I have a cohesive, fluid paragraph. Then it’s just lather, rinse, repeat.
Step Six (To Be Done in Conjunction With Step Five): Break the Rules and Have a Little Fun
Since this process involves so much thinking and considering of my ideas and argument, I often feel a lot more confident in my work than I had before. This confidence enables me to feel comfortable in putting more of my personal style into my writing. In school, we are often told what are supposed to be the written “rules” of writing — don’t use fragments or run-on sentences, don’t use “I,” don’t start a sentence with a conjunction, don’t address the reader. I probably break these rules in the majority of my writing these days. And I’m okay with that. In order to make my writing more engaging and powerful, I like to use humor, cliches, sarcasm, run-ons, fragments, slang. Once I stopped being afraid of the “rules” and started including my personality in my writing, it became much more fun. Doing this right can also help you connect with the reader and encourage them to think about your topic.
Step Seven: It’s Conclusion Time
I used to hate writing conclusions. Not knowing how to end my work, I would sneakily look back at my introduction and thesaurusize every word until I hit the five-sentence mark. But once I started writing using this process, conclusions have become one of my favorite things to write. This is because using this process usually allows me to find completely new, surprising ideas and facts, and I can usually just end with one of these ideas.
However, if you don’t know how to end your piece by this step, there’s no need to fret. It’s time to let your diffuse mode get to work. First, let’s take a break. Go listen to some music, watch a show, or go get some fro-yo. When you come back to your work, think if there’s a joke, equation, poem, Spotify playlist, animal, vegetable, or mineral relevant to your writing. Feel free to do some additional research or brainstorming here if necessary. I’ve found that talking with a friend, especially a particularly funny one, is often helpful here. If all else fails, rick-rolling is always a reliable option.
Step Eight: Take a Break (Yes, again)
By now, I think this should be pretty self-explanatory. Hang in there — you’re almost done!
Step Nine: Proofread and Revise
Even after going through this process, I still usually end up doing a lot of editing and rewriting. At this point, it is important not to just work on conventions and superficial errors, but to really think critically about your work. Here are some questions you could ask yourself:
- Is my writing style appropriate to my audience?
- Are there any parts of my writing that don’t flow well or are confusing?
- Does my knowledge of this topic shine through?
- How would someone with a different opinion react to this piece?
- Did I begin each sentence with a capital letter? (Just kidding — I hope. Unless you’re William Faulkner. Then you can have a pass on this one.)
Remember, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
Step Ten: Print or Publish
Okay, da Vinci. Cool quote. But this is the real world, and there’s a thing called due dates (If you’re writing for fun, I guess this doesn’t apply to you. Go crazy.). So print, submit, publish, turn in — and start working on your next piece of writing! But, as always, you can take a break first.
Is it possible that this process is messy? You bet. But so is writing. And life, I guess. And once you begin to practice a writing process, it will start to come more naturally to you.
General Tips for Writing:
Read. And Learn. A Lot.
Around the time I started writing using the above process, I also started becoming inspired to read and learn as much as I can. This is basically like a never-ending version of Step Two. When you read and learn, you consistently build up your knowledge base and form new perceptions of the world. This has really helped me come up with new ideas and connections for my writing — and often, knowledge from my reading will come in handy when I least expect it.
Don’t Expect One Set of Advice to Work For You.
There’s a ton of advice about writing out there. Write 1,000 words a day. Write 5,000 words a day. Plot. Don’t plot. Edit as you go. Don’t edit as you go. And chances are, you might have to test a few different strategies to find something that works for you. My process of writing might work great for you — or maybe it won’t at all. That’s okay! I hope you will use this article as a jumping-off point to explore what works best for you. Feel free to comment your thoughts below as well!
Embrace Imperfection. Keep Writing.
As writers, everything we write won’t be perfect, or great, or even good. But that’s okay! In Originals, Grant describes that “The best way to boost your originality is to produce more ideas (“Actions for Impact”). Embrace that!
Works Cited:
Grant, Adam M., and Sheryl Sandberg. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World. New York, Penguin Audio, 2016.
Kleon, Austin. Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative. New York, Workman Pub., 2012.
Oakley, Barbara, and Terrence Sejnowski. “https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn." Coursera, www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn. Accessed 21 July 2019.
