How to Become a Better Writer

home title Posted on Sep 6th, 2012 | 24 comments home title

Creativity

*10 Non-Writing-Related Ideas

1. Be creative any way you can. Cook new recipes. Paint a picture. Design a garden. Compose a song. Build something with Legos. Organize the garage.

2. Pay attention. Observe the mannerisms of people around you. Listen to how they speak. Marvel at the way they’re dressed. Notice their shoes and their posture and the look in their eye.

3. Be an armchair shrink. Analyze people’s behavior. Ask yourself how their actions reveal their character. Wonder about their motivations. Scrutinize the dynamics of relationships. Drive your spouse and kids crazy.

Read the rest of the post at the Books & Such blog.

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  • http://grouppenbabookreviews.blogspot.com.ar/ steven

    Good advice for all writers.

  • http://thebloggingofanaspiringwriter.blogspot.com Bonnee

    I love being creative! And it is so interesting what sorts of details you pick up when you pay closer attention to the people around you. Some awesome advice for writers!

  • http://rosalindadam.blogspot.com Rosalind Adam

    I do try to be creative, as in your first point, but I never feel that that triggers writing inspiration. Your second suggestion is my favourite. I love watching other people, especially their mannerisms and what they’re wearing. I did this outside a city centre cafe on a recent sunny morning and as an added bonus most of the passers-by even made me feel well-dressed!

  • http://www.intheshadeofthecherrytree.blogspot.com Zan Marie

    People watching is one of my favorite passtimes. My husband is horrified when I easedrop in restaurants, but after 35 years he’s used to it. ; )

    • http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

      So that was YOU, was it?

      And I was eavesdropping on you, too…

      • http://www.intheshadeofthecherrytree.blogspot.com Zan Marie

        LOL! You guessed it! ; )

  • http://100stories100weeks.com Jack Dowden

    These are great! I found that I employ these tactics all the time. If anyone is looking for some inspiration on how to go about these, here are mine:

    1. Aside from writing and finding ways to get out of doing the dishes, I enjoy going to fields and finding creative ways to destroy stuffed animals with dynamite.

    2. I spy on people. A lot. I got a lot of restraining orders placed on me in my youth. I’m getting better now. You can learn a lot by sitting outside peoples’ windows and staring. Always staring…

    3. I analyze people all the time. It generally winds up with me getting punched in the face though. Easily my least favorite of the ten.

    4. I’m a passionate procrastinator. Whenever I feel the inspiration to do something exciting, I sit on the couch and watch Netflix.

    5. As of 2009, I’m no longer allowed on the African continent, so the well idea is out. I do however, frequently sneak across the border into Canada to purchase Cuban cigars.

    6. I watch television. A lot of television. The “Oh my god my eyes are bleeding” amount of television.

    7. I do this when I stare in the mirror.

    8. Sadly, I rarely get to accomplish this. Most of my mundane tasks are interuptted by the rabid raccoon that lives in my closet. I guess I could call animal control or something, but who has the time? Am I right?

    9. Well, there’s the whole stalking people thing.

    10. After I set the dynamite off in the fields, I generally get a lot of running in. You know, with the whole police thing.

    • http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

      Can you send me a few cigars? In trade for some stuffed animals?

    • http://jennym-talesfromtheredhead.blogspot.com Jennifer Major @Jjumping

      I don’t have to sneak anywhere….:)

      Well, for cigars.

  • http://kristinlaughtin.blogspot.com Kristin Laughtin

    Yes! I think the most important thing is to do things other than writing sometimes. Perhaps that sounds blasphemous; I’ve read more than a few advice articles that stress that “real” writers must write all the time without interruption and they must like it. But if you never get out and engage with the world, or give your brain a chance to think about something else (even if it is tangentially connected to writing, like analyzing the dialogue in a TV show or observing people’s behavior), your brain is going to give out, and then your writing will suck. Plus, sometimes we learn better through osmosis, taking things in from the world around us. Books on craft are great, but they aren’t the only learning tools. Using a variety provides more opportunities for things to make an impact and sink in.

    Being a good writer requires you to be a rounded person, and you can’t do that if you only engage in one activity. It requires being an observer, and you can’t be if you never take the time to watch.

    • http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

      Richard Bach wrote (I believe in the intro to “Illusions”), that he hates writing, and will only write when a scarlet-fierce idea knocks down the walls, stalks over the rubble, and, grabbing him by the throat, says, “I will not let you alone until you put me down in words. On Paper.”

      Or something like that, anyway.

      I’m the same way – I don’t mind writing, but will go for awhile doing other things until ‘the idea’ gels. The it’s ‘all hands to the pumps’. I’m finishing a novel now…including rewrites…that I started three weeks ago today. It’ll be done this weekend.

      When you write – anything – you’re really writing about yourself, both in the words, and in the way you put the words into a permanent medium.

      Let it be thus, without shame.

  • http://michaelseese.blogspot.com/ Michael Seese

    I like the way Jack thinks.

    My personal favorite is eavesdropping on conversations. You can get so much in the way of new viewpoints from listening to what a wide range of people have to say. Unfortunately, I don’t get out much, so I don’t get to hear many “Starbucks conversations.” But fortunately, the voices in my head NEVER STOP TALKING!

  • http://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com Andrew Budek-Schmeisser

    For what it’s worth, here are mine -

    1 – Manual Labor – it’s surprising how much creativity can be unlocked by an afternoon spent welding.

    2 – Interaction With Animals – caring for a ‘person’ of another species requires a creative approach to communication

    3 – Looking At Clouds – when you look at clouds, you’ll subconsciously try to find patterns in their shapes. More creativity.

    4 – Read Memoirs – get inside the heads of real people

    5 – Watch ‘Directors’ Commentaries’ on Movies – many DVDs come with directors’ commentaries on the ‘special features’ menu. They’re a treasure for things like pacing and scene structure

    6 – Study Another Religion – if you’re Christian, study Buddhism. If you’re Sikh, study Islam. It gives a fresh perspective on worldview, if you read without prejudice

    7 – Learn a Totally Useless Skill – spending time getting really good at something like archery, which has virtually no practical applications, will strengthen your sense of individuality, and force you to step outside the box of routine

    8 – Collect Objects With Backstories – I once had a WW2 canteen with something scratched into it – initials? An acronym? I could never figure it out, but somewhere before I picked it up, this object had a history.

    9 – Restore Furniture – this goes along with #8, but in a more active sense…don’t throw out furniture. Learn to restore it, so that you have your own history around you.

    10 – Drive a Manual Shift – Being physically involved with what you are doing keeps more areas of the brain active, increasing both speed of brain function, and creativity. Automatic transmissions breed laziness.

    • http://merceyvalley.blogspot.com/ Mercey Valley

      Read Memoirs… Lately I’ve read a lot about Marilyn Monroe and the woman is not the image she so successfully created, but a complex and empathetic lady driven by so many things. What a sad lady who makes my heart break for all she was perceived as and all she never was, sad because she was so real in a world (Hollywood) made for fiction and another world (1950′s us) that wanted only the stereotype… Reading memoirs is a great way to go.

    • http://talesfromtheredhead@blogspot.com Jennifer Major @Jjumping

      Dude, archery is NOT useless! Some people need silent devices with which to send pointed (ah! I crack me up!) messages to certain daughter’s boyfriends.
      See, if I say “hey, let’s all play Hunger Games!”… then it’s just an accident.
      ;)

    • http://talesfromtheredhead@blogspot.com Jennifer Major @Jjumping

      #9! Yup. My husband’s aftershave might as well be Varsol. I have far too much affection for that smell.

  • http://bethvogt.com Beth K. Vogt

    I got all caught up in reading other people’s comments and almost didn’t add my #11 because I was too busy wondering if I needed to call 9-1-1 or alert the stuffed animal welfare service …
    ;)
    A suggestion for #11: Hang out with people different than you. The ones who might argue politics or religion or even reality with you. The ones who push back rather than nod when you’re talking (or nod off.)

    Works for me.

  • http://www.juliegarmon.com Julie Garmon

    I think number 3 is my favorite. I have to be careful though, because I can be sort of stalkerish when I’m watching people. :-O

    • http://jennym-talesfromtheredhead.blogspot.com Jennifer Major @Jjumping

      There’s “stalking” and then there’s “implimenting your professional observatory skills”.

  • http://writersally.blogspot.com Sheri Larsen

    Such wonderful advice. Freeing ourselves to be creative in other areas of our lives is vital to any writer’s imagination realm.

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  • http://researchpaperstar.net/ researchpaperstar

    Great so nice!

  • http://www.garyfultz.com Gary

    I like it all (except for the garage part).

  • Michelle

    I love this. It lets me know that though my life is full of engineers who think I ‘waste time’, that I’m not!

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