I’ve been writing fiction since I was eight years old and poetry since I was thirteen, including various (and tragically incomplete) novels that combine to a total of over 300,000 words, several publications in literary magazines, and volunteering as an editor at a litmag myself. In that time, I’ve made a lot of bad choices, often with my difficulty following through with projects. For example, I’ve giving up on a 50,000-word manuscript not one time but at least five so I could start yet another one—but in that time, I’ve learned a lot! Creative writing is highly subjective, so you’re welcome to take my advice with a grain of salt.
Read a lot.
You can be a wonderful reader and have no idea how to write, but you can’t be a good or even mediocre writer if you don’t read, and read a lot. Read (and reread) what you love, read outside your comfort zone, read what inspires you, read what you adore, what you hate, what you want to learn from. Let yourself be influenced by others. Read critically, not in the English class analysis sense, but by creatively engaging with the work. Ask questions like, “What does this writer do well, and how? How can I also do that? What do they do badly, which I want to avoid? Why do I feel this way about this book, and how can I replicate that?”
Talk—and listen—to other writers and readers.
Avoid being that self-absorbed writer who only wants to talk about their book and all the cool things in it, but doesn’t care what’s happening with anything else. It’s particularly annoying because writing is often regarded as a mode of self-expression, rather than a mode of communication, and I think it’s pretty damaging to writers’ reputations. Reading a book isn’t just listening to someone talk, it’s a dialogue between reader and writer. Writers need to regard their lives as full of people worth talking to, rather than people to listen to their ideas.
Don’t stress about writing every day.
I’ve heard the idea that to be a “real” writer, you need to write every day. That’s not true. If you want to develop your skills as a writer, it’s important to write a lot, but it’s definitely not mandatory to qualify as a writer. If you’re putting down words in any form, at any time, you’re a writer.
Take risks.
The most interesting writing deviates from convention. It’s interesting because it’s something you’ve never seen done in that way before, and you can’t get to that point as a writer if you don’t take risks. It’s better to take a big risk and fail rather than play it safe. That being said, make sure it’s a calculated risk with a clear intent—for example, experimental writing can be great, but if it’s experimental without any real goal then it’s often inaccessible and just reads as gibberish.
I hope this article helped you! Creative writing can be really fulfilling and let you explore avenues of thought you wouldn’t otherwise. Don’t get too intimidated by it, even though it can be incredibly difficult; if it’s difficult, that means you’re challenging yourself and you’re getting better!
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