by Elton Gahr

Created on: April 18, 2009   Last Updated: April 19, 2009

Learning to write anything is an ongoing process and one that should never be finished. The perfect novel has yet to be written, as can be demonstrated by the libraries of books that still exist. So, if learning is a lifetime-long process, then the only goal is to move as quickly as possible down the road. There are basically three ways to improve your writing of fiction. These are reading, writing and interaction.

The first of these is the easiest. Anyone who wants to write must be a reader. If you want to write science fiction you should read the classics of science fiction, and the classics of fantasy, and horror, and romance and books on history, and books on science and the daily newspaper and the magazines at the doctor's office and anything else you can get your hands on, and the only thing that changes for other genres of fiction is the order of importance. This not only teaches you the cliches of the genre but how others have done it.

As you read with the eye of a writer you will see details you missed, and were supposed to miss as an average reader. How they describe an entire room with one perfectly placed detail, how they told you everything you needed to know about a character with one line. Your favorite novel will teach you more how to write than any how-to book in existence.

Next, in order to learn to write fiction, you must practice. This is more than simply writing your novel every day though. A person will not find his voice in the first thing he writes. He might not find it in the hundredth. It is for this reason that you must practice writing in other styles, other voices. Write fiction, write nonfiction, write a short story about romance even if you don't like the genre then write about the thing that scares you the most. Test styles by writing in second person future tense. Write letters and notes and remember as you do that, just like the professional athlete must push himself as hard in practice as in the game, so must the writer.

All of that is helpful but no matter how much you read and how much you write alone you will be slowed. We are our own hardest critic and yet are often blind to our flaws. Finding just one person who can critique well will dramatically increase how quickly you can advance your writing skills. This person should like the type of story you read, understand it and understand how to critique and above all know how to tactfully and kindly explain the weaknesses of your writing.

With enough time and effort you will begin to feel more like a writer. You will look back at your old stories and smile, not because they are good, but because you see how much you have improved. But as a writer you must keep that hunger for improvement as well. The knowledge that the perfect book is waiting somewhere down that road and, though it might take a thousand lifetimes to find it, you can still be closer to it today than you were yesterday.

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