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In my experience, fiction writing skills can be developed in two ways. First, one should read everything they can get their hands on. Secondly, one should practice daily in order to reach their full potential. Combining these two things will make it so that improvement takes place in no time at all, especially when practice is done regularly and for a reasonable period of time.

Personally, I try to write for at least an hour to two hours a day. Many will argue that they don't have the time for write for two hours daily, but the idea is all about finding the time. For example, when I'm on the bus in the morning, I've got my notepad out and I'm writing down the dream I had the night before. Not only is this fiction writing, but dreams can be a great source of inspiration. I'll also write during my breaks, and when I get home I like to stick in writing whenever I can. I'll bring my laptop down with me when I do the laundry, even if it just means typing in a few words at a time, and I also bring my notepad into the bathtub.

I'll write about anything when I practice. Generally, I try to continue with my novel, but if an interesting idea hits, I'll run with it. If I'm lacking inspiration, I'll write about my day, the people I saw, the emotions I felt, or any events I found interesting or funny. When worst comes to worst, I'll take out my handy Creative Writing Toolbox, which provides objects to describe and short stories to develop.

I also like to work on my problem areas during this time. For example, when I write, I generally have difficulty adding description during action scenes or bits of dialogue. As such, when I'm on the bus, I'll usually write out an entire conversation. Then, during my breaks at work, I'll start filling in the dialogue with actions, description and speech tags, all to make the piece more detailed and interesting. I have definitely noticed that as I continue to do this, my novel's dialogue is becoming more descriptive, and I can now go back to problem areas in my manuscript and fix them up.

Practice is necessary in anything. How can you expect to improve at tennis if you only go out on the court once a month and play for fifteen minutes? How will you ever master the piano when you only ever play at your weekly lessons, and you refuse to practice at home? The going will be very slow, and the same holds true with fiction writing. Practicing with a thesaurus on hand to learn and use new words, a cup of coffee or tea to keep you refreshed, and a will to learn and improve will do wonders, as long as you push yourself to work at it daily and for as long as you can.

Learn more about this author, Leigha Comer.
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