by Shannon Lausch

Created on: July 18, 2009

Any guide on fiction writing will extol this fundamental tenet on improving your craft: Write a lot. Seems simple enough, doesn't it? Let's say you've taken this piece of advice to heart. You vow to write every day. But how do you make the most out of these daily writing sessions? Following the next five steps will help you develop a writing plan to enrich your fiction writing skills.

Step 1: Set aside a block of time every day

To develop your fiction writing skills through daily writing, you must respect your regimen. Sure, missing a day or two seems innocuous enough. But when you realize your daily writing sessions can be pushed aside, you will most likely keep skipping practice until it completely disappears from your daily schedule.

Prioritize your writing time in your schedule. More importantly, set a manageable chunk of time you're able to devote to writing. Whether it's five minutes or an hour a day, following through on your designated writing time is vital for success.

Step 2: Find your weaknesses

So you've set a time, what should you write about? The surest way to improve your writing skills is to target your weaknesses. Examine past critiques of your work. If you have none, then ask someone to read your writing. Use these critiques and your judgment to pinpoint your weakest area in writing.

Whatever your weakness, design an exercise that specifically addresses it. Is your dialogue stale? Write a story solely using dialogue. Use the passive voice too much? Write a block of text or find a story you've already written and rewrite every sentence into active voice. Do you write too much description? Find an object and describe it however much you want. Then cut down your finished paragraph to a couple of sentences.

For a list of writing weaknesses, check out these "bad writing" tropes in writing and see if you can recognize any of your own writing transgressions.

Step 3: Find your strengths

Using your writing time to focus on your weaknesses may become draining. You should also understand what you do best in your fiction writing. By working on your natural talents, you'll feel more confident, instead of always struggling to improve your weaknesses. Give yourself a writing exercise you'll enjoy doing and can show off to family and friends.

Step 4: Use a variety of exercises

Developing exercises that improve your weaknesses and reinforce your confidence in your strengths is key. Alternate exercises every session, or work on whatever you feel the most motivated to do.

If you're struggling to develop your own assignments, browse the website Writing Forward for prompts and fun exercises. If you need to work on any grammar related issues, check out News Room 101. Ignore the AP Stylebook exercises (they're for a specific style journalists use). The website contains great practice to improving your grammar, punctuation, and word usage.

Step 5: Evaluate your progress

Keep your writing from each session. Every once in a while, compare your writing from a previous session to a later session. Have you been improving? What do you still need to work on? Keep up with your daily writing sessions. One day you'll look back and be amazed by how much you've improved.

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