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before starting to write. While thinking about what to write, put down any idea that comes to you, even if it seems far-fetched or unlikely to be successful. One mediocre idea may lead to a better one. Find a topic that grabs your attention and thrills you. Your excitement and interest will make it easier for you to keep the project going and keep it to a high standard, and hopefully it will rub off on the reader as well. A serious writing project doesn't need to be a full-length book. Crafting a short story can be a difficult and rewarding challenge, and may be a more time-effective way to practice your skills. Keep a notebook for writing down observations, overheard conversations, and sudden ideas encountered in your daily life. When you read or hear something that makes you laugh, think, or want to repeat it to someone else, write it down and think about what makes it effective. You may prefer to keep your ideas in a digital file, such as a Word document or Google Doc. This makes it easier to develop your ideas or insert them into other documents. If you use Google Docs, you can also access your work from several devices. You may use this notebook or file to collect unfamiliar words as well. Use whatever technique works best for you, or try out several if you don't have an established process yet. You can make an outline, put a collection of notes on cards and arrange them until they are in order, or draw a tree or map. Your outline may have nothing but a rough order of the events or topics covered, or it may be a more detailed scene-by-scene summary. Building some kind of structure in advance can help keep you going on days when you're feeling low on creativity. There are many types of organizational software for writers, such as Scrivener or TheSage. You could also use a simple Word document or Google Docs. With Google Docs, you can access your writing from any device. It's fine to deviate from your plan, but if you abandon it entirely, stop and consider the reasons behind the chance. Build a new plan to guide you through the altered work, and keep you thinking consciously about how you want to get through it. While a work of nonfiction requires you to know your subject, even a fiction book will benefit from research. If your main character is a glassblower, read a book on glassblowing and use the right terminology. If you are writing a book set before you were born, interview people who lived during that time, or who spoke to parents and grandparents who did. In the case of fiction writing, you may be able to dive in to the first draft before you start your research. Try writing without pause for as long as you can. Do not stop to change your word choice or correct your grammar, spelling, or punctuation. This is one of the most common recommendations for making sure that you actually finish what you start. Once you have a first draft, reread it and rewrite it. You are looking for errors in grammar and spelling as well as style, content, organization, and coherence. If there are any passages you dislike, get rid of them and write them again from scratch. Critiquing your own work is an important skill, and it takes plenty of practice, just like writing itself.. Give yourself time between writing and editing, if at all possible. It is better to wait a good length of time, but even a short break can give you some of the necessary distance and detachment to edit well. Get feedback on your work in progress from interested readers, whether they are friends, fellow writers, or readers of your writing blog. Try to accept criticism without getting angry or upset; even if you don't agree with the specifics, knowing what parts of your work people dislike can be valuable for focusing your editing. Don't be afraid to make drastic changes, even cutting whole sections of the project or rewriting it from a different character's perspective. Continue the cycle of feedback and editing as you explore how to perfect your work. If it feels like running in place, remember you are practicing skills that will help you in all your future writing. You can always take a break to write something fun and ridiculous, just to remind yourself that writing can be a blast.
Brainstorm Choose a topic you would like to read about. Decide on a rough form for your project. Write down ideas. Plan your writing. Research your subject. Write the first draft quickly. Rewrite. Share your work with an audience. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.