“If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

To be a successful writer your readers must trust you. It is easiest to gain your readers trust when you write about your area of expertise. Why? Because you actually know something about the topic your are writing about.

If you don’t have an expertise then start reading and writing about a topic, it is the best way to develop and show off your expertise.

One of the hardest things about writing is being able to do it consistently. Every writer knows the pain of dreaded “writer’s block,” which can strike at any time and for a variety of reasons. There’s no easy short-cut to get rid of it, of course, but there are ways you can get around those terrible periods where nothing you write turns out well and you lose all motivation.

One way is to just make a habit of writing a certain amount every day, no matter what. Many famous writers have used this method to ensure that they have a reasonable amount of output, and it can be especially helpful if you’re writing longer works that just seem to drag on and on. It can be difficult to keep going sometimes when you’ve been working on a novel for a month and realize you’re only about 1/5 of the way through it.

If you write every day, it will eventually become habit, and habit is a powerful tool in the human arsenal. The way our brains are wired means that things we do every day become second nature, until eventually it’s not a struggle to find the time to write out those words. Instead, it becomes just something you do, and something that you’ll account for in your daily schedule.

I’ve been struggling with this aspect of writing myself for quite a while. I started a novel last June, wrote 5000 words in a few days from the initial rush of excitement, and then… well, stopped. It sat untouched until December, when I wrote another 1500 words and stopped again. This May, I sat down and restarted the novel from scratch, rewriting what little beginning I’d done.

But this time, I did something different. I made myself write at least 500 words a day, with a preference for more. I told people I knew I was working on it, so that I’d have some kind of external motivation when they asked me how it was coming along. It’s now the end of June, and I have about 40,000 words with more every day.

I hope to finish by the end of August, which means I’ll have to churn out roughly 1000 words a day for the length I have in mind. It’s a tall order, but I’m hopeful. Now that I’ve been doing my daily 500 words for a while, it’s not nearly as hard. Even when I have periods (and I do still have them) where I hate every single word that goes from my pen to the paper, I still churn them out, where before I would get discouraged and quit. Habit is a powerful tool.

Some famous authors who wrote habitually:

• Virginia Woolf - 1000 words a day
• Kingsley Amis - 500 words each morning
• Isaac Asimov - Woke at 6am and wrote all day, sometimes until 1am
• Haruki Murakami - Writes 5-6 hours a day when working on a novel

Obviously, the more prolific writing schedules (Asimov, for instance, published over 500 books in his lifetime) are not for everybody. But even setting aside an hour a day, or setting a small word count goal, will help improve your output’s quantity. And since “practice makes perfect,” it’ll eventually improve your writing, as well!

Stewart B.
thestripedone

I have compiled a list of free online writing classes. Please let me know what you think of these courses as you complete them.

Introductory Writing Classes

• Introduction to Literature: In this introductory course, you will take learn about character development, imagery, poetic language, and more. [Western Kentucky University]
• What is Good Writing?: Learn what constitutes good writing and the importance of effective writing. [The Open University]
• Start Writing Fiction: Dive into character development, setting, genre, dialog, and more. [The Open University]

Creative Writing

• Poetry: Learn about the form and elements of poetry. [College of DuPage]
• Writing Challenges: Tackle a series of creative writing challenges. [Warwick University]
• The Creative Spark: Discover how to create your own creative process with this course. [MIT]
• Expository Writing: This course focuses on narration, critique, argument, and persuasion in autobiographical writing. [MIT]

Grammar & Language

• English Grammar in Context: Learn about the importance of grammar, features of speech, and more. [The Open University]
• Form and Uses of Language: Examine the different ways language can be used by studying the varied works of Siegfried Sassoon. [The Open University]
• The Syntax of Natural Language: Dive into the theories and technical aspects of grammar and language. [University of Pennsylvania]
• Introducing Representation: Learn how to use language as a way to convey thoughts. [The Open University]

Persuasive Writing

• Rhetoric: Learn the art and theory of persuasive writing. [MIT]
• Advanced Essay Workshop: Dive into an advanced study of rhetoric and prose style techniques. [MIT]
• Rhetorical and Critical Writing Assessment: Learn how to distinguish between fact, and fiction, and support a position. [Western Governors]

Copyright & Plagiarism

• Text as Property/Property as Text: Take a look at ownership, plagiarism, and lots of other moral and legal topics in writing. [Rice]

Social Writing

• Writing and Experience - Culture Shock! Writing, Editing, and Publishing in Cyberspace: Learn how to write for an online audience. [MIT]
• Writing and Experience: Learn how to write about differing social experiences. [MIT]

Jacob