My Writing Exercises

I want to talk about some of my practices to improve my craft.

I've discussed how I find planning my work stifling to my creativity, but I use other ways to improve my writing.

Reading is critical, of course. Reading allows me to analyze writing quality and story structure. I read as an author, which can make the hobby a little less fun at times, but I still enjoy it.

In my book reviews, I always include a pitch line. Sometimes I take this line from the book description but I often write them myself. It seems a small thing, but it allows me to be more concise. And pitch lines are helpful for marketing, anyway.

The audience and mode of communication on my social media require me to be concise. Similarly, this blog helps. These allow me to consider public relations. I have to plan my content.

I write quite a bit at my day job. The content is obviously different—business oriented—but it's still practice and I've noticed an improvement in my conciseness and clarity in recent years.

I haven't gotten to the point of random writing sessions unrelated to any particular project—I haven't needed to yet—but I plan to if I face a writing block or need some motivation.

These might not all seem directly related to creative writing, but they all help me anyway.