he hundred greatest novels ever written and read them all. Read books that inspire you and choose authors who write the way you wish you could. Ask yourself questions about the text. You might notice that many writers you admire use very simple dialogue tags, repeating "he said" and "she asked" over and over again. An active reader would think to herself: Why don't they use more variety in their dialogue tags, writing "he intoned," "she inquired" and "he muttered obliquely"? The answer is that those authors want the reader to focus on the dialogue, not the tags. They repeat "said" to make the tags invisible.
Active reading will fuel your mind with ideas. Take notes while you read. Write in your books. Borrow elements of other writers' strategies and styles and make them your own.
Write Habitually
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Practice is the key to writing well. Many professional writers train like professional athletes: they have a regular regimen of writing exercise that they do every day at the same time and place. If possible, select a time of day when you are most energized and productive. Choose a time you can commit to daily or at least frequently on a regular schedule.
Decide where you can write in comfort during all the times on your writing schedule. Think about factors like light, temperature, weather, privacy, noise, computer battery life and interruptions. Decide whether you will compose on a computer or in a notebook. If you have a voice in your head that critiques you while you write, you may spend too much time editing while you write your first draft. Try writing your first drafts on paper if you have a nagging internal editor.
Revise with Gusto
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Revision is the most important part of the writing process. Hemingway rewrote the last page of A Farewell To Arms 39 times. Expect to spend at least three times as long revising your story as you spent writing the first draft. Put your finished drafts aside for a while before you edit them. Wait at least a week. After you have moved on to other projects, you will be able to approach your own writing from a more objective standpoint.
Look for character traits and relationships that you should develop more. How much has your character changed during the story? If your protagonist hasn't changed in any small way, think about how he could. If he has changed more than seems plausible under the circumstances, you can either figure out a way to make the big change believable or make the character change more subtle in your next draft.
The book Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams is a great first guide for editing prose. It's short, clear and explains how to apply 10 principles that will make your prose sharp as a blade.
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