Ask HN: How to get better at writing?

I also made a web app to help develop my writing habit and improve fluency: https://enso.sonnet.io

I’ve enjoyed it so far and have been writing consistently for almost 3 years so far (ca 800 words per day).

When I was in college for English, getting regular feedback from professors and the writing center helped me learn things I wouldn't have figured out on my own.

But of course, context matters: that was great for improving my general writing skills and my academic writing, but if you're doing creative writing, technical writing, etc., ideally you want feedback from people that are experts in the kind you're interested in.

Get a cheep spiral notebook and a nice pen.

Then collect some example writings that represent the best writing style you aspire to. I prefer short stories and essays, but for larger examples (novels) you can focus on single chapters.

Every day spend about 1/2 hour copying the example writing by hand into the spiral notebook. When you are done copying about two pages into your spiral notebook review the pages and identify different writing techniques. I used this technique to learn copywriting so I identified different persuasion techniques including what’s the catch addresses or Promise.

However, you could also use this same technique to become a better novelist. So maybe you identify alliteration, irony, foreshadowing, etc.

Why does this work? This have been studies on the powerful learning effect of writing notes by hand. The technique I described follows the same principals. By copying great writing by hand you are engaging multiple senses at one time. You are feeding your conscious and subconscious mind rich example writing that will help you improve your own writing.

Anyway, this worked for me. Good luck.