What kind of writing do you enjoy most? What kind of writing are you trying to improve?
Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
51–60 of 95 posts
Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
#52Get people to critique your writing. Ultimately, writing is communication and recipients can give you a lot of actionable feedback. Without such a feedback loop it will be very hard to become meaningfully better at writing. Often the feedback will be relevant to a particular piece, though sometimes to writing in general.
Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
#53Reading good writing is the first step towards improving your written output. Observe the techniques that resonate with you and incorporate them into your style. It will feel clunky at first, like any new exercise, but over time will become more fluid and seamless. Reading also builds a large vocabulary, which is essential to achieve fluid prose. Read the best authors for the intended style, be it story-writing, crit…
Another important skill is being able to read your own writing as if you are different readers. Think about how much someone knows and how something will sound to someone who doesn’t know as much. What’s their mental picture as they start reading, what is it after they are one paragraph in, etc. Make sure you aren’t making leaps they can’t follow. Try this out while modeling people of various levels of familiarity with the subject so your writing isn’t tedious to someone who already knows a bit. Make sure you aren’t wasting their time. Make sure you’ve defined your terms before using them. Read it over and over trying to get yourself into other people’s shoes every time. Have empathy for every reader you’re writing for.
Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
#54A prior discussion that was helpful for me:
Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
#55Read a ton.
Write constantly.
Write for the trash can. Writer's block is caused by the pressure of obligation.
Write like you're speaking plainly to a friend.
If you can remove words without losing meaning, do it.
Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
#56Writing is really mostly editing and polishing.
Try to read something out loud and you'll immediately hear if it works in terms of punctuation.
Don't try to be smart and writerly. Find your natural voice. The point is to communicate something, not impressing with your skills.
Listen to the music of your prose. Don't repeat the same length of sentences over and over again.
Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
#57By writing more.
Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
#58Write often, about anything. Perhaps try nicheless.blog, I write there regularly. Given a 300 word limit, I can write one or two thoughts. The word limit necessitates merciless editing, if i care to have a coherent message to say to the reader. I write about, literally, anything, at first. Writing is a muscle rarely used by anyone. It is a superpower that could be mastered, or at least harnessed, by everyone. Current…
Yes, what was that Steven King advice; "...two shitty pages in a day"
Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
#59[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: How to get better at writing?
#60If you want to get better at writing, be deliberate: practice with the goal of learning and becoming better. (1) read good works and study their authors' choices and techniques, (2) write often to strengthen your writing muscles and develop your style, (3) practice rewriting and editing (your writing and others), and (4) get feedback on your writing.
Books on writing can help, but there is no subsitute for doing the work. Being deliberate about learning from the work, however, will speed your improvement.
With regular work, you'll be noticably better after a month or two, especially if you're getting feedback. After a year, you'll be a different person. Your writing will be faster, easier, and better.
But don't stop then. You're just getting started :-)