How to Improve Your Writing

I have found a way to improve my writing and my restraint!

How many of us writers, authors, poets write feverishly and quickly so we don't lose our ideas and flow? I would argue most of us. When I have my journal out and pen in hand, the ideas flood my mind. In turn, I have been guilty of trying to get as many of those ideas down on paper before they are lost. Wrong approach! Even when we are flushing our ideas, we need to keep control on the flood gates. In other words, we need to practice discipline.

As most of you already know, I have been writing a book age appropriate 9 - 12 age range. I have found that even while writing the first draft, I am practicing discipline and restraint. Those ideas that escape the flood gates, I have either filed away or jotted down in a word document indicating where the idea belongs in the book. Just the act of writing the idea down somewhere has proven to be useful. It has helped me to keep the flow of the body of the book going forward, but not too quickly. I call the process, letting the words ferment from grape juice to wine.

I have found that writing a children's book has re-introduced me to tight writing. I have had to slow down and think about every word, every phrase, every paragraph as I am writing. My mother was a high school teacher and a voracious reader. She passed that love of learning on to her children. What surprised all of my friends, my sisters and I were allowed to read what ever book was on my parents book shelves. The only requirement was to understand and be able to apply what I was reading to my daily life. Needless to say I ended up with a very large vocabulary. So, with my new venture, it is a struggle to use words that children 9 - 12 will understand. I am not dumbing down the ideas. I am just couching then differently. I am not rushing to load the front end of the book. I find that I am leading them on an adventure that is within reach of their world.

How many of us have started a project, only to shelf it later on because it is not working. I have an idea, try writing it for a preteen. Take your time to get from chapter 1 to chapter 5 and then from chapter 5 to chapter 10. I have found it helps me with developing the character of my protagonists and antagonists and everyone associated with them. It has allowed me to add interesting twists and turns. It has taught me a valuable lesson to keep within the speed limit. I am figuring out that I have stopped over using words and to properly structure my sentences. It has made me more conscious of keeping vernacular out of my writing. As a reader, the only vernacular I want to see is in occasional dialogue, not in the text of the story.

I challenge my fellow writers to write your first draft as if you are writing it for a third or fourth grader. I tried that on a short story and then on the second draft, I expanded on the vocabulary, the story line and fleshed out the ideas even more and made it adult appropriate. I suspect we authors are a very unusual bunch of people. I suspect we were all reading adult novels at a very young age. I am really enjoying getting back to the basics and as I sleep or take a break, my mind works on the fermenting process. I highly recommend the process. It is a good way to keep us humble and to keep our writing habits healthy.