How do you improve as an author?
- Speak. Sometimes before you’re ready.
- Listen. Reviews. Learn from them. Even the bad ones.
- Repeat. Practice. Keep writing. Content of all types.
You get better at writing the same way you get better at anything else. Practice. Keep writing, keep improving. Blogs are great for this. Write out in the open. Invite conversation. Ask for feedback. Otherwise, how are you going to improve?
Part of being an artist requires that you face the risk of sharing your work with others. The Web gives everyone a voice now, which is a great thing. You will have a lot of opportunities to listen. Listening, as hard as it is sometimes, will make your work better.
The hard work comes in identifying who to listen to (and who not to), and what to listen to (and what not to). It’s your work, but it will get a lot better if you take the stuff that’s valuable, and ignore the stuff that’s not. The point is to learn from it.
—
For more about my consulting services for authors, please see my new page at: http://mboezi.com/authors.
Leave a comment