How to improve my writing abilities Forum

[TJISMYHERO]

Haha. Can't believe I didn't catch this sooner.

[rinkrat19]

is there a certain amount of time that i should put aside for reading? like maybe 1 hour min?

If that's more than you already read, then I guess that's a good place to start. But I wouldn't consider an hour a day "a lot" of reading, in the grand scheme of things. If you're reading to improve your writing, then quantity is key. The more you read (and the more varied the material), the more structure, vocab, etc. you'll absorb for later use in your writing.

Personally, I probably read 2-3 hours a day during the week (working full-time, not in school), or 1-2 hours if I have plans after work that keep me out until late. Much more on a typical weekend. I'm a bookworm. But it shows in my writing: I don't have some great natural gift for prose, but I can generally produce some reasonably elegant language to say what I mean.

Challenge yourself with scholarly material and writing references, but also make sure you find things you like to read, so it's not a chore to get your hour in.

[TJISMYHERO]

is there a certain amount of time that i should put aside for reading? like maybe 1 hour min?

If that's more than you already read, then I guess that's a good place to start. But I wouldn't consider an hour a day "a lot" of reading, in the grand scheme of things. If you're reading to improve your writing, then quantity is key. The more you read (and the more varied the material), the more structure, vocab, etc. you'll absorb for later use in your writing.

Personally, I probably read 2-3 hours a day during the week (working full-time, not in school), or 1-2 hours if I have plans after work that keep me out until late. Much more on a typical weekend. I'm a bookworm. But it shows in my writing: I don't have some great natural gift for prose, but I can generally produce some reasonably elegant language to say what I mean.

Challenge yourself with scholarly material and writing references, but also make sure you find things you like to read, so it's not a chore to get your hour in.

He's flaming or beyond help.

[rinkrat19]

is there a certain amount of time that i should put aside for reading? like maybe 1 hour min?

If that's more than you already read, then I guess that's a good place to start. But I wouldn't consider an hour a day "a lot" of reading, in the grand scheme of things. If you're reading to improve your writing, then quantity is key. The more you read (and the more varied the material), the more structure, vocab, etc. you'll absorb for later use in your writing.

Personally, I probably read 2-3 hours a day during the week (working full-time, not in school), or 1-2 hours if I have plans after work that keep me out until late. Much more on a typical weekend. I'm a bookworm. But it shows in my writing: I don't have some great natural gift for prose, but I can generally produce some reasonably elegant language to say what I mean.

Challenge yourself with scholarly material and writing references, but also make sure you find things you like to read, so it's not a chore to get your hour in.

He's flaming or beyond help.

Pretty boring flame, IMO.

[Eliyahu7]

As has been stated, your reading habits will have a strong impact on the type of writing that you put out. This is a two way street. Digesting a high volume of quality literary material will indoctrinate you towards a better writing style. Likewise, however, poor reading material will have the opposite effect. Unfortunately, our culture seems to expose us to quite a bit of this through mediums of communication like text messaging. Yes, believe it or not, constantly interacting with written material consisting of statements like "lol hey dood i gtg!" to the neglect of proper English, will reduce your writing ability. Now while this is somewhat of a hyperbolic example, the principle stands true. You simply need to be intentional about consuming good written material.