Learning How To Write

My entire professional life has been spent working as a writer and with other writers.

One important step for writers is to learn to think about their writing. I have found through my research that the writers who develop and grow the most are those who consciously think about their writing. This is not a natural process though and so the habit must be deliberately cultivated. I use two methods (learn more at the lenses below): metawriting and reflective writing.

At first glance these may appear to be the same thing, but indeed they are not. Reflective writing is looking back over recent writing activities and processes to determine what happened, what went right, and what went wrong. Metawriting can certainly incorporate the same elements as reflective writing but also takes a broader look at writing in general, other writers, and goals/plans for future writing.

Good writing is not one-size-fits-all. It is important to remember how context determines the effectiveness of writing. There are two important elements to consider when considering context -- the discourse community where the writing takes place and the genre

Developing an individual process that works for you and is flexible enough to work for a variety of writing challenges is key to becoming an accomplished writer.

Do no overlook the importance of confidence in your ability to become a writer to your process. That is where writing self-efficacy comes in to play.

Visualization and author's agenda are also important tools.