3 Steps to Become a Better Writer

Our main focus on this channel is reading — but today, let's talk about writing. How can you improve your writing? Are there quick tips, life hacks, and secret formulae?

The truth is, you'll only be a better writer if you practice. I can (and do) give some advice, but writing is hard work. That's true for students, for working professionals, and for novelists. All of us have to commit to building good habits in order to make ourselves better writers.

A video on Plus/Minus/Equals (in the context of chess) from GM Jesse Kraai:    • The Plus, Equal, and Minus of Improvement  

Books on writing I recommend:

On Writing by Stephen King: https://amzn.to/3ElI8tO
Steering the Craft by Urusla K. LeGuin: https://amzn.to/3NSYihz
Aristotle's Rhetoric: https://amzn.to/3NV622m
Plain Style by Christopher Lasch: https://amzn.to/3A5O1ZG

Examples of great writing:

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: https://amzn.to/3DXvTCn
Essays by Wendell Berry: https://amzn.to/3TwJGp3
Emma by Jane Austen: https://amzn.to/3DYYneR
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky: https://amzn.to/3UNjkk0
St. Augustine's Confessions: https://amzn.to/3O38KTO
The Lord of the Rings: https://amzn.to/3UvwyCe
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: https://amzn.to/3fWsiws
After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre: https://amzn.to/3X3jQMG
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston: https://amzn.to/3tDh4jP

These are affiliate links with Amazon. The channel earns a commission from each purchase — but it doesn't cost you anything.

Writing 0:00
Be a Good Reader 00:56
Write Drunk, Edit Sober 2:21
Plus/Minus/Equals 7:17