: Re: What are good ways to improve as a writer other than writing courses? As a novice writer to improve my writing I have taken one online course. I want to ask, what are good ways to improve

@Murphy332

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Reading! Read for pleasure, and in the field you want to write in.

Sometimes, read strategically, analyzing a paragraph/sentence/section you really like or dislike.
Sometimes, try to paraphrase an interesting section several times, to observe what different choices might have led to. (The textbook I got this from, Writing Analytically, suggested doing at least 3 iterations to properly separate from the source material.)
Sometimes do a deliberate plagiarism or "forgery" (not to sell or display to others, but as a learning experience) - trying to use a similar style/structure/vocabulary as the source material, just as painters would try to first copy a specific work of art, and then try to copy that style about a different subject, and then eventually that becomes another tool in creating their OWN style.
Read books on writing (often tons at libraries and cheap book sales) and DO THE EXERCISES. See if they build sequentially or if you can do random ones.
Test parameters -- do you write better with music or without? With coffee, tea, water, nothing? In long bursts or can you make progress 20 minutes? Do you like word-count or time-based goals better, or another type? (Make a list of every strategy you encounter, and devote some time to the testing.)
Do NaNoWriMo, Camp NaNo, month of blog posts, book-in-a-month (which is actually a set-your-own-goal thing), 750words.com, or any of these time-based "challenges". I know some say that they don't help anyone get better, but I think a lot of writers get in their own way, editing instead of proceding. For those who don't consider themselves "writers" at all, it can definitely boost fluency and comfort. Also, the sense that the writing is "disposable," and that the goal IS merely quantity can encourage you to take risks you wouldn't otherwise take, and can encourage you to feel less "precious" about doing the best thing on the first try. (Quantity leads to not feeling so bad about deleting a ton, because you now KNOW you can generate a ton more.)

I'm sure there are more, but these are some of the first things that came to mind.

Source -- I used to teach English 100 at a local university, and I allowed students a fiction/memoir option for part of it. I also taught some strategic reading strategies for the research portions of the class

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