How To Become a Better Creative Writer in 3 Simple Steps

How much of your creative writing potential would you say you were putting to good use on a regular basis?

Few of us who write are reaching anywhere near the best we’re capable of, for a whole number of reasons.

So here is a simple yet powerful 3 step system to help you write better, write more, and channel that creative writing talent within you more often.

1. Write every day. The bedrock to all consistent and rewarding creativity is to create everyday. When you develop the habit of writing so it becomes as natural and embedded in your daily life as breathing and sleeping, you enable yourself to really start to let that writing potential within you blossom.

   Start with just 15 minutes at the same time each day. Before you moan that you don't have 15 minutes a day free, bear in mind this is a little over 1% of your total available time each day. If you're not prepared to commit at least 1% of your time to creative writing, then I'd suggest you question how important writing is to you.

   Pick a time of day that you feel you'll write most easily, whether it's first thing in the morning, after lunch or late at night. Do what works best FOR YOU and don't be afraid of adjusting it a little if it's not working.

2. Capture your ideas. One of the biggest complaints of writers is a lack of great ideas. Ideas are the starting point for any creativity - whatever it is you write, it all begins with the seed of an idea.

   The problem is not that you don't HAVE enough ideas though, it's that you're not CAPTURING enough. How many times have you been struck by an interesting idea, vowed to remember it and develop it later, only for it to vanish for good from your mind just moments later?

   Get yourself an Ideas Journal - a pocket notebook you can carry at all times. As soon as an idea comes, jot it down. Once you start to capture your ideas, you'll find they flow to you far more easily than you ever realized.

3. Recognize your progress. Often, even though you may actually be writing the best work of your life, because you're so close to it, you can't appreciate your progress and the quality and quantity of your writing.

   By introducing a method to recognize and acknowledge your evolution as a creative writer, you not only see a truer picture of your great progress, but it also inspires and motivates you to write even more.

   A good way of doing this is to have a Writing Landmarks chart. This is simply a list of things you achieve in your writing life, with a date next to them. Start small, recognize the commitment and achievements you're making each step of the way. When you look back over your Creative Landmarks chart in the coming weeks and months, you'll be amazed at how much you've created, as well as how your writing has developed.

Commit to following these 3 steps for 14 days and notice the difference in your creative writing life.

Each of these are powerful habits for a life of fulfilling creative writing, and by using them all together you’ll have in place a very effective system for writing the best you can, as often as you can. Start today.