Tell me, how do you learn the craft?
It’s easier than I thought. And more difficult. Learning the craft of writing requires my whole heart. That’s simple, but it’s not easy.
I just attended the Write-to-Publish conference in Wheaton, Illinois. It was fabulously intense, challenging, and motivating. One of the guest speakers was Cecil Murphy, a delightful and warm fellow writer. His mantra was, “Learn the craft!” He challenged us to be learners of all things to do with writing.
From his messages, I have been inspired to put my hands to the task. Although I am not a very disciplined, scheduled person, there are some learning activities that I want to attend to regularly to keep at my writing life, to give my self over to it heart and soul. So far, this list includes:
- reading (I want to expand my range and read from outside my usual “favorite” topics and authors)
- article writing (I want to develop a few finished, polished articles to get the feel for it)
- study (I want to start again to read about grammar, punctuation, and word usage; it’s been about a year since I’ve done so)
- blogging (I want to use this as my practice ground, to improve my skills and flow of thought)
So I am curious, fellow writers and bloggers, how do you press yourself to learn the craft?
