Becoming a Good Writer

mathmom
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 15:47:17 +0000

I think reading good writing is critical. I suspect even MiamiDAP’s daughter who doesn’t read for pleasure has read a fair amount of good writing.

All the suggestions are good, but I think having some sort of really critical writing partner is hugely helpful. My husband is a great editor (not just for grammar, but also for clarity and organization), and if I have time I have him read anything important. He’s had 20 years of critiquing science journal articles.

For fiction there are a number of online places to turn. My son’s favorite is a podcast called Writing Excuses: http://www.writingexcuses.com/ It’s four authors who discuss writing, give listeners ideas for exercises and analyze how some of their favorite books are put together. I don’t have time to listen to it regularly, but really enjoyed what I’ve dipped into.