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The One Rule to Becoming a Better Writer
Since a teenager, writing has been a large part of my life, from journals and diaries to fiction novels and screenplays. I have tried just about every type of writing out there. I am not a best-selling author, nor do I think I am best in the business. But after writing hundreds of thousands of words on a variety of topics, I want to share my two cents on the matter.
When I first started writing, I was horrible. I couldn’t spell, hated English class, and never could think of anything to write about. It was hard and took me years after school before I developed a passion for the practice. I realized I had never written anything I enjoyed. It was all an essay on what other people wrote and historical events. I love history, but the last thing I want to do in my free time is writing a 20-page essay on Howard Zinn’s opinion on Columbus. A few months after graduating, I had the urge to write, so I sat down at my computer and started typing. I was addicted. It was like I was creating a story with every stroke of a key. It came alive in front of me. Nothing I wrote for years was worth anything to read. I was doing it for myself and loved every second of it.
After writing hundreds of short stories, I wanted to start sharing my work with the world. Around this time, I started getting into Slam poetry. I started opening for poets in my city. Writing and…
