Practice for Pleasure

One of the best ways to improve your writing is to establish a regular writing practice. That means writing for writing's sake, daily if possible. It is human nature to write only when we have a goal in mind - a paper, report, chapter, book. But working on a project isn't the same as practicing. When you're working toward a defined goal, you aren't as free to exercise that creative muscle and let it flex in new and unexpected ways. By practicing writing with no goal in mind other than exploring your writing potential, you will experience true growth in your writing abilities. There are many ways to practice writing. Journaling teaches you to follow the flow of your thoughts and develop associative thinking and spontaneity. Writing brief sketches that respond to prompts such as: "the color red tastes like......" or "the wind looks like......." teaches you to develop new and insightful connections. Writing a brief description of whatever is around you at the moment teaches you to transform ordinary things or events into creative expression. You can devise many ways to practice writing that are meaningful to you. By doing so, you will improve not only your writing skills but also your ability to enjoy the process of writing - perhaps the most worthwhile benefit of all.