How to Practice Writing

“Why is it that we understand playing the cello will require work, but we attribute writing to the magic of inspiration?”

Ann Patchett, “The Getaway Car”

Want to become a better writer? Forget sitting around waiting for inspiration. You’re going to have to practice. You can improve quickly or slowly, but you won’t make progress without practice.

Practice is almost magical-and it’s accessible to everyone.

Reframing Your Feelings About Practice

My parents made my siblings and me take piano lessons as children.

As an adult, I recognize the gift of that decision. Music lessons introduce us early in life to the cumulative power of practice. At the time, however, it felt like a mixed blessing.

Unfortunately, many of us learn the wrong lessons as kids. We decide that practice is a boring chore. (Scales? Exercises? Who wants to do that?)

As a child, I did the least amount of practice possible without disappointing my teachers or getting in trouble. I had the fortunate ability to learn music quickly. When I showed up the next week with a piece entirely memorized, it looked like I’d spent hours slaving away on the repertoire. But then, having learned the piece, I stopped making progress. I just moved on to the…