How can I improve my writing skills over summer? Ideas? Exercises?

Favorite Answer

Well, the best way to improve at anything is practice, so write a lot over the summer. You could write essays on books you like, short stories, poems, journal entries or whatever you prefer, but the main thing is just to practice. Try to edit your work yourself and see if you can improve it, and when you've done all you can with it, give it to people you know, particularly adults, to read and comment on. If you'd like to email me anything you've written you're welcome to (my email is emilyrose1986@yahoo.com) - my friends and I edit each others papers all the time at school (I'm in college) and I'm getting fairly good at it. You could even start a webpage (a Yahoo! 360 page, for example) to post your work and get feedback on it. Then take whatever feedback you get from people who read your work, and re-write the piece based on that feedback. That may not be as fun as writing a new piece, but believe me, it's one of the most effective ways to improve your writing, especially if the people editing your work know what they're doing.

There are also various books you could read that are written about writing that might help you improve. If you go to your local public library and ask the librarian for books on writing I'm sure you'll find something.

Also, reading just about anything will build vocabulary, and, especially if it's well-written and challenging, will familiarize you with complex grammatical structures that you can later incorporate into your own work (usually without even trying)....Show more

First, start a daily journal and faithfully keep it up. Don't bother to start with any kind of story narrative. If nothing else, start with a rehash of the day's schedule, a list of events. Eventually, stick in some opinions about what happened. (why did that guy start yelling at his kids? What could it have been about? Where did someone get the idea to invent Rocky Road ice cream? Why is it called that. If I could invent a flavor ...) I don't recommend you share this journal, especially at the beginning. You don't want to become self-conscious about it.

Eventually, chase down some ideas. If something piques your interest, do a little research and write down your findings and opinions. Don't obscess about anything. If half way through an idea, something else come up, follow the new train. Later, as you read through the journal, then you can follow up on your unfinished thought.

A few weeks down the road, take one ot your journal entries and develop it further. It may take the form of an editorial, an opinion piece, an essay, a story, etc. Write it. Edit it. Polish if off and then file it. At the end of summer, find someone to read your "finished" pieces. Pick someone who can provide constructive criticism, such as a teacher or somone else who you think of as a good reader, or writer.

Go back and see if the critiques can be applied to improve the pieces.

And, keep up the journal. The journal is your mental file cabinet. Its a place to store ideas to be developed later....Show more

There are reading and writing programs for teens at most libraries, especially during the summer months. Just for fun, you might try to connect up with a couple of other teen writers and form your own writer's group. It really helps to have someone read your work and comment on it -- and of course, you do the same for theirs. It's hard to find constructive and unbiased suggestions and opinions from non-writers, that's why writing groups are so popular. But be careful how you try to contact people. You'd be best advised not to do it online, as you never know who is actually on the other end of the keyboard. Working through a library gives you some control -- you can meet other young writers in the library, without revealing any personal information -- and have a safe and supervised meeting site that will ensure the creepy guys out there don't wiggle their way into your group.
Good luck to you!...Show more

Ooo, this is my field. I am entering college and I am planning to major in English, probably certifying in education. Anyways, to work on grammar, all you need to do is learn what coventions and verb tenses do; and, you need a basic understanding of which are which. You can do this by accessing the help of Writer's Inc. As for being concise, what you need to do is make a list of the important things that will benefit the reader in knowing. Only include these things when you right, with proper transitions, of course. Analysis is often made to be scarier than it is. When analyzing, notice what is correct, what is incorrect, and what can be done for improvement in whatever you are criticizing. Begin by giving acknowledgement to the subject's limited logic. Next, point out the flaws of the subject, without being condescending. And lastly, explain what should be done to the subject to correct the flaws....Show more

I agree that reading is a good way to go.

Also, just try and stretch your mind more. When you're spending time outside and you notice something in nature, or how people interact with each other, try and relate that to something else. Make connections between things. Learning to make connections increases your affinity for figurative language, which can be useful in writing.

But yes. Read read read. Read some classic literature (I recommend the Three Musketeers!) and read some modern stuff as well, and you'll get a good balance of material....Show more