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

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).

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.

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!

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.

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.

well maybe you can read some books to get some topics. start out small and then write big when you think your ready if you want to improve your writing then you need to write but also you need to gather ideas in order to write. i guess you can improve your writting by writing about your life or if you day dream you can write about your daydreams or your feeling things around you can become stories so try to look around ideas and then stories will come to you . soon enough you will have improved your ideas believe me im a strong witer and i have writing lots of stories but mostly because i had many ideas. ideas become stories and that a way you can improve your writing. if have writing any srories i would love to read them so if you want to can you please send me a copy of your story at littlemusicgirl2@yahoo.com

You can make your writing better by ... reading. The more you read, the bigger your vocabulary and the more you see words in the correct context. It's also a pleasent way to spend the summer.

read english literature, read about the authors who write the stories you read and the history of the era and location that they grew up in and write essays on your thoughts about the short stories or novels that you have read focusing on character,plot, or psychological themes and remember to rewrite,rewrite ,rewrite, your essay, find the right word, and cut out the uineccessary words, be concise

I had the same english professor for two of my english classes, and he complained to me one day that my essay was good but read like a draft, and that is because I only rewrote that one 3 times, and that is the only essay that I ever turned in with so few rewrites, my other english professor said that my essays were so good because I rewrote them so many times

I think you're already on the way, because reading is the best way to get vocabulary. And you can try to write a blog...

They are very good for who likes to write!

start by reading, read everything you can from stuff that interests you and even stuff that doesn't that way you are exposing yourself to all different kinds of styles. than practice writing. write down ideas you have and than turn it into something more. find someone that can read what you write and give you feedback.