Inquiring Minds Want To Know #24

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A reminder, that if you would like to be involved, just answer the very simple survey here and I’ll consider your question for inclusion in this series of posts. You don’t have to answer the second question but if you leave your name and link I will link to your blog when I respond.

Question: How can you improve your writing and creative skills aside from reading and practising writing?  From DarkdaemonPK2

levy reading

Um…

Do I have to say that you kind of have to read and practise writing to get better at it?

Realistically exposure to different styles of writing and practising different ways of phrasing and putting words together is about the only way to improve it. I’d say it is more or less the same for creativity. The more references you have to draw upon and the more combinations of ideas you’ve been exposed to, the more flexible you are at putting ideas together and generating something original.

If there’s anyway to get better at either without reading or practise, I don’t know about it.

levy reading 2

Anyone with a suggestion on this one?


Thanks for reading.

Karandi James

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17 thoughts on “Inquiring Minds Want To Know #24

  1. To be honest Karandi, I was very sad and upset about your reaction and reply on my question since it made me feel I was made fun off. I was just asking for advice but it turned out really awry. You wont be seeing any of me anymore.

  2. Writing and creativity skills aren’t born in a vacuum, so consuming more media helps. Karandi already kind of said that though, so asking other people about your work for ways to improve (or better yet, editing other people’s stuff in a way that you and the person whose work you’re editing can both learn from the process) and writing outside your comfort zone from time to time (like doing fiction writing if you’re an anime blogger by default, or doing factual writing if you put a lot of emotions into normal writing) might also help.

  3. For the creative side, sometimes staring at the clouds or other designs to see what shapes/figures you see or playing storytelling board games/RPGs might be a change.

  4. Naw…that is pretty much the best advice I think. When I look at some of my older posts (cringe…..lol) and compare them to the new ones, my writing style has certainly grown. But I am never going to claim that I am an expert writer nor will I probably ever become one. For me though it’s the experience that is the most rewarding and the reading and interacting. I also have to say that you can learn a lot from reading other people’s posts as there are some truly amazing writers out there. Hell…I am talking to one right now 😊

    1. I’m pretty sure this isn’t make Karandi blush day, but thank you. Still, I’ve definitely noticed that my style has been developing due to daily writing since I started the blog. Reading back some of my old series reviews to pick some for next week to repost made me realise just how vastly different my style was when I began. It almost made me want to go back and re-review some of those older shows just to write a better post.

      1. Haha, really? I thought it was lol. Sorry about that, but definitely meant every word of it 😊
        Wow! You have that too huh? I have that same urge (not the time though). Back in the beginning of my blog, I really had a totally different style as well. But then again…it’s also me, and well it also has it’s charm.
        And quite honestly, when I first discovered your blog…(wow is that really almost two years back now??) I was already totally amazed at your skills. So I would not worry about it too much 😊

        1. I think in a few years time it is going to be really interesting to map where I was in terms of writing over the years. Lately I’ve noticed this very odd trend of starting a lot of sentences with ‘and’ so I’m going to work on stamping that particular quirk out. Of course, I already had to eradicate the word ‘mesh’ from my vocabulary after the disaster that was Hand Shakers more or less killed the word for me.
          But these are conscious decisions to change my style. The unconscious decisions are probably a bit more interesting because I’m sure I pick up words and phrases from others and just end up integrating them for a time before I move onto something new.

          1. Haha, I think we all have our own particular words we are way to fond of repeating (for me I noticed the (over)use of the word definitely lol)
            It’s definitely fun to look back in a few years time and see how your blog has evolved. One thing you can be sure of is the fact that it will have tripled the number of followers you already have.😂
            Seriously it might be a fun thing to do with a couple of bloggers that have been around for a while in a few years time. Might be a very interesting blog post to read 😀
            Still…never worry about your writing skills: you have them, and then some 😊

          2. This actually sounds like a fun project. We could have a then and now post and everyone can look at how people have changed and what has influenced them.

          3. It really does sound fun doesn’t it? We could even maybe make a new tag of it and let it go around the community. Hmm..this is really starting to sound like something I think a lot of people would really enjoy 😀

          4. Sounds like something fun to put together with you once I’m back. Of course, if you want it to have any kind of sensible name as a tag, I leave that entirely in your court.

          5. Cool! That’s something I really look forward to doing. We have never done a collab before, so yes totally interested in doing this 😊 Lol, as for the name..I’m going to have to think about that for a bit. I’m sure we can think of something 😊 (whether it will be a sensible name is a whole different matter though lol😂).

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