Thanks to -girlsandgirls for suggesting this topic!
Whether you've taken writing classes or not, it is vital that you practice. After watching game tapes, football players go practice running drills and playing scrimmage games. Writers need to write. Anything. Journals, short stories, blog posts, novellas, whatever comes to mind. Ideally it's a format where you can get feedback so you have some way to gauge your improvement.
If you have no ideas what to write, try writing prompts. There are endless sources. Here's one by melissadono: https://www.wattpad.com/47522738-1200-creative-writing-prompts-contents
You can also Google for other sources. If you write Science Fiction, search for "science fiction writing prompts." If you write Young Adult Fantasy, search for "YA Fantasy writing prompts". You get the idea.
There are also guided writing exercises to flex your writing muscles. For example, "Creative Writing Exercises" by oliviarose85 (https://www.wattpad.com/story/87246722-creative-writing-exercises). You go through each chapter of the exercise and write down one word from each list. This gives you a rough scenario to mold your piece. And then you go. Write furiously for half an hour. Try it!
The goal here is to get your writing juices flowing. Warm up your engine. You never know what might happen to the things you write during practice. Maybe it'll end up filed away in obscurity. Maybe it'll inspire a full-length novel. Maybe you'll create a collection of short stories. The purpose of practicing is to get better, not to get published. You're flexing your muscles.
To help you figure out how to practice, here's my process:
1. Get inspired (You read the earlier chapter about this, right?)
2. Write the story. Take as much time as you need.
3. Submit the story for critique. If you don't have a critique partner, there are multiple critique sites to get your work evaluated by other writers. I use http://www.critiquecircle.com/
4. Brace yourself. The feedback I receive is always a mixed bag. Sometimes there's praise, but usually the purpose is to point out all the flaws. This is hard to read. I have to keep reminding myself to stay objective and not take any of it personally.
5. Set it aside. I usually wait maybe two weeks for short stories, and at least four weeks for novels. Some say three months. The longer you wait, the better. This helps you regain objectivity. While waiting, I work on other stories.
6. Revise the work. After my waiting period, I go through all the feedback again and decide which ones point out valid flaws I need to fix. I think about how to fix them. Then I buckle down and start editing. Sometimes it's adding details, other times it's rewriting entire sections. Whatever it takes. I do the work because lazy writers never get anywhere.
7. Resubmit for critique. Once is not enough, especially for novels. I always want to find out if my revised version is actually better, and what else might be wrong with it. I once rewrote an entire novel, only to discover that I may have made it worse. (Not a good feeling, let me tell you, but these things happen. Best not to dwell on the wasted effort too long and move on.)
8. Repeat steps 5 and 6.
When is it actually ready? This is a judgement call. It's one of those things that you learn as you go along. Maybe it's a gut feeling that you've done all you can, or maybe you've fiddled with it so much that you're sick of it now. Whichever it is, you're done. Either squirrel it away or post it to your outlet of choice, then start the next project. You want to keep your momentum going.
Just remember: perfect is impossible. Don't work on the same thing forever.
Out of steam? Don't pressure yourself! It's okay to take breaks. If writing isn't joyful, then you're doing it wrong.
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These little reminders might be getting annoying, I know, but if you think I deserve it, I'd appreciate a click on the Vote button. Thank you!