Writers hear it again and again: READ! Read your genre, read authors you admire, read well-written books, read awarded work, read acclaimed work... Here's one more for you: Read a bad book. 

Many people will tell you life is too short to read books that aren't satisfying, but "bad" books are a great way to hone your self-editing and writing skills. When I was a kid and I didn't like the way a book developed, I would rewrite it in my head, and I'm willing to bet many of you did the same thing. Once we start writing our own manuscripts, we often stop playing with others' works. However, there's value in this old habit. Remember having to explain your opinions in school? Answering the question "Why don't (or do) you like it?" Analyzing your distaste will tell you what could be done better, and that will improve your own writing.

Maybe the books aren't even bad, but they fail to live up to your expectations in some way. Every so often, instead of laying the book aside, examine its failures. There's a series I'm reading right now that has an enticing plot and a well-developed world, but the author has some writing habits that disappoint me. I kept reading initially because of the plot, but then I found myself using it as editing/writing practice.

Here's how it works, with one example from that series:

1. Identify the flaw(s): The author has a tendency to state the emotions of other characters despite the first person POV. Ms. Author assigns them emotions through phrases like "...looked surprise," "...noted a look of affection," and "...saw her sadness."

2. Determine why this is a flaw to you: I have always preferred more subtle observations that clue the reader into emotions while possibly leaving the narrating character more uncertain. Assigning emotions in this way gives the narrator too much power. It leaves scenes lacking in emotional drama and therefore, a little flat.

3. Practice your skills: I rewrote small portions using characterization rather than emotion statements. (Rewrite in your head or on paper; doesn't matter, just try it!)

Keep in mind that this exercise is about the writing, not the plot. Save your plotting for your own manuscripts, and focus on what went wrong in this author's execution. I'm not suggesting you rewrite whole novels or invest hours in a book you don't love, but practicing like this on small sections can be really beneficial to your own work. So read some bad books, and if you really want to challenge yourself, try it with a book you love!

 You know those crazy stalker walls you see in crime shows or the one in A Beautiful Mind? 

 You need one of those. 

Get yourself a bulletin board or an empty wall. Break out the red yarn and the tacks. You're going to stalk your main character. ​Using this method, you can write a whole book with just a character. I'm a visual person, and this is perfect for anyone of the same mind.

It works like a concept map. In the center of your board or wall, put your character's name and--if you have it--a picture of them. From here, wrap a string around the pin holding the name and stretch it over to a new section of the wall. More and more strings will span out from the central point and each branch will connect to an aspect of your MC. 

Some different branches you could include are:

• physical characteristics (if you don't have a picture as a reference)
• motivation(s)/drive(s)
• hobbies
• likes/favorites
• dislikes
• pocket/purse contents (This is one of my favorites because it tells you what they can't go a day without.)
• occupation (job or school, etc.)
• most traumatic experience to date

This next set can lead into plotting if you branch from each one thoroughly, but the basics will be enough to further define your character:

• home and previous homes (where it is and what it looks/feels like)
• family members (Branch from each of these to details about them and their relationship with the MC.)
  
• friends (Branch from each of these in the same way you do with the family members; include how they met the MC.)
• enemy/villain/nemesis (This might be an actual person or some physical or mental challenge that is impeding your MC; think of it as the impetus of your plot.)

Obviously, add anything else you need to define your character.

You can draw out a timeline and map your whole novel using this method, stalking your MC through a specific timeframe. You can use stalking to get into the heads of your villain and secondary characters. Your walls will be covered and you probably won't want to have company over until you're done writing, but understanding these other players as their own protagonists will make your characters shine.

Try it and post some pictures! Happy stalking!

A writer sometimes gets wrapped up in his or her genre, but becoming a great writer means learning to push your skills. Poetry is a great way to build writing skills and if you practice it often enough, you'll see the effects in your prose.

Poetry is known for saying so much with so little. In prose, we can have a tendency to let our words run on until we find the description we want, but learning to be concise can make for a much tighter novel and more effective prose. The sensory details of poetry will help you build settings and scenes with short, evocative descriptions. Symbolism is crucial to poetry and can add an extra level to your prose when you learn to use it. Foreshadowing and creating emotional states can be done through objects or precise word choices. The symbolism and brevity of poetry will teach you to do things like that.

Read it or write it, but start putting poetry into your literary arsenal. Try working with specific forms like haiku, limerick, or sonnet. The confines of a structure will hone your language skills through challenge. You'll find yourself learning new words and bending old words into symbolic usage. For one month, write a poem a day. Let them be bad, but see how it changes your writing in general. 

When you're writing a memoir, it can be difficult to create scenes. Whether it be action or a conversation critical to your story, a strong setting builds the scene and gives you all the subtleties that make it feel real to readers. A simple way to get started is with the five senses. Write each sense down on a piece of paper and begin to picture the moment that you are trying to capture. 

What do you remember hearing in that moment? Think about the background noise as well as what was said.

What do you remember smelling in that moment? 

What do you remember seeing in that moment?

What do you remember tasting in that moment?

What do you remember feeling (as in touching) in that moment? Go ahead and approach this from an emotional stand point as well. Think about others' emotions in the scene as well as yours. Remember that people rarely experience just one emotion at a time.

Don't feel like you have to answer all of the sense questions (our memories may not collect everything), but try to. You might be surprised at what you remember. There's no need to use all the details created by this exercise in the actual scene, but they'll help you retell it in a livelier way that readers will appreciate. 

Fiction writers can use this as well to perk up the scenes that fall flat or to change those "tell" moments into "show" ones. Experience the scene through your characters' or narrator's eyes and answer the questions. Rewrite the scenes with your sensory notes and see what a difference it can make.