5 Fun Ways to Improve Your Writing

Writers should have more fun. We're so serious all the time, sending queries, reading literary masterpieces, analyzing misplaced modifiers, it's enough to make anyone we live with go crazy (sorry, Husband!)–not to mention ourselves.

My best writing happens when I stop working and start playing. Here are a few ways I've had fun with writing that I recommend.

One. Take singing lessons. People used to ask me, “what are you going to do, sing your jingles?” It was a fair question since I was a double major in both music and advertising at the University of Illinois. But now I know this: learning to sing is great training for being a writer. You learn to listen to words. You sing poetry. And you learn to explore the rhythm of many languages, including English. And yes, sometimes you even end up singing jingles. In German.

Two. Take a copywriting class. Attending a school like the VCU Brandcenter as a copywriter is a great alternative to an MFA. You’ll learn how to create more ideas than you ever thought possible, how to come back with 50 more after they’re ripped apart in your face, and how to say the most in the least amount of words. And at the end of the program, you’ll even be employable.

Three. Live abroad. According to a professor at INSEAD, living abroad makes us more creative. You’ll solve problems in new ways, fill in the blanks of conversations, and see yourself and your home country with a new perspective. If you want to combine living abroad with learning copywriting, check out the Miami Ad School. They have locations all over the world.

Four. Read. Nothing said more fun to me as a child than those crinkly tissue paper book order forms. And bonus! Reading really is one of the best ways to improve your writing. And don’t just stick to one kind of book—read them all—travel guidebooks, literary magazines, trashy magazines, novels, tax forms, memoirs—you never know what’s going to inspire or what you’ll want to make fun of in an essay later.

Five. Practice. Like learning an instrument, like playing a sport, you don’t get better at writing without practicing. But practicing doesn't have to suck. If it does, you're practicing the wrong way. Find what is fun: keep a blog, keep a journal, volunteer to write for the local newspaper, write postcards, it's all writing. And do it every day—even when it doesn’t seem to matter, even when every editor seems to be ignoring you, even when you feel like giving up. Don’t. Just figure out a way to play instead of work.

How do you make writing fun?