As an author, you should always work to improve your writing abilities. The better you’re able to relay a story, the more attention your books will get. That is, as long as you put in the effort to market them. Nonetheless, as the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.”
The Internet is full of ways you can work to improve your writing potential. Just keep in mind that it’s not going to be something that happens overnight.
Still, any effort you put into improvement is always going to be worthwhile, even if no one reads the story.
How to Improve Your Writing as an Author
Today, we’re going a bit further than just working on spelling and grammar. Those elements are a given whether you’re a self-publishing author or a blogger, and they don’t really need to be on a list.
Instead, we’ll focus on practical implementation and methods you can use right now to strengthen your abilities.
So, what can you do to improve your writing prowess as an author?
1. Writing Short Stories
Short stories, even if you don’t plan to publish them, are great for practicing writing. It gives you a chance to flex the creative muscle a bit while also giving you an opportunity to try new things.
For example, what if you start off as a horror author but are curious as to how you’d fare diving into sci-fi? Writing a short story lets you delve into topics and genres that are uncommon in your toolbox.
The best part is that it wouldn’t take much to turn a collection of shorts into an anthology. Your small side stories could wind up in their own book or as part of a collection of multiple authors.
2. Publishing On Free Sites
There are a number of places where you can publish stories for free. I use them as more of a marketing tool, expanding my audience. The reason I suggest doing this is because of the feedback you get from readers.
Not everyone is going to troll what you write, and you’d be amazed by how many will offer some insights to help you become better. Sure, it’s nice to get compliments on your writing, but never underestimate the power of constructive criticism.
I use Wattpad and Inkitt and plan to do more with the accounts in the coming months. But there are a number of publishing sites you can use that may yield similar results.
Medium, Vocal, Hubpages, FanFiction.net, Archive of Our Own, and more are just waiting for your stories. Think of these places as dry runs to help you improve your writing skills as an author.
3. Using Writing Prompts
A great way to practice writing is using writing prompts. This is when you use a generator of sorts to give you the outline of a story, and you essentially fill in the blanks. They can be a lot of fun while also testing your mettle as a wordsmith.
You can use these writing prompts to drive the short stories I mentioned a moment ago or entire books. You don’t even have to publish them. The point is to get the creative juices flowing while practicing writing.
One of my favorites is the Reedsy Plot Generator. But there are a number of them online with varying degrees of how they work. Find the best plot generator for your needs and go to town.
Sometimes, people on social media will post one or two-word writing prompts as well.
Whatever method you choose, it’s always worth your time to exercise your creativity. As before, you could even turn all of the short stories from writing prompts into an anthology and share it on something like Wattpad or Webnovel.
4. Writing Fan Fiction
Fan fiction can not only be a lot of fun, but it can also give you the chance to practice some writing. The best part is that the world is already built for you. All you’re doing is creating an expansion of something readily available.
You don’t have to write from a main character’s perspective, either. For example, I have a story from the perspective of a new character in the Fallout universe. I’ve also dabbled a bit with Star Trek, again, with characters I created myself.
Where can you publish fan fiction? There are a lot of sites, really. I already mentioned a few, such as Wattpad, Inkitt, and Archive of Our Own. But as long as you’re not trying to publish it as an actual book on Amazon or otherwise make money directly from the story, you don’t have to worry about copyright infringement.
Stay true to the source material, and you might collect quite a few fans of the piece, building your community in the process.
5. Using Beta Readers
Beta readers can do wonders for helping an author improve his or her writing. These folks will give you insights into the characters, plot, and structure of the piece without trolling. Their purpose is to help you craft the best story possible.
Now, you don’t need to implement everything beta readers point out. But they are often exceptionally helpful when it comes to understanding the book as a whole and what works best for the storyline.
Take Kingmaker, for example. My first dark fantasy would have been much different if not for my beta readers. One character in particular was completely rewritten for the better. And I added quite a few elements throughout the book to flesh out the story.
The bottom line is that beta readers are extremely useful in helping you improve the crafting of your tales.
6. Practicing On Your Own
When I started my writing career, I wrote a lot of articles for myself to help practice everything I learned through research. I wrote several different styles that were the most common for clients on Textbroker, ranging from product reviews to copywriting. These never saw the light of day.
The idea was to simply practice when I wasn’t directly working with a client. It’s one of the things that helped me become such a success while working with content mills.
Nowadays, I don’t practice on my own as much as I usually publish on blogs or free platforms. But in the beginning, I practiced almost every day, writing as if someone had hired me for a project.
7. Researching Google and YouTube
I built the foundation of my career through search engines. Google and YouTube were instrumental in helping me improve my writing skills, not just as a blogger but as an author.
Never assume that you know enough to get by. I hate the saying, “Fake it until you make it.” I’d rather learn and develop myself from the get-go. Thus, I am an avid supporter of knowledge in any form.
Although Google and YouTube were exceptionally helpful, the information offered by proper educational methods is far superior.
8. Taking Online Courses or College Credits
I love my book, Kingmaker. But after taking the Reedsy masterclass for How to Write a Novel, you can easily tell the difference in style and delivery. Shadows of Atlantic City is easily the best book I’ve written so far, thanks to that masterclass.
Now that I am working toward my master’s in creative writing, I can only assume the next books are going to be even better.
The reason why I push online courses and college classes is because they are focused on teaching specifics. Plus, they’ll often show you things you wouldn’t have thought to Google or look up on YouTube.
Never underestimate the value of learning your craft. There could be all kinds of nuances that you’re missing that may impact the success of your book.
9. Studying the Writing of Others
You should always read more than you write. By studying the works of other authors, you can get an idea of what kinds of things you can do with your own style. Now, you shouldn’t outright copy someone’s technique, but analyzing how he or she put it together may influence your writing.
Of course, this works better when you’re reading for style instead of getting engrossed in a story. I suggest reading the book first to appreciate the tale and then re-read it while taking notes on how certain sections, characters, plots, and whatnots were developed.
What did you like about the story? What didn’t you like? Were the characters believable? What would you have done differently to make the story better?
Something else that you might want to consider is reading works that are in a different genre than your own. Getting an idea of how authors write across a spectrum of topics can open all kinds of doors for how you write your book.
You Won’t Be Everyone’s Favorite
Perhaps one of the most important things to remember about being an author is that you’re not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. You can’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time. Some are going to hate for the sake of hating.
In other words, you need to develop a bit of a thick skin, especially in the beginning.
I’ve seen all kinds of new authors act like someone ran over their cat because of a negative review. It’s going to happen regardless of how perfect you structure your story. No one writes a book loved by all.
With that being said, you might not be everyone’s favorite, but you will be someone’s. And that’s what matters at the end of the day. As long as one person appreciates your work, that should be reason enough to keep sharing your stories.
I can count on one hand how many books I’ve sold in the first few months of 2025. That’s because I don’t do a lot of marketing. But those who have read it and commented loved the story. It’s those people for whom I’m writing today.
My point is that, as an author, you can do a lot to improve your writing. But don’t expect everyone to deliver fawning reviews. Remember, some people are going to hate the book because of the font style you used.
People are exceptionally anal and picky at times. Keep working on your craft and producing the best work you can.
How Often Do You Write?
I get sidetracked a lot, given how much I try to accommodate every day. I don’t get to write in my books as much as I’d like, but I still get to do a lot of fun stuff when it comes to story development or marketing plans.
But at least I continue to try to eke in as much as I can here and there.
Life happens, and you can’t let it completely derail your efforts. Keep putting in the work to improve your writing as an author, and your fans and followers will notice.
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