Writing Skills

When I started my blog, I thought this would be a good way to sharpen my writing skills. It has been years and years since I sat in an English class, so many of my skills had sorta been pushed into a corner. Hopefully, this blog will help me to polish up those skills some.

For years, I had read books, a lot of books, and I thought I can do the same thing, but it is harder than I thought. Not so hard that I am discouraged, just hard enough to want me to improve my skills. Even when I read today, I do see mistakes that a proofer or an editor didn't pick up. That makes me realize that these writers are human.

One of our younger members of our critique group is helping me with some of my problems, such as commas. I seem to be having a lot of trouble with commas. Part of it is just plain neglect. When I am writing, I am writing so fast that I forget to put them in. Then, I don't see them when I proof my manuscript. This is all getting better, I think. I say that and then I get the next critiqued copy back, and it is really marked up. Better for a critique partner than an editor, is what I think.

Finding time is my biggest hindrance to writing right now. The pressures of my everyday life are tremendous at times. The only quiet time I have to work is after 10 p.m. By then I am too tired to think, much less write.