What's the cheapest way to become a better writer?

Good news!  Becoming a better writer is not only cheap, it's free!  

Sure, you could pay $700 for an online writing course.  You'd undoubtedly learn some valuable tidbits from the teacher/editor to whom you've bequeathed the equivalent of half a mortgage payment (or 281 boxes of frosted strawberry Pop Tarts; however you choose to frame it.)

Or, you could join Critique Circle .  I did.  In just one short month, I've learned how to structure stories and polish my writing so it has a higher chance of appealing to others.  I've learned how to evaluate others' writing based on all the important factors: hook, POV, setting, dialogue, plot, and so on.  No, I haven't achieved Dean Koontz status yet.

Even the cat loves Dean!

But it turns out that, by reading and critiquing the work of others, you can learn a lot about the flaws in your own writing.

Of course, the critiques I've received from CC members on my own works have been immensely helpful.  But honestly, the most valuable skill I've picked up since joining Critique Circle is the (still-developing) ability to scrutinize a piece of writing, tear it down, and creatively brainstorm new ways to build it back up.

So enough of this blogging thing.  Back to critiquecircle.com

for more free writing lessons!

On Writing and Death

I've been reading this fabulous book called The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes and it's been an inspirational boon to my current writing projects.   But I can't help notice that the author, Jack Bickham, makes several dark references to a writer's mortality.  If you want to be a published writer of fiction and you don't buckle down, dig in, and learn the tricks of the trade, you are very likely to die unpublished.  And that's what it all comes down to, isn't it?  How many books can I publish before I die? 

Will it be one? 

Will it be ten? 

Will it be none? 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who grapples with this issue from time to time.  Or, shall I say, all of the time.

I'm up way too late.  Good night.

 Who am I, and what am I doing on your screen?

My name is Melissa Nott, and I've created this blog to help chronicle my growth as a writer of fiction.

As an intensely private person, this blog-writing thing feels very foreign to me.  But stay tuned; maybe I'll snap out of it.