Five ideas to make you a better writer.

Write what you know

It's so much easier when you write about things you know — or things you find interesting or enjoyable.

Play with words

When you are playing with building blocks (Lego or K'nex, say), you take all these individual blocks and put them together to make something. The same blocks can be put together in different ways to make different things. Writing is like that. The 'blocks' you are playing with are words. You can take the same group of words and put them together in different ways to make different sentences and tell different stories. Have fun and enjoy!

Write often

If you want to become better at playing the guitar or the piano, you need to practise. If you want to become better at basketball, or swimming, you need to practise. It's the same with writing. If you want to become a better writer, you need to write, write, and write again. The more you write, the better you'll get at writing.

Write quickly

When you first start writing a story, get the ideas from your head down onto paper or onto the screen as fast as you can. Write while you are feeling excited about the story. When you are writing your first draft, don't worry about mistakes — spelling, grammar, all of that. When you have finished the first draft, you can go back and check for mistakes and fix them. What's most important is that you get your ideas down while they are fresh, you are excited about them, and you know where you want your story to go.

Get help

Ask your teacher, a parent, or someone you know who enjoys writing how you can make your writing better. It's a great idea to listen to, and learn from, others.