We all spent less time being “out and about” this year. No complaints here. I spend a lot of time writing for a living, so the change in my life was not as drastic as others. I feel blessed in that regard.
But here comes 2021, vaccine and all. It still feels like a year of transition, as we feel safe enough to emerge from hibernation, and cautiously test the waters to see if a “return to normal” is still possible.
What have you learned in 2020 that can make you better prepared for the immediate future? And what will you do next? (pause while you think about it). I like to think that my best days as a writer are ahead of me. And if I want that statement to hold up, I need to do things that can actually make it possible.
My starting point is to get better at what I do. A good writer should master the technical part (grammar, punctuation, etc.) so he or she can turn that skill into memorable, reader-focused expression.
I plan to spend some time with “The Elements of Style” Workbook. It’s full of stuff like Rules of Usage, Elements of Composition, and Style Secrets, complete with do-it-yourself exercises to improve all of those things I also want to find some time to do some reading of master writers like Hemingway, David Ogilvy, Mark Twain, and others. Maybe some of their excellence will rub off. I do things beyond writing (project management for instance), and I will try to get better at them too. To enjoy life, live it as an ongoing quest for learning.
So, do you feel that you have learned all you can about what you do? (Ha!). I have shared a little about my plan of action to get better. What is yours?
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