Experimentation seems to be working for George R.R. Martin, who has for decades been writing <a href="https://blog.reedsy.com/how-to-write-a-short-story/">short stories</a>, novellas and even reference books between instalments of his novel series <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0007477155?tag=reedwebs-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1">A Song of Ice and Fire</a>

Experiment to keep your style fresh

1. Actually write2. Watch out for repetition (and annihilate it)3. Weed out clichés4. Aim for clean, filler-free prose5. Read... a lot! In a wide range of genre6. Read again, with a pencil in hand7. Choose personal over formulaic8. Experiment to keep your style fresh9. Sharpen your opening and ending10. Never forget the big picture

How to Become a Better Writer [1/2]

11. Edit your writing, solo or with a professional12. Clarify and condense your meaning13. Consider your reader14. Study story structure and literary devices15. Sign up for a writing class or course17. Make friends with other writers18. Be persistent and consistent19. Stay humble20. Embrace failure and rejection

How to Become a Better Writer [2/2]

As you <a href="https://blog.reedsy.com/how-to-edit-a-book/">edit your work</a>, you’ll be thinking of what you intended to say at the time of writing.

Clarify and condense your meaning

“The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing; one comes to the country of the writer with one's papers and identification pretty much in order.”

Read: the literary equivalent of osmosis

Some serious benefits:<ul><li>You’ll get to know your own <a href="https://blog.reedsy.com/live/create-regular-writing-habit/">writing habits</a> better</li><li>You’ll develop writerly discipline</li><li>You’ll stick around long enough for new ideas to occur to you</li></ul>

Actually write

Learning about <a href="https://blog.reedsy.com/story-structure/">story structure</a> and the different models that dramatists and fiction writers rely on, like <a href="https://blog.reedsy.com/freytags-pyramid/">Freytag’s pyramid</a> or the classic <a href="https://blog.reedsy.com/three-act-structure/">three-act structure</a>, is valuable for any aspiring writer.

Study story structure and literary devices

Look closely at how the other writer avoids repetition and regulates sentence length, and become aware of all the words that could’ve gone into the sentence, but were trimmed out.

Read again, with a pencil in hand

Study your words on multiple levels:<ul><li>The lexical level, i.e. specific verbs, adverbs or adjectives you might be repeating (are your characters constantly grinning?);</li><li>The sentence structure level, like if all your examples come in threes;</li><li>The narrative structure level, like if you unwittingly but consistently lapse into new flashbacks.</li></ul>

Watch out for repetition (and annihilate it)

Want to know how to become a better writer? Check out our 20 essential tips and hacks.