Dear Geist,
I have been reading fiction since I was young, and I like to write. However, my writing so far consists of only emails. I might like to write a novel one day, but first I want to learn to write something quicker and shorter, such as articles about personal experience, how-to articles or a combination. How should I get going? Where can I learn to write a good article or personal essay?
—Keith Chen, BC
Dear Keith,
Your writing instincts are good—you are a reader, and you know that you should start small. So you might write something short—say 250 words. For fiction, try a short story, perhaps about a strange person or an intriguing news photo. For personal essay, write a 250-word account of something that happened to you as a child. You may get ideas and/or connect with other writers by checking out books and websites about writing: A Passion for Narrative by Jack Hodgins, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, Brain Pickings, Figment and many more. Three things to do at all stages of your writing life: 1) read everything, especially writing that you admire; 2) keep a journal; 3) hang around with other writers—join or start a writers’ group, enroll in a course, go to conferences and public readings, etc.
—Editors
