Practical Ways to Practice Writing

Writing was never my favorite subject in School growing up. I didn’t hate it, but I never imagined I would enjoy it. Now, But as I have grown, I have found the power and pleasure writing brings. A question has always been in the back of my mind though: how does one become a good writer? What should you do to practice writing?

Others have made the crucial point that “writer’s write.” But if you are already writing, how do you become better at your craft? I was reading a secular book called “Grit” the other day, and part of a chapter gave me the answer I was looking for. Apparently, Benjamin Franklin devised a practical way to practice writing. I think his method is worth sharing.

How Ben Franklin became a better writer

Practice writing by “rewriting” the work of others

In his autobiography, Franklin described a simple but effective method he used to improve his writing. The first exercise he discussed had the following steps:

1. Find a piece of writing you admire (choose something small to medium length, like an essay)
2. Make short notes on each sentence
3. Wait a while, normally a day or two
4. Try to rewrite the original piece using only your notes
5. Compare your “rewrite” with the original to see where you can improve

This is a brilliant little method for improving your writing. Essentially, you use the writing of others to get instant feedback on your own writing. You begin to see all the choices writers have to make as they find words to describe reality or abstractions. Since most of us don’t have an English teacher at our beck and call to edit our writing, rewriting an essay and comparing it with the original is a useful way to see where you can improve as a writer.

If you want to try this, find an article on Desiring God that you enjoy and see if you can rewrite it. You will be amazed at the insight you get into your “writing style” simply by performing this exercise once.

Practice writing by analyzing the logic and structure

Getting feedback on your writing in general is not always enough. You must test your ability to string together logical arguments and test the way you structure papers. This second exercise is similar to the one above, with a few notable additions:

1. Find a piece of writing you admire (choose something small to medium length, like an essay)
2. Make short notes on each sentence. Put each sentence’s notes on a separate note card or sticky note
3. Wait about three days
4. Jumble up your note cards or sticky notes
5. Try to put them back in a logical order
6. Proceed to try to rewrite the piece you made notes on using only your notes
7. Compare your “rewrite” with the original to see where you can improve

As you can see, the process is almost identical to the first exercise except you mix up your notes. This added step forces you to think about how to organize your writing. It makes you think about the flow of a paper. Structure and logic are crucial to good writing, and this exercise makes you “reverse engineer” both of these from a paper.

I have written before about the need to analyze a Bible passage’s argument in your study. I also wrote a whole post on the many different ways you could structure a teaching or sermon. This exercise gives you practice structuring your thoughts. And clear thinking often leads to clear writing.

Practice writing by poetry

Finally, Franklin gave what I consider to be the most interesting exercise of all. The first exercise gave you instant writing feedback, the second forced you to think about logic and structure; this final exercise is about expanding your command of language itself. The process is shorter than the previous two exercises:

• Take a story (or some other form of prose) and write it as poetry
• Wait enough time to forget the original story
• Turn your poem back into narrative form
• Compare with the original

I love this: you write poetry based on non-poems. How does this help you? Poetry is full of metaphor, imagery, and language meant to engage your five senses. In order to turn a non-poem into a poem, you must use all of these tools and ask yourself “If this event/line/concept was a poem, what would it say? How can I use sensory language to describe the same things going on in this non-poem?”

Interestingly, this is something the Bible does all the time. After the Red Sea crossing, for example, you read an extended poem responding to and interpreting the previous event. The Bible uses poetry and narrative oftentimes to describe the exact same event. Even if you never become “a poet”, this exercise improves your writing by forcing you to think “poetically.”

What if you don’t have time?

That is how Benjamin Franklin improved his writing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always have extra time to spare doing extra exercises to practice my writing. Thankfully, Christians can perform these exercises as they do their normal spiritual disciplines.

Write a teaching based on a passage of Scripture

The first exercise is the easiest to do:

1. Read a passage of Scripture
2. Take notes as you study
3. A couple days later, write a brief teaching based on that passage from your notes only
4. Compare it with the original passage to see anything you missed

One of the reasons I have ongoing teaching series on this website is to force myself to perform Franklin’s first exercise. Bible study is vital for every Christian, but a lot of benefit comes from writing out what you studied in the form of a teaching. After you finish your study, ask yourself “how would I communicate these truths to others?”

There are always opportunities to teach and share truth with others. You don’t have to be a pastor or a Sunday School teacher. Share truth in your home, in your small groups. The process of writing out what you learned from a Bible study will not only cause you to remember God’s truth better and longer, it will also improve your writing.

Outline a passage or a sermon you listened to

Similarly, you can get the benefits of Franklin’s second exercise simply from outlining. Outlining forces you to think how a passage or a sermon is structured. Here is how to do it:

1. Read a passage of Scripture or listen to a sermon
2. Take notes on the structure of the passage or sermon in outline form
3. Leave and come back to the same passage you read or heard preached a couple days later
4. Make a second outline and compare it with the first

Outlining is one of many important Bible study tools. When I prepare a sermon, outlining is the first thing I do. You have to understand the structure and logic and flow of a passage first. But an added benefit is outlining makes you a better writer.

I don’t bother writing anything on this website without first having a clear structure and flow in my mind. Sometimes I change it as I write, but if you don’t have a plan going in, it becomes hard to get anything on the page.

Write hymns and spiritual songs based on Scripture

Franklin’s third writing exercise is actually the easiest for a Christian. You and I are called to “sing unto the Lord a new song.” In my experience, the best songs are those tied closely to Scripture. So, follow these steps:

1. Find a passage of Scripture which grips you
2. Turn that passage of Scripture into a hymn

You don’t need to necessarily share this song you wrote with the whole Church. But you can. God is worthy of infinite worship, so you can never have enough songs to sing to Him. Write a new one, a personal one to Him. Base it off the promises in His word. And you will also find your writing and use of language will improve as you do this.

Conclusion

Writing is rarely easy, but I have found it is always rewarding. It is an avenue of creativity the Lord gave humans as a means to externalize their thoughts and feelings and reflections. God chose to reveal Himself most directly through the written word. Christians should value and seek to develop writing and reading as skills. There are many ways to do this, but I hope the practical tips Franklin used can be useful for your own life as well.

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