There are a few writing Discord servers I’m active on. As you’d expect, they attract a decent flow of novice writers, looking for advice.
Many of their questions start with “How do I…”
How do I write better dialogue?
How do I make this scene land?
How do I hook readers in chapter one?
The answer isn’t magic. It isn’t even glamorous. It’s this:
You do the work.
The work looks like this:
- Write it as well as you can. Get it on the page. Even if it’s messy, even if it feels wrong, you can’t improve what doesn’t exist.
- Figure out what’s not working. Read it back with an honest eye. Where does it fall flat? Where did you lose interest? Better yet, ask a trusted reader where they felt confused, bored, or unconvinced.
- Fix it. Edit the weak spots. Rewrite the bad ones. Change the dialogue, move the scene, cut the part that drags. Whatever it takes, do it.
- Repeat. This isn’t a one-and-done process. You’ll do this as many times as necessary. Every pass should bring it closer to the story you meant to write.
Why This Matters
A lot of writers get stuck waiting for someone to give them the right tip, the perfect answer that will fix their story instantly. That doesn’t exist.
There is no perfect answer that doesn’t come from you, in your voice, telling the story that you can see in your head.
The only way to learn how to write well is by writing, failing (flailing?), and fixing. Every “How do I…?” is really just another way of asking: How do I keep getting better? And the answer to that is the same for everyone—by doing the work.
Getting Help (The Right Way)
You don’t have to do it alone. Feedback helps—but only if you ask for it the right way.
Don’t throw an entire chapter at someone and say, “What do you think?” That gets you vague, polite answers.
Ask specific questions:
- “Did this scene feel tense enough?”
- “Was the pacing too slow here?”
- “Did this character’s choice make sense to you?”
Targeted questions lead to targeted answers. And those answers will show you what to fix next.
There’s no shortcut. No secret trick.
You write. You figure out what doesn’t work. You fix it.
That’s how you grow. That’s how you get good.