Perfect Practice

There is a classic saying, "practice makes perfect." It's a nice saying, but it's not quite that simple. The reality is that you do what you train to do. Practice only makes perfect if you are practicing perfectly.

That means that you should always have a goal. Writing for the sake of writing is good. It's like warming up your body. But warming up doesn't make you good at anything but warming up. You can focus on a single, specific goal, like avoiding passive voice, or you can focus on a larger goal, like making characters feel realistic.

I bring this up because it is so easy to tell people to just write anything. I've done it and almost any writing book will tell you the same. But that advice is only useful to get over the fear of writing. It will make you a writer, but it will not make you a good writer. That's why you always have a goal.

Remember, perfect practice makes perfect.