Over the years, I've received many pieces of advice to guide my writing. A few of the best are simple, such as "keep writing." If someone wants to be a writer, then he or she must keep writing. Many writers set a goal to write a little each day. That is not always possible, but it's a good habit that one should try to perfect. When an individual tries a physical or mental exercise, such as dancing or memorizing names, it's very likely he or she will execute the action with more ease and greater accuracy after periods of practice. The same, of course, applies to writing. The more a person writes, the more comfortable he or she may become with how he or she writes. For example, a writer practicing his or her craft every day may find that he or she is using a book of grammar guidelines less and less as the weeks pass.
Some people may respond to this recommendation, asking, "Okay, but how do I practice or where do I start?" There are various answers to that, but I usually suggest two methods to aspiring writers. The first is setting up a system of completing and revising one or more manuscripts. Everyone writes at different paces where one person can write ten pages in a day and another can write forty. A crucial part of this method is setting a daily goal and sticking to it. Occasionally, a writer will go beyond his or her goal of pages or even change the amount. Once a manuscript is complete, one should revise it however many times is necessary until he or she is happy with it. However, I personally think it's best to not stop writing, even if that means writing for an hour and editing for two hours each day. This may not work for everyone, but I always juggle several stories at once. By doing so, I have a manuscript to work on when I need a break from another.
The second method is writing exercises. There are so many books out there that offer different types of these activities. Writing in response to given scenarios is a common one, such as, "Imagine your cat is jumping from one piece of furniture to the next, finally settling on the top of a very high bookshelf—write about it." One can describe the furniture and even the items on the bookshelf, going into the details of how the pieces look and react to each movement the cat makes. (It's almost as if they are secondary characters.) Most importantly, since the cat is the main character, the reader should know more about the cat. Perhaps the cat is overweight and struggles with this adventure, or the cat almost fell but saved itself by digging its claws into an armchair the narrator inherited from a distant relative. There are many directions an individual can go with such a basic and silly scene. One point to realize is that the stories or poems that come from the exercises don't have to be great. A story about the cat can be the start of a completely different tale or it can be a way of practicing narration. The hopeful result of the exercises, no matter what kind of activities they are, is that the writer produces solid pieces and edits with a sharper eye.