Category Archives for What I Learned From

What Studying a Second Language Taught Me About Writing

It can be difficult enough to find ample time to write between work, chores, exercise, and a million other little things that take up my day. Studying a second language on top of all these things only makes it more difficult.

For a little background, I moved from the U.K. to Finland in 2014 so my husband could study for a master’s degree in his home country. Since then, I have been studying the Finnish language on a near-daily basis in hopes of eventually gaining citizenship.

My only previous experience with foreign languages is obligatory French classes in school over 10 years ago, so it has been a real challenge to take on one of the more difficult European languages. I once heard somebody describe Finnish as “drunken elvish,” which is an accurate description. For instance, the Finnish phrase for “goodnight” is “hyvää yö,” which is pronounced as “hoover ooh-oh,” and difficult for me to get out.

Being a professional writer has only made it harder, since the English language is such an important part of my job. It can be incredibly jarring to go from writing in English to learning how an entirely different language works.

Although my studies have reduced the amount of time I would ideally like to spend writing each day, and it is a challenge to try and perfect two entirely different languages at the same time, in some ways it has been a surprising benefit to my writing. I’ve also noticed that many of the rules of language learning can also be applied to writing.

What I Learned About My Own Writing From Writing Reviews

Review. Criticism. Feedback. Three words that scare many writers. It’s arguably human nature to feel alarmed when someone points out mistakes and shortcomings. Most of us learn to cope with criticism.

But how many authors realize that writing a review can actually help their own writing?

I have worked with countless reviews as a writer-reader—the two are a bit like the concept of space-time; two facets of the same underlying reality. In other words, I have written reviews for others, and I have read reviews written by other authors.

As a result, I have realized that writing reviews can be an enlightening experience.

What Writers Can Learn From Writing Poetry

Poetry seems to be one of those things that you either love or hate.

Were you the kid making begrudging rhymes in your high school English class, or the one putting their heart and soul into every cheesy metaphor? Either way, you turned out to be a writer, which means you have something to learn from revisiting poetry.

Here at Craft Your Content, Amanda Stein has already explored how reading poetry benefits writers, but what about writing poetry?

Attempted by few since their student days, writing poetry is a creative, fun method of boosting your writing skills in ways that you might not expect. Whether you are used to writing no-nonsense copy, chatty blogs, or high-fantasy novels, consider making poetry part of your writing practice. Let’s take a look at what writing poetry can do for you.

What Fiction and Nonfiction Writers Can Learn From Each Other

As a kid, I loved writing fiction—long, rambling, imaginative stories that didn’t have much structure. So when I took freshman comp in college, I got a rude awakening. An essay? With a beginning, middle, and end? Where I had to stick to the facts? I was in over my head.