In the past, I’ve written about finding ways to constantly practice and improve your writing.
A big part of development as a writer is choosing different forms of writing to challenge yourself and expand your skills.
If you’re a blogger, you’ll improve your writing just by posting regularly on your blog or by updating old blog posts.
However, it’s important to stretch yourself and continue to find different forms to practice your skills whenever you can. This might mean trying out fiction writing for a few days, or even challenging yourself to writing a poem every once in a while!
In this blog post, I want to discuss 6 different, unique forms of writing that can help you push yourself on a regular basis, finding new ways to improve your skills as you develop as a writer, blogger or creator.
Read about 6 different forms to practice your writing whenever you need a challenge!
1. Fiction
If you regularly write for your blog, fiction writing is a completely different format for you to try out. Fiction gives you the chance to practice your writing, and it feels great when you hit your flow.
You could just write snippets of fiction on your blog whenever you need to challenge yourself, or you could even work towards a book idea.
Unless you’re an author, it’s unlikely that you’ll spend your time writing fiction.
This is a great way to develop your skills as a writer, especially as it is so different from any other kind of writing format.
2. Poetry
I’ll be honest, I find poetry difficult! I love to read poems by authors such as Sylvia Plath, but when it comes to writing my own, I haven’t put pen to paper for years.
Poetry is a very tough writing format- and that’s why it’s a great choice if you need to challenge yourself to try out your skills.
Poetry isn’t just about sonnets or the traditional poems we might have learned in school. There are so many different kinds of poetry- so get exploring and practising your skills!
3. Diary
You can practice your writing by simply writing a little bit each day- and a diary is the perfect way to do that!
A diary can help you make yourself sit down and write everyday, even if it’s just about your day.
This form of writing also gives you chance to reflect on your day, creating observations and thinking through any struggles as you journal.
5. Letter
I remember in school, we regularly had to write letters to fictional (or sometimes real) people, to practice our persuasive skills and letter writing etiquette.
However, letter writing is a great way to practice an old-fashioned, formal writing format- and it can get you thinking about different writing conventions. You could write a detailed letter to someone you love, or just write it to yourself!
6. Essay
An essay can really help to challenge your writing skills. An essay doesn’t have to be about an academic, complicated subject.
It could just be about a topic you enjoy researching or your thoughts on a book you love.
Writing an essay is a completely different skill to writing a short blog post or even an article. You need to understand how to research it, structure it and word it in the best way.
7. Opinion piece
Do you have a strong opinion on a certain topic? Why not write a little something about it!
An opinion piece gives you a chance to perfect your persuasive writing skills. You can understand how to properly form a solid argument and structure your writing so that it has the biggest impact on your audience.
If you’re looking to improve your writing, check out my blog writing ebook – newly updated!
Using different forms to practice and challenge your writing
Writing in different forms is one of the best ways to challenge yourself as a writer.
It gives you chance to try your hand at a unique format, understanding how to craft a piece of writing for different purposes, audiences and platforms.
Although I love to write blog posts and articles, it’s only by stretching yourself and thinking about new ways to express your skills that you can grow and develop as a writer.
Do you like to find new ways to challenge your writing? Do you enjoy practising your writing skills? What are your favourite forms of writing?
Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below 🙂
Happy reading x
Not-So-Modern Girl 
I write a lot, both at work and on my blog. I’ve never written fiction or poetry, though. Maybe I’ll give that a try!
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Me too! Yes, I’ve tried my hand at some fiction lately- purely for fun. I like the idea of trying different forms. Thank you for reading and commenting Michelle x
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These are good ways to practice writing. I now write fictions, blog posts, and journal.
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Thank you! That sounds great x
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I tend to write opinion pieces and poetry for my blog but I love the idea of exploring other forms of writing to try out (especially if it improves my overall skills). Thanks for these ideas!
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Thank you Molly, I hope you enjoy trying out different forms of writing 🙂
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I think the one next to Blog writing, which is what I do regularly, would have to be poetry because it’s something I have done before
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That sounds great 🙂
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It’s definitely a tough one!
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These are really good methods to improve your writing. I’d like to explore different writing methods to improve my own blog writing! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
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Thank you! I think practising different kinds of writing can improve your blog writing x
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Great ideas to practice writing and make it fun to write. Love challenging and would love to try these.
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Thank you! I hope you enjoy 🙂
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Great post! It’s definitely helpful to write in different ways – you never know, you might find something you’re REALLY good at and really enjoy that you hadn’t considered before. I’ve started writing two books over the last 6 years or so, one of them I actually got to about 80k words but I scrapped the whole thing, I don’t think Fiction is for me. I like writing poetry occasionally too.
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Yes that’s so true, it’s only by trying different things that you realise different skills and ideas 🙂 that makes sense!
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Great ideas!
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Thank you!
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Totally agree – writing Op-Eds and fiction can really strengthen your skills. Thanks for sharing!
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I think so too, they’re completely different skills to blog posts x
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I need to write more fiction as I have written way too much non-fiction recently. Thanks for prompting me.
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That sounds great Jamie!
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I enjoy writing in my journal but I definitely need to practise essays because I have applied for university. Thank you for sharing your tips!
Lauren x
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That’s amazing Lauren, congratulations! I’m sure you’ll get into the habit of writing them once you get started x
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I would love to give a shot to fiction, but my hands are so full right now I barely have time to even stop a second and write normal content! Might have to get a diary instead, I feel like that could be a very nice pre-bed time activity!
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That would be a lovely pre-bed activity 🙂 thank you for reading and commenting x
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These are some great suggestions. I used to love writing fiction pieces but just never seem to have the time these days.
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Me too! Thank you for reading and commenting Kelly x
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I generally try poetry, although I am not very good at it, it does help me get out of the rut. Mind mapping is another thing that has helped me in the past
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That sounds great! I’m sure you’re great 🙂 mind-mapping is such a great tip if you need to come up with new ideas for your writing x
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Really interesting post, Eleanor. I started my blog to see if I was any good at writing (it helped my in my freelance career) and I remember having to write a sonnet at university – wow, that was HARD!!!
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Great post. It makes me want to write something creative. I personally love letter writing!
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Thank you so much 🙂 yes, it’s a lovely art x
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I’m writing a lot more recently. I work in content marketing so the written word is at the forefront of what I do, especially with my apprenticeship assignments also. And that’s all without blogging. I am interested in trying my hand at some fiction writing though.
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I love writing too- and it’s definitely a big part of what I do! Thank you for sharing Chloe, I hope you enjoy all the different forms you try out x
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Great post! Apart from blogging, I also journal, but I’d like to try some of these ideas too. Thanks for sharing!
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That’s a great idea! Blogging can really help to develop your writing x
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