The other answer is: read. Reading is crucial to developing your writing. Read newspapers, novels, poetry, or memoir. Read in the genre that most interests you!
Take literature courses here at City Tech. The English Department regularly offers courses in Gothic Literature, Literature in Film, and literature and identity. Find information about those courses here: Literature at City Tech
While some of these may seem obvious, they are worth repeating as reading widely is crucial to improving and maintaining your writing practice:
- Read online literary journals such as Electric Literature, KR Online, Guernica, Smokelong Quarterly, Monkeybicycle, and Barrelhouse. There are so many more! These online sources offer many new voices trying out new material.
- Find online books at City Tech and CUNY’s wide library collections.
- Activate and use your City Tech New York Times subscription and find a section you like. Read the sports section. The news section. The movie section. The business and investing section. Read about city politics. Read about national and world politics. Read about education or health and wellness. All of these categories have their own section. Read what interests you every day for a while. Consistency is key to reading with the goal of becoming a better writer.
- Re-read the selections for this creative writing class on the OpenLab:
- Activate or re-activate your New York Public Library card and use it. The public library is offering a wider selection of e-books you can borrow for two weeks in addition to their shelved books. (I did this e-book resource several times during the pandemic. It works wonderfully!)
- Try not to get lost in visual media (video games, TV, movies, etc.). While these forms have their merits, to improve writing you need to read and think about the written word.
