Level Up!

After a year of my Wii Fit telling me I'm a four star, fabulous, yoga expert, yesterday I took my first hour-and-a-half Vinyasa yoga class. Today, every muscle in my body hurts. I lagged so far behind the rest of the class, I was the obvious newbie. It turns out I'm not so fabulous after all. This is the painful process we writers recognize as levelling up.

If you're hearing a lot of praise about your writing, is it time to take it to the next level? Here are some things you can do to level up your writing:

-- Extend 45 minute writing sessions to 90 minutes
-- Take a class
-- Go on a writing retreat with instructors
-- Challenge your critique group to be tougher
-- Get an expert opinion
-- Start a story in a new genre or write in a different point of view, such as multiple points of view if you're used to writing a single point of view

It can be uncomfortable to level up. Just as my yoga workout has me nursing my sore arms, some of the leveling up I've done in my writing this year has had me nursing a sore ego. But it really works. I'll keep going to that yoga class and getting stronger. And I'll keep taking classes, working on extending my writing time, and trying out new ways of writing.

If you have any other ways to level up our writing, please share them with us. Thanks!

-- Kate