Comment by tmaly
I would like to improve:
1. storytelling, I think this is still a valuable skill.
2. improve my teaching skills and create better courses.
3. improve my writing skills.
I would like to improve:
1. storytelling, I think this is still a valuable skill.
2. improve my teaching skills and create better courses.
3. improve my writing skills.
I've started re-writing things I like, like passages from books, poems, or even comments. Perhaps too early to say whether it's been effective, but this is called "copywork" and was apparently a common part of education for writers and journalists in the past.
I've been doing it mostly in French since it doubles as language practice. For years I've been at an intermediate level (B2), where reading, writing, listening, and even speaking hasn't improved my skill at all. When you can glean anything (from context) and communicate anything (awkwardly), there's a lot less pressure for things to "stick". I think this is the main advantage kids have with their neuroplasticity, since it'll stick regardless.
So, I've wanted a deliberate way to practice the language that I'd actually stick to and truly learn from. Rewriting things I find interesting has been fun, and I can pick different sources each day: formal or informal, Canadian French or Metropolitan, literary or prose, etc. A variation on this is the "Scriptorium technique" [1], where instead of just copying while reading, you repeat a sentence out loud, then write it out while saying it out loud, and then repeat what you wrote and check it against the original. I like this.
Even for English, it should build up those neural pathways and help you write more like the writers you love, in theory.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo7_5CGcKek