Study other writers

One of the most-oft repeated pieces of advice for writers wanting to improve is "Read."

For example, Evan Maloney of The Guardian newspaper recently blogged that reading improves vocabulary, books provide examples of how to write and they provide both inspiration and escape. I speak from personal experience when I caution against imbibing too much in the escape aspect... if you want to get any writing done.

While books will probably serve as examples for a while to come, publication of longer nonfiction stories faces more of a challenge
In this era of Twitter-length sound bites and decreasing attention spans and news holes, some worry that long-form writing, such as that found in Esquire, Vanity Fair and the Atlantic, will disappear. But feature stories still have their fans.
"Long-form journalism is definitely a dwindling culture – as the printed press goes online, there is less of a demand for it, and consequently, fewer people who remember the good old days...
My point – Mr Hersey – is that journalism, as well as fiction, can give readers the opportunity to live history – and not just witness it. That’s what feature writing is all about."

Three years ago (already?), John B. Saul posted to this blog, encouraging his writing students to read the Seven Best Stories of 75 Years of Esquire, because they were, obviously, some of the best examples of what to do.

Along those lines, I've recently come across this blog called Longreads that appears to be dedicated to long-form writing. In the past few weeks, Longreads blogger Mark Armstrong has been asking contributors - professional writers from different publications - to submit their recommendations for the five best stories of 2011. While I don't agree with some, the posts present a good cross-section, including blogs, of some of this year's work. Just a few more examples to learn from.