It may sound obvious. But for those of us who are a few years away from the years of daily schoolwork, or for students who want a refresher, it's important to know how to do your homework. Writers do homework too — in fact, their writing suffers if they haven't done it right. I want to talk today about how to do your writing homework.

Homework is about two main things: learning, and preparation. You've got to learn new concepts, but you've also got to prepare yourself to be doing the real work in the future, whether it's taking the math test or writing the story. Homework is like the stretching before the big run: it's essential warm-up to make your run the best it can be. And just like the marathon or the math test, creative writing benefits from a little stretching beforehand.

1. Do Your Research.

This is the most obvious form that homework takes when you're doing creative writing. Some stories require specialized information, and even not highly technical stories usually benefit from more detail. If you're writing a story that is set on a farm, for example, it's important that you know when planting season is and how the procedure of milking a cow happens. So before you start your next story, take a few notes on the setting, the street names, the procedures and shop talk of the world you intend to inhabit.

2. Don't Be Lazy

Homework discourages laziness in your work because it forces you get up and get moving, to be thinking, working, and asking questions of yourself. That's why writers have to do their homework. It may mean doing a writing exercise to keep yourself limber even when you don't have a story going. It might mean forcing yourself to write a little every day or at least look at what you've written and edit it a bit. If you're trying to get it published, it could be double-checking the editor's name and polishing up your cover letter. It means putting in the extra mile to make sure your story is as good as it can be, and that it's ready for showtime.

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