How much should you write to be a writer with a distinctive style?

[Tobeornotobe]

I have been practicing to write everyday by writing for fifteen minutes without a break. I have been doing it for a while, but I don't feel like my writing has improved much. I have always wanted to be an articulate and precise writer.

I guess my curiosity lies on you all - the aspiring writers who might breed books with true literary values. How do you all "practice" writing? Is there any particular routine for you all that can be shared here?

[hannah_arendt]

I try to write as much as I can. However many times things I write are not very ambitious.

[cafolini]

What you see on these forums is representative of my writing in general. One ID, no fake posing, direct and didactic.

[Steven Hunley]

I depends on how you're practicing. If each 'practice' is a different writing prompt or something, and they're disjointed, it may mean nothing.

Better to envision a story you'd like to tell. Don't worry about the complexity, but keep it simple at first. Start to write the story. Don't time yourself and don't concern yourself unduly about the length. Just start. When you run out of ideas, or hit the end of the story, then stop. Put it down. Sleep on it. Take it up the next day and give it a look. Before it looked golden, now it looks 'not so hot' revise it, improve it, embellish it, and move on in this fashion until you get to the end.

You've already conceived it. Now read it. Does it fulfill your expectations? Does it say it the way you intended? If not revise it some more. Having said that everyone works differently, and those, now that I've mentioned one method, will probably respond and let you in on the way they do it. Good luck and good writing.