Improving writing skills -10 useful tips you need to improve quality of your writing

Improving writing skills -10 useful tips you need to improve quality of your writing

The subtle art of writing is one which ought to be adopted and used by virtually all individuals in all works of life. This is so because it is required or demanded from everyone at one point in time in their lives or another. If you are not creating a blog post, it could be academic writings, cover letters or business emails.

Courtesy demands any form of written articles or posts ought to be free from bias and written perfectly. Hence, one can comfortably say that the skill of producing well-written articles or objects of any kind ought to be mastered by everyone. The aim of this article is to provide 10 useful tips for improving writing skills.

1. MAKE READING A HOBBY

This might seem like the worst first tip to give because the large bulk of the population would rather do every other thing than sit down and read a book. However, it should be noted that this attribute will save you a lot of stress in the future years to come; let me tell you why. When you read a book regularly, no matter how small, your brain tends to grasp certain words and even how certain sentence structures are composed in a book.

Hence, the day you decide to use a pen to write down your own words, the writing will flow better. You will find yourself writing down words you thought you did not know and organizing sentences better thereby improving your writing skills. This will be so because, at one point in time or another, you fed these words and sentences to your brain, and now it is giving you back in a different form and through different means.

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It is just like the phrase ‘garbage in, garbage out’. If you feed your brain good words, it will give it back to you better when you are penning down words. If you don’t like to read big books or boring stuff, you could try out short stories or magazines that suit your taste first, then try to go further from there.

1. SET WRITING GOALS

Depending on the nature of your work and how important writing is to you at that point in your life, you can decide within yourself to write a specific amount of words per day. These words which you would write down daily do not have to be perfect or spotless at one go; anyhow it is, just try to reach your designated word limit daily.

The essence of setting writing goals is to adopt a form of writing practice which will only get better depending on the efforts you would put into it and how far you take these goals.

1. GET INSPIRED BY THE THINGS YOU READ AND SEE

Before settling down to commence a piece, you can perform either one or both of the following rituals:

• Take a long walk and observe your surroundings; try to figure out if the happenings around you relate in one way or another to that particular object which you want to write about. Think of the best way to put these happenings into words.
• If you do not have the strength or motivation to take a walk, pick up your phone, research and read about things relating to the topic which you intend to write about.

If this becomes a constant habit, you will always find something to write about and even how to write it down.

1. ALWAYS HAVE A NOTEBOOK AND A PEN STACKED IN YOUR BAG.

This writing tip screams loudly at story writers and/or aspiring authors. It also relates to the fore mentioned tip in a way. Sometimes, you will find yourself in an environment which will be oozing with inspiration and ideas for no particular reason. Instead of allowing the idea to die down, pick out a notebook and a pen and write down the idea as incorrectly as it is placed in your brain.

Later you can decide to go through the notebook containing these ideas, sieve out the incorrect words or phrases and correct them. Hence, the essence of always having a notebook and a pen stacked in your bag is to keep writing down the ideas as they come.

1. ALWAYS COMMENCE A PIECE WITH AN OUTLINE

An outline can be defined as a rough sketch or table of contents containing all the headings and sub-headings which will be highlighted or detailed in a written piece. In other words, it can be defined as a form of writing compass telling you when, where and how to pen down specific things in a writing piece.

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The essence of an outline is to save you the stress of starting and stopping your piece from doing more research. Once you have an outline written down, you can just follow it and flow with it. An outline can also help you to organize your written piece better.

1. WRITE THE WAY YOU TALK FIRST

Most people think that all forms of writing require the use of big and unnecessary words in order for them to look important or have more value. Hence, before they start to write, they go on a voyage for big words that they can pen down in their piece. It should be noted; however, that reverse is the case; if a piece is packed with big words, a lot of people will get discouraged in the first sentence.

Instead of focusing more on the use of ambiguous words in your piece, just try to write the way you speak English on a regular basis with the use of regular words and just flow freely from there; the words do not have to be well-mannered or structured at first. Remember the motto is to write first, then edit later.

1. BE A STORYTELLER

This tip relates to the fore mentioned tip in a way and from its own different angle. Instead of focusing so much on the use of big words, try to focus better on the description of specific objects or items. Similarly, you can write down first, in the most informal way, the story regarding how certain things came to be and why. Try to make history in the form of a story. Human beings are more attracted to stories than unnecessary seriousness.

1. READ YOUR PIECE OUT LOUD

This might make you seem like a crazy person while you are at it, but it is the best way to self-edit a piece. If you read a piece out loud, it will make the piece easier to understand and comprehend. That way, it will make it easier for you to spot misspelt words or disorganized sentences. Before doing this, however, make sure that you have written to a reasonable extent.

1. TAKE REGULAR BREAKS WHILE WRITING

Writing, just like every other thing which is done in life, ought to be enjoyed. In other words, the best writing results are produced when the piece being written is enjoyed and relished by the writer. On this note, try not to be in a hurry to finish a piece; try to enjoy what you are doing; that way, you will flow better. If you get sleepy or tired during the course of writing, pause the act, rest or do something else and come back later with fresh eyes.

If you are working with a deadline, try to associate writing with something fun like maybe subtle music and a comfortable environment so that you can flow better. Similarly and depending on how fast you write, you can begin the piece early and take regular breaks constantly.

1. KEEP A LIST OF THE WRITING MISTAKES YOU MAKE CONSTANTLY

There is no writer that emerged fully made, even though they enjoyed writing or were good storytellers from the first day, there were writing mistakes which they struggled with too till it was perfected. On this note, writers are advised to keep a list of all the mistakes that they struggle with and try to perfect them as time goes on.