Fast Tips to Enhance Your Writing
Writing intimidates many people, especially those who don’t write for a living or in a professional setting. But getting better at writing your thoughts and opinions isn’t as hard as it seems! With effort, focus, and some patience, anyone can become a better writer. If you’re interested in becoming one of the best writers around, take a look at these tips to improve your skills now!
Seek help with writing
There are many resources available to students who need help learning how to write properly. Tutoring services can provide one-on-one guidance from experienced teachers and professionals. These services usually specialize their skills on specific topics or academic levels so finding the right tutor for you is important! Tutors can assist with researching, outlining, editing or even proofreading papers. They’ll offer feedback on organization, grammar, punctuation, syntax and other areas of writing.
You could also try taking online classes that teach research techniques and strategies for paper writing. A lot of these courses provide interactive activities or video tutorials which will keep students engaged while working at their own pace.
Regardless of what kind of assistance you’re looking for there’s likely someone out there willing to lend a helping hand! Spend time researching all the options available to you until you find one that works best with your situation.
Learn the fundamentals
If you want to be able to have beautiful prose flowing from the tip of your fingers then it’s important that you understand some basic principles about writing first! You don’t necessarily have to earn an English degree from Harvard but at least know how to spell words correctly and use proper punctuation marks!
It may not be interesting but “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White has great information on proper grammar usage making it essential for every writer’s bookshelf.
Make daily writing a habit
The only way anyone gets better at something is if they practice. And I’m sorry but no helpful tips can give you fantastic writing right off the bat. It’s one of those things that will seem impossible at first but gets easier with time.
So if you’re trying to improve your writing and get better, do it every day until it becomes second nature. Even if nobody reads what you write.
Make daily reading a habit too
It doesn’t matter how much you practice your writing, if you don’t read often then there won’t be a lot of improvement. Plus, reading is cool! So why wouldn’t you want to?
If you want to be a better writer, you need to read more. It’s as simple as that. The more writing you consume, the better you’ll be able to spot good writing — and avoid repeating others’ mistakes.
Reading more also saves time: once we start writing, ideas flow much faster when we’ve recently been reading.
Find a writing partner
At any given company, odds are that there’s more than one person who wants to get better at writing. Though it might look like an individual sport, the best writers know when they need feedback on their projects.
Enlist someone else to proofread your work for errors before sending it off into the world. This accountability partner is also great for getting another set of eyes on your project and ensuring that you’re always moving forward.
Sign up for a workshop
The thought of signing up for a writers’ workshop probably sends shivers down your spine. But the benefits (and fun!) outweigh those few frightful moments.
It’s really not necessary to have an unfinished manuscript hidden away in order to attend a workshop these days with content marketing on the rise. You can go to many meetups or professional writing groups that don’t require bringing anything with you — just write something related to the topic at hand while you’re there, listen to feedback from the group, revise it later based on what resonates and repeat!
Study the writing you admire
We all have our favorite blogs or websites that we subscribe to because their content resonates with us — but do we ever think about why?
If not, take some time today: print out five blog posts that come from five different sources that you really enjoyed reading recently. Then grab a red pen (just like your old English teachers used) and highlight sections of each post that made it worth reading in your eyes. When finished do any common themes emerge from this exercise? If so what are they? Do things start quantifying and turning into lists that you like? Do they take one thing and relate it to another? The more you figure out about what makes writing good in your eyes, the better you’ll be at incorporating those elements into your own work.
Learn from the best
Copying someone else’s work is plagiarism. Don’t do it. But figuring out what you love about your favorite blogs/writers — and seeing if there’s anything that you can replicate in your own work — is simply learning.
Do they use humor? Do they make current references? Both? See if incorporating some of their style helps improve your writing skills — but never steal their ideas.
