Let’s face it, writing is not everybody’s strong suit. If you are not a wordsmith, here are some tips to help you become one. Start with a clean, well-organized file that contains all the information you need to write in a clear and concise manner. Then add your thoughts by making notes in your word processor or use other tools like sticky notes and index cards to provide visual cues for organizing your thoughts.
There are many ways to improve your writing skills. Many books can help you become a better writer, but we wanted to offer a simple approach that will help you understand the fundamentals of how and why writing works. Here’s how we did it.
1. Make Writing a Daily Exercise
Need to improve your English writing? Make it routine. Don’t allow yourself the time necessary to sit down and write every day, but try making a commitment at least once in three days or even more often if you can; without fail. Whenever there is space on a schedule preventing you from getting up-to-date with your lessons, find another moment during the day where you will be allowed some uninterrupted free time and get things done asap. You’ll be surprised how much you can get done without professional help when your goals align with yours personally and also they serve some other important objective that is in line with what matter to you most.
2. Read, Read, and Read Some More!
It’s time to take on some new books that speak your language! Reading is the best way to increase confidence and make yourself an expert in a topic you love. Your goal should be finding at least one or two good novels or professional magazines for each category of English, so you can keep track of grammatical rules, funny anecdotes and quotes to entertain yourself with while reading passages over different notecards (or publish them). While doing this, you might find yourself having fun and, finally understand what the authors are trying to tell you! This will come in handy when it’s time for turning those passages we love reading into good quality English. See also, English reading.
3. Set a schedule every week
Give writing an identity. What are your goals and why do they matter to you? How much time per day (or at least several hours per week) can be spent on learning to write English with English-language focused apps, books and resources? What are the factors that come together to make all this happen: family, friends etc.? Be more conscious of what matters most to you; schedule some time in your calendar every week so nothing else gets in the way between your passion for learning English as fast as possible.
4. Check Your Progress once a day
I bet you’d have an easier job if it didn’t happen just once a day. Why? Because you are probably having difficulties putting your goals into practice. It’s understandable that when the goal seems so close, it feels like this should be every second of our waking hours … But let me ask you something: “if I were to press on my best English teacher for one hour today, what would she or he teach me about language in general and writing specifically next time I meet him or her?” You know what they tell you: she /he will teach you only the things that matter to help you get further: useful grammar rules, interesting vocabulary and so on which are not used as much. Nothing else!
5. Just Write
I bet you will look at these words and cringe: “just write”. Such a simple exercise leads to getting better, but it seems too boring to accomplish all this without drastic methods like buying paid materials, joining writing classes etc… But just keep in mind what the principles behind this advice are really saying:
a – Just write; doesn’t mean that if my article looks bad or terrible I should stop working on it from tomorrow; you should still try to improve it by just writing without looking at the result.
b – Just write; doesn’t mean that a certain number of words is necessary for any experiment which does not require me to benefit from this information soon (like in English: “I can barely count past one hundred and twenty”). It means that when I am ready with what I have, regardless of how good my article looks like or how many words or pages it has. I should be able to share my work on a blog, show the world and say: “here it is”!
You will never get over one billionth of your writing skills only by completing the minimum number of exercises written here. Really. Write without trying but with purpose; discover what you can do better in terms of articles and then finish them! See also, how to get better at English writing.
6. Write About Yourself
Not because you do not have enough personal experiences, but simply start from the beginning! I believe that this is what we already know how to write; therefore never stop writing about yourself. When the Internet started exploding with articles about cats and dogs which became popular for at least a year or two (even more if like me someone wanted it), everybody was surprised. As it turned out cat lovers were much more active on social networks than dog and cat lovers, and they were also prepared to share their joy via the Internet! The purpose here is not to write about something irrelevant (like “I enjoyed eating that food”) but something which belongs completely in your world. Write like a talk show host or an information source you yourself relate most with; if you are able to be the CEO of five companies at once this article will definitely look familiar.
If you have a paragraph of English, the best thing to do is try it out on someone and see how they react. They will not be annoyed! A paragraph in English has 3 parts – introduction, body and conclusion. The most common mistake people make is that when they write a paragraph, their writing style doesn’t match with what they are trying to say or explain which results in an unhappy reader who gets confused easily from incoherence.
All in all, if you are not a writer, it is quite possible that you can still write. It all depends on how you see your life and what do you want to say about it. The key is to think about what you want to share with the viewer and express that. It should include the reason why it needs sharing, any emotions or feelings (including humor), vividness and a message which can be read, understood by yourself as well as someone who reads your content for a second time.