Top 10 Tips To Improve Your Writing Skills
sxc.hu: kristja
Whether you are an amateur writer or a skilled one or you have a personal blog, there are some basic writing skills that you require. They are a must in whatever writing you do. Such writing skills not only make your writing better, but also leave a good impression on the reader. So to make your task easier and your writing wonderful, we are here to give you a few tips on how to improve your writing skills.
1. Don’t use unnecessary words
Using unnecessary words just increases the length of your sentences. For example, instead of ‘she has to’, you can use ‘she must’. Not only does this make your sentences short, but also conveys your idea in a much better and concise way.
2. Improve your vocabulary
Improving your vocabulary doesn’t mean that you should use over-the-top and really difficult words that only you can understand. Your vocabulary should always be updated and you should know simple, yet useful words in everyday life. Also, a better vocabulary reflects in your writing.
3. Use active verbs often
As their name suggests, active verbs keep your sentences in the active form. Active verbs are used when the subject or the person doing the action is of more importance than the object. For example, ‘Leanne loves to swim’ is in the active voice. While ‘Swimming is loved by Leanne’ is in the passive voice. You can see for yourself that active verbs sound better. As an example, you could write a paragraph of about 250 words only in the passive voice and then write the same thing in active voice. You will see the difference. Active verbs also make the reader involved in the story.
4. Avoid common grammatical mistakes
Some of the common grammatical mistakes that most people make are ‘your’and ‘you’re’, ‘than’ and ‘then’, ‘effect’ and ‘affect’ and ‘its’ and ‘it’s’. ‘You’re’ comprises two words ‘you’ and ‘are’, so it will be used when, ‘You’re not listening to me’, while ‘your’ is used when, ‘It’s your job to listen’. ‘Than’ is used when you want to make a comparison between people or things, whereas ‘then’ is used for implying something that’s related to time. ‘Effect’ is a noun and ‘affect’ is a verb and thus, they shouldn’t be confused with each other. ‘It’s’ is two words ‘it’ and ‘is’, while ‘its’ is used when ‘The frog uses its tongue to catch flies’. Such mistakes are easily avoidable and if committed, they mar the beauty of the article.
5. Use simple language
Simple language is always helpful to you as well as to those who are reading your work. Your words, sentences and sentence structure should be such that they are readable, concise and cohesive as well. No one wants to read text that is incomprehensible. So you should write in such a way that everyone can understand what you’re trying to say.
6. Interchange the length of sentences
Changing the length of your sentences will make your text interesting. You should use short, medium as well as long sentences while writing. An average English sentence is of 8-12 words. Thus, your sentences can be of average length as well as vary from short, medium to long sentences. Reading long or short sentences continuously will bore anyone.
7. Avoid punctuation errors
Punctuation matters a lot in writing. One mistake in comma or a period may change the meaning of your sentence altogether. Also, insert a question mark, wherever necessary.
8. Edit
This step is really important after you are done with writing. You have to edit your work, however confident you may be that you have written an excellent piece of work. Editing helps you to spot those mistakes which you have overlooked while writing and thus rectify your mistakes soon.
9. Read it aloud
Reading your work aloud helps you to spot mistakes and some minor glitches that you may not have noticed while writing. Also, it helps you to know if some sentences sound wrong.
10. Improve your spelling
Spellings are the hole and sole of your writing. Hmm, something sounds wrong over here, doesn’t it? Well, exactly because spellings are the whole and soul of your writing. But if you go wrong with your spellings, a really good piece of work may lose its charm.
