Written communication plays an important role in every profession. You need to compose emails and communicate in writing with your clientele. Such things are basic to any profession or industry. Especially if you are in an industry where writing skills are a priority! Interestingly, you don’t need to have a degree in English to be a writer. When it comes to improving the writing skills, think of it as working on a muscle. The more you work it, the stronger it will grow. I looked up some amazing helpful forums to improve writing skills with my subscription to one of the Spectrum bundles. You only need to find the willingness to improve your written expression and you will find hundreds of ways to do so.
While it is easy to improve skills like public speaking with practice, improving writing is a little tricky. If all you are doing is practicing to improve this skill, it will probably not work. However, there are many authentic methods to refine the craft of writing. Using these methods will increase the quality of your writing.
Useful Tips to Enhance the Skill of Writing
Fortunately, there are plenty of tips and methods to hone the writing craft. Incorporate the following effective ideas into your daily writing routine:
- Read Everything
- Make Outlines
- Make a Schedule
- Go For an Online Course
- Rewrite your Old Pieces
Let’s discuss them:
- Read Everything
Do you know voracious readers usually turn into writers? Reading is perhaps one of the healthiest habits. And if you aspire to be a better writer, you should read a lot. However, don’t read a single type of content. You will have to broaden the literary horizons for yourself and explore different genres. You can have fresh inspiration from having exposure to a range of subjects, writing styles, and forms. You will observe new techniques and forms of expression. For instance, exploring the genre of lyrical poetry will show you how to express emotion. While journalism will enlighten you about you can be to-the-point in your written expression.
It’s a good practice to read a piece out of your usual genres of interest every day. As a result, you will see more sophistication and variety in your written expression. Reviewing the written pieces by other writers is also a useful practice. You can pick up the top ranking books on the bestseller list by New York Times. Or, read your favorite blog every week as a regular practice. Again, we would emphasize the fact that you shouldn’t limit yourself to a single genre. Read and explore different things. They could be books, blogs, magazines, newspapers, social media posts, and so on. Challenge yourself to adopt something different from all these various formats.
- Make Outlines
Does a blank page intimidate you? Don’t let it. Whenever you start writing, be it an email, a paper, or an online exam, the best practice is to outline the main points on a piece of paper. Once you have the basic skeleton ready, you can easily elaborate on them without missing anything important. Those points are right there to refer back to. The more you try to outline, the easier it is to fill in the blanks. Don’t adhere to a certain outline type strictly. Try various formats. And use them a jump off point to begin your piece.
- Make a Schedule
Writing has a lot in common to working out. When you write for the very first time, you struggle to finish. But with more practice, you become accustomed to writing before you even know it. Successful people always make schedules. Try squeezing out at least 30 minutes every day to practice writing. If you have plenty of free time, make more time for practice. Once you pick the time, stick to it. Choose the times when you can concentrate better, for instance, late nights and early mornings. Pick the time when you feel that you have a boosted creativity and energy.
- Go For an Online Course
Sometimes, the straightforward explanation of best practices and concepts is a better idea than a mere practice. Go for a low-cost or free writing course. You will find many online. Sometimes, writers stick to a particular format, jargon, and style of writing for the sake of their job. For such people, a refresher course for a few highlights of ‘back to the basics’ is a good idea. If you can afford, go for a better course with some top-notch instruction on writing better.
- Rewrite your Old Pieces
One of the lesser-done practices, which can improve writing skills is rewriting your old written work. If you read your old work, you will probably cringe. If it happens, it is an indicator that you have come a long way. To hone your writing craft and benchmark the progress that you make, it is a good practice to take an old piece and renew it. You can go for a complete rewrite or editing, depending on your work’s quality. While you do it, you will notice the type of mistakes you make. And that will make you conscious for future writing.
Last but not least, challenge yourself to do different types of writing. Write poetry, a blog post for a newspaper, a play, a post for Spectrum customer service, website content, and so on. Writing various formats will essentially enhance your experience and skills in writing.