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10 Quick Tips To Improve Your Writing

By on April 11, 2019
10 Quick Tips To Improve Your Writing - Writer's Life.org

We are always looking for ways to improve our writing, and while there are lots of things you can do, sometimes you want some quick wins, so you feel like you are making lots of progress. With that in mind, here a ten quick tips to help you get better, fast.

Write little and often.

The more you write, the better you’ll get. It really is as simple as that. It can be hard to have mammoth, dedicated writing sessions all the time so instead just make sure you write each day. As little as ten minutes of productive writing time can see you finish that novel in no time at all!

Look out for long sentences.

People prefer to read short sentences. They are easier to digest. Make sure you look out for long sentences and think about how to reword them. This can make your writing punchier, more effective, and easier to understand too.

Look out for too many adjectives and adverbs.

Writing that is stuffed with adjectives can overwhelm and irritate your reader. You don’t need to say that a character looked at someone longingly, lovingly, passionately. Pick one word and stick to that, better still show the reader how the characters think and feel rather than telling them. Writers so often make the mistake of overusing adjectives and adverbs in a bid to make their writing more descriptive, to paint a picture, but actually, this distracts the reader and detracts from the story — lookout for instances where you do this and rework them.

Do your research

Lazy writing that isn’t adequately researched won’t go down well, and eagle-eyed readers will be quick to point out mistakes and inconsistencies. Take some time to research your book; it will be all the better for it if you do.

Eliminate distractions

Look around you before you write. What is likely to cause you to get distracted? Whatever your weaknesses are, be aware of them and do something to eliminate them, so you know that your writing time will be productive.

Stop worrying about being good.

Not every writing session is going to produce your best work. In the early stages of your book - writing is more important than good writing. Get the story down before you try to make it flawless.

Stop trying to be perfect.

If you try to make your writing perfect, chances are you’ll destroy it in the process. The truth is your writing is never going to be without fault, and you can’t create a book that everyone is going to love. Instead, write about what makes you happy, and write from the heart, be open to learning and experimenting, take feedback well and most importantly - enjoy it!

Write about what you believe in

When it comes to writing well, you need to write about things you are passionate about. If you don’t do so, writing will always be a struggle, and you’ll find it difficult to improve.

Read

One of the brilliant things about being a writer is that you get to read as part of the job. Reading is a legitimate form of writing ‘study’ and will give you inspiration and ideas as well as help you see where your book needs to improve too.

Spend 10 minutes a day building your platform.

If you want your writing to succeed you need to have an ever-growing army of fans willing to buy, share and promote it. While writing every day can help you improve your skills, if you can find time to build your platform, little by little each day too, this is just as important.

So there you have it, next time you need to give your writing a boost, go through these tips, one by one, and see what a difference it makes to the quality of your writing - we bet you’ll be glad you did!

bethany cadman

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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