The fastest way to improve your writing is…
.. To do more of it.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not the world’s best writer . There are days when an ice cold bath and a gin and tonic would be more enjoyable when compared to putting fingers to keyboard and getting words out. I can’t abide gin, and the tonic leaves a lot to be desired as for the ice cold bath… Yet there are days when this seems welcoming when faced with a screen filled with random words which would keep the FBI busy for weeks yet make complete sense to me.
The number one thing I’ve learned over the last few year is that writing is a skill; you can learn and develop it at any age. It definitely falls within the realm of practice makes perfect.
One of the best things you can do to improve your writing is to simply write every day. Now, despite being the creator of a blogging challenge where you are encouraged to publish every day,(that’s still not writing every day) I don’t write as often or as much as I’d like. You can write in batches (I do) and schedule them.
You can start small. I started with 50 words 3 times a week. Every one of those words was an ice cold bath with gin and tonic. You don’t have to go out and write pages and pages to start improving. Just get into the habit of putting words onto paper or screen.
A couple of paragraphs is a great place to start.
Why not practice your writing by developing short posts which you can use for Facebook page updates? This way you are killing two birds with one stone. You are improving your writing skills and getting new content on your sites.
Other ideas for writing each day include:
- Keeping a journal
- Writing down what you did for your business on that day
- Writing a short story
- Writing a poem
- Reading a news article and then rewriting it in your own words
- Send an email to a family member or friend
Regular writing breeds good habits
Besides writing each day you also want to get into the habit of reading each day. Reading new information helps to increase your knowledge and your vocabulary. As you broaden your horizons you will find that coming up with new topic ideas is much easier as well. When I first started blogging topics were really hard and now… Well, now they’re really easy.
However, there may be some situations in which you cannot give it more time. In this case it is recommended that you follow the advice in the Get It Done Writer's Toolkit CLICK HERE! which is an online course that teaches you how to find inspiration, write and edit your projects with expediency. It helps you stay on track and motivated as a writer, whether you are writing a novel or copywriting for a living.
There is no shortage of reading material available these days, just look on the internet. You can easily find news stories to read and even download free Kindle books. Here are some other ideas of what you can read each day.
- Trade magazines (great for people who wish to write for biz)
- Short stories
- Set up RSS feeds in Feedly for topics you are interested in
- Favorite blogs
- Follow new people in your niche and read their material daily
- Pick a new trend or hobby to follow and read up on it
By just implementing these two things each day you will find that your writing improves quickly.
Thinking of getting a career as a full-time writer. If so you might find The Get Paid to Write course CLICK HERE! that Writers Life offers to be invaluable as it will teach you how to become a skilled, sought-after scribe who makes a decent living.
This post by Sarah Arrow was published with the title The fastes Way to Improve Your Writing is ...
