8 Assured Ways to Improve Writing Skills

(1) Read Regularly

• The first technique to improve your writing skills is to read as much as you can. Like listening is important for speaking, reading is important for writing.
• While reading, you will come across new words. Look up their meanings in a dictionary and learn its usage in sentences. In the English language, a word may have different meanings as per context. Hence, it is crucial to learn how to use words in sentences.
• When you encounter a new word, open the browser, type “usage of <<word>> in a sentence“. In this way, you will learn how to use words in sentences as per context, thus, expanding your vocabulary.
• Another advantage of reading regularly is you will learn sentence structure, writing grammatically correct sentences, etc.
• Now, you will ask me, “What shall I read?“. The answer is very simple! “Anything that you enjoy reading!” It may be your favorite comic book, magazine, sports articles, etc. Read anything that you are interesting in and learning will become a lot more fun!
• The key is to stay consistent and read regularly. The more you read, the better you become.

(2) Write On a Daily Basis

• The second technique that I want to talk about to improve your writing skills is writing on a daily basis. Grab a pen and paper and make it a habit to write daily about the things you like, write your day, the things you see and hear. You may even write about any recent event in your life – birthday, wedding, etc.
• I know you will have questions like “What will I write? How will I write?” For time being, I request you to stop worrying and ignore such thoughts. Grab a pen and paper and write! 🙂
• Another thing you can do is to write about a topic. For instance, you could read about the ongoing Corona Virus pandemic or any topic that you like and are interested in and write about it in your own words.
• This technique hits 2 birds with 1 stone – you will gain knowledge and check your understanding about the topic.
• The activity that helped me improve my writing skills is writing about how I feel in a particular moment. When I am happy, I write about how happy I am, what made me happy in the first place and what I would do to make my family and friends happy. You get my point, don’t you?

(3) Avoid Using Slangs

• The third tip I have for you to improve your writing skills is to avoid using slangs. Although, slangs words are “cool”, be careful not to use them in your written work.
• Words such as “gonna”, “wanna”, “dunno”, etc. are not considered grammatically correct, hence, slangs must be avoided in formal written conversations – e-mails, essays.
• Please keep in mind that chatting / texting is not the same as writing e-mails. In a formal setting, use appropriate words, structure grammatically correct sentences and spell words correctly.
• I would like to share a personal incident here. I, once, read an e-mail that had many slang words. I asked my senior to read it and he rejected it immediately. The e-mail was not properly structured and not appropriate in a formal setting. I do not have it otherwise I would have shared a “Don’t” of writing.

(4) Use Strong Words

• My fourth tip to improve your writing skills is to use strong words. Let me ask a question. How many of you use the words “really, “a lot of”, “very”, “so”, “there is / are” so frequently that it has become second nature? (I will raise my hand here! 😛 )
• These words weaken your writing and, as my English teacher would say, “they are useless calories in the body of sentences.” Try keeping your content precise and concise by replacing the aforementioned words by strong words.
• For example, instead of writing “I am really happy!” write “I am elated!” Another example would be, “I am so scared!” Shorten it by writing “I am terrified!” A helpful example of using strong words is, instead of writing “There are a lot of problems that we may face!” write “We may face many problems.”

(5) Use Idioms

• “An idiom is a group of words whose meaning is understood by native speakers. It’s meaning is completely different than its individual words.”
• Idioms are an important part of the English language in both, written and spoken context and in formal and informal situations. They are powerful tools that exhibit your hold on the language. If translated in other languages, they would mean something entirely different. Hence, it is crucial that you learn the meaning of idioms and their usage in sentences.
• Learning and using 3-5 idioms everyday will be helpful in your journey of becoming a better writer.
• Please click here for my list of 30 most common idioms along with their meanings to help you improve your writing.

(6) Proofread

• The sixth tip for improving your writing skills is to proofread your work. Be sure to proofread your content once or twice. You might have made mistakes while writing, hence, be extra sure to check what you have written.
• It will take only a few extra seconds to read the content again and you will save yourself from the embarrassment of making silly mistakes.
• When you proofread, look for the following:
  • Spelling mistakes: Check if you have made any spelling mistakes.
  • Check if your message is clearly understood.
  • Sentence structure: See if your sentences are properly structured grammatically.
  • Length of sentences: Keep your content as short and to the point as possible.

(7) Enjoy the Process

• MS DHONI usually says, “Enjoying the process is more important than the result.” How true! Along with working hard, it is important that you enjoy the process. If your process is right, then the result will, definitely, be in your favor! Sometimes, we focus on the end result so much that we forget to enjoy the process. Enjoy the process, the journey of becoming better.
• If you do everything right, that is, you learn 3-5 words, 3-5 phrases, 3-5 idioms and practice speaking everyday, after 6 months or, to be more specific, 180 days, you will have learnt 540-900 words, phrases and idioms. This will immensely help you in becoming a better writer.
• I won’t deny the fact that you will have days when you won’t be able to speak what you want to, the words just won’t come out of your mind. You will have a wonderful content with you, but, while writing you could only write one or two sentences. Sounds irritating, right? This will happen, you will get frustrated, irritated and might want to quit! But, before quitting, ask yourself – “Why did I start?” This only question is enough to fill you with enthusiasm and passion to go harder.
• You will face challenges, you might get stuck, you may lose hope, but keep going! A small effort put in everyday, will take you a long way!
• It is imperative that you believe in yourself! If a person write well, you can write well, too. If they have done it, you can do it, too! Writing better is a journey and it will take time. With regular practice, efforts and discipline, you will eventually get there!