I wish they looked better.
Do you often have that thought whenever you look at the content you wrote? You are not alone. Regardless of where you are in your writing journey, there is always room for improvement.
Therefore, try not to be so hard on yourself because your writing journey is not yet over unless you quit. You should know that the first step in improving your writing skills is to learn from your mistakes.
Accepting them allows you not to repeat the same error you made. As such, you would be able to become an educational consultant that can guide others in Singapore.
But before that day comes, you need to focus on yourself and your goal—to improve your writing skills. To do so, we listed down several ways that can help you move forward in your writing journey.
POLISH THE BASICS.
Before you can write something that can capture other people’s attention, you will need to grasp the basic principles of writing. Doing so should help you strengthen your writing foundation and write engaging content as a result.
To make that happen, grab a copy of “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White. This book has comprehensive details like on what is the correct use of grammar. That is why every writer has it, and you should, too!
WRITE LIKE IT IS YOUR JOB.
Pun intended, but most people are more serious if you think of it this way.
Just like at work, you try to do things several times until you become good at it. The same is true for writing. The more you write, your writing becomes better. In other words, you need to write one after another to hone your craft. Remember that no one can become a remarkable writer overnight, which is why you need to work hard.
READ MUCH AS YOU CAN.
As Stephen King says, reading is the creative centre of a writer’s life. That means if you do not have time to read, you do not have the time to write either.
That is why you should try reading more. Even if you are not a bookworm, for sure, there are still books you would enjoy reading. Start by reading the genre you often enjoy watching. That might help spark you to read more.
TRANSCRIBE YOURSELF.
This tip might sound like an absurd thing to do, but it works. By transcribing yourself, you would be able to know the trick of conversational writing. And that helps a lot so you would not bore anyone with your articles and you might try what you wrote.
For example, if you are writing for a brand, you can help them increase their sales by making the readers believe in your articles. As such, those readers might turn into customers as they buy products and support the said brand.
FIND A WRITING PARTNER.
If improving your writing boils you down, you might need to find a writing partner. You should know that no one is an island, and that is the same for writing,
Therefore, ask anyone you know that you think who wants to improve their writing. Along with them as your writing partner, you can correct your flaws and write better, vice versa.
JOIN A WORKSHOP.
Signing up for writing courses in Singapore is not a bad idea. Some people baulk this thought, thinking it would not do any good. But they are wrong since joining one can be beneficial in a lot of ways.
Here, you would be able to learn many things, such as creating an outline, how to organise a paragraph, etc.
That is why if you have some time to spare, you should consider signing up for writing courses. Doing so should help you improve your writing skills much faster.
DISSECT THE ARTICLE YOU ADMIRE.
Another way to improve your writing skills is to dissect articles. Rereading sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, would help you understand how other writers write. As a result, you would know what is wrong in your writing and improve your flaws along the way.
IMITATE WRITERS, NOT RIP OFF THEIR WORK.
While dissecting the articles of the writers you admire, you could imitate how they write. From there, you would learn how the writers persuade the readers to read the content from beginning to end.
Just make sure when you imitate the writers you admire, you are not ripping off their work. If you do, that is plagiarism, which is punishable by law for stealing intellectual property.
In other words, be careful imitating how other writers write. If you can, try to mimic more than two or more writers so you can find your style, tone, etc.
OUTLINE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.
Whether you are writing a short story or lengthy content, producing an outline helps you write well. You should know that keeping your thoughts organised will help you convey what you want to say. As such, people would learn what those messages are and would stay long in their minds.
If you have not produced an outline before, try following these tips.
- Come up with a topic that you want to discuss.
- List down all the major points of that topic.
- Take note of the detail of each major point.
- Make sure you create short but interesting subheadings.
So far, that is how you create an outline, but you might add more as you learn and come up with your writing style.
Become a Better Writer With Carean Oh!
All in all, to improve your writing skills, you need to exert more time, money, and effort. You should know that if you do your best, your hard work will pay off. You would be able to see your improvements.
But then again, if you are afraid to move forward in your writing journey alone, you can do it with others. Sign up for writing courses in Singapore, and you would be able to improve your writing skills further.
Join one now by going to Carean Oh, a writing educator that will help you with your writing skills.