Does it ever happen that you are sitting on your working chair with a paper or laptop in front of you, with many ideas in your head, but you just cannot get them out? Similarly, have you ever experienced a situation where you know what to write but do not know where to start?
If you can relate to what has been mentioned above, congratulations! You are in the right place. We have all been in situations where we have struggled to write and communicate what was in our heads. The main reason words do not come naturally to us while writing is that we lack writing skills.
We often think that having knowledge about the subject or content is enough to write pages on a specific topic. However, it is essential to have good writing skills to communicate ideas.
Writing is an activity through which we can translate our thoughts into words. Since writing is a source of communication, it is used in daily life. Therefore, one might think that acquiring writing skills is only essential for people who opt for careers related to writing, such as writers, teachers, reporters, etc. Well, that is not true.
Every individual needs to possess good writing skills because almost all the jobs available today require them. For example, in today’s social media era, marketing managers must have good writing skills.
A common question is when writing was invented? According to research, the roots of writing can be traced back 5,000 years. The earliest proof of writing shows that, at first, the Mesopotamian civilization started writing on mud tablets as pictorial signs.
Other discoveries show that writing was not only taking place in the Mesopotamian civilization but was also being practiced in other civilization’s such as Egyptian and Chinese. Until then, the alphabet did not exist, so pictures were used to convey the message through writing.
Later, around 1500 B.C, alphabets were introduced. Traces of a set of 22 alphabets can be found. A specific sound was associated with each alphabet. These sounds helped to form different words and sentences with the use of these alphabets.
As centuries passed, the use of the alphabet became more significant, and its function greatly improved. Later, in the era of the Greeks, they added vowel letters to the existing alphabets. These vowels helped the pronunciation of words.
After centuries of evolution, we are currently in the era of modern writing. Besides well-structured alphabets, we are fortunate to have plenty of resources to write. We do not have to make mud tablets or collect animal hides to write. In fact, we have papers, computers, mobiles, boards, and a plethora of writing instruments.
Some people may see writing as writing down thoughts. However, in actuality, it is not that simple. Writing has some characteristics and rules that must be followed. For example, to write correctly, it is essential to have the correct grammar, or it will not be possible to understand a specific text.
Besides that, words used in any text must have the correct spelling, otherwise the reader will not be able to understand what is written. Moreover, correct sentence construction and structure of the text are important while writing.
In addition to the basics mentioned above, writers should also ensure that the text’s content is well researched so that the text is clear and easy to understand.
Generally, it is assumed that writing is only used at the workplace or at jobs. However writing has a lot to do with our lives, and writing was probably never as significant as it is now. We constantly write letters, applications, texts, and emails throughout our day.
In today’s world, writing has become an essential medium of communication. Moreover, as time has changed, some people find communication through writing more comfortable than verbal communication.
Due to the rising significance of writing in today’s world, people need to pay attention to improving their writing skills. Enhancing writing skills can provide you with opportunities beyond your imagination. It will also help people to understand you better. Looking at the significance of writing, this article will give you tips to help you improve yours.
Article Contents
Write Daily
We often shy away from doing things in which we lack skill. However, that is not the right approach. You might have heard the famous saying ‘practice makes perfect’. This saying is entirely accurate. Sometimes you have it in you — it is just that a bit of practice is required to polish your skills.
We were taught how to write in our school days, and from then onwards, we have been writing. This means all of us probably know the basics of how to write, it is just that we may need a bit of practice to make our writing better. Writing daily is a good way to do this.
Every day, just take out some time and start writing. It can be a story, your random thoughts, or maybe a summary of your day. The purpose of making you do this is to improve your writing skills by making you practice how to write.
Besides that, daily writing will automatically develop an understanding of keeping the text precise and to the point. Furthermore, it will improve your sentence structuring, grammar, and spelling.
Do Thorough Research
At times we start writing without doing any research about the topic. Research may seem boring or time-consuming at times. However, any individual must conduct thorough research before he plans to write on a specific topic.
Research before writing will enable you to write freely without breaking your flow. Moreover, reading about your topic before writing helps you focus more on the content you want to add. As a result, it helps you in completing your task quicker.
In many professional fields, it is mandatory to conduct thorough research before writing. For example, the significance of research before writing is taught in online journalism master’s programs so that aspiring journalists know that they have to know all the details of a story thoroughly before covering it.
Journalists carry out days of research before writing articles about a particular issue because if they write something false due to a lack of research, they can be held accountable and strict actions can be taken against them.
Create An Outline Before Writing
We often think that we have it all in our heads and do not need to create an outline before writing, but that is not true. No matter how well you write, you will probably miss out on something important if you do not create an outline.
An outline is a rough draft that people prepare before they start writing. It includes all the key points that one must cover. Besides that, the order of information is decided. For example, suppose you must add a series of events in an article.
In that case, the outline will help you decide what information to write first. Moreover, an outline also helps the writer to divide the main piece of writing into three parts. For example, the introduction, main body, and conclusion.
Besides that, creating an outline helps in structuring your piece of writing. Once you have the outline in front of you, it gets easier to arrange the content per the outline.
Avoid Filler Words
Imagine you are required to submit an assignment with a word limit of 2000 words. What would you probably do to complete the word count? Add filler words, right? Please do not. Stopping yourself from using filler words is an important exercise that you need to do to improve your writing skills.
Filler words inhibit your creativity and break the flow of your writing. Besides that, if readers are vigilant, they will eventually realise the use of filler words. As a result, the writer’s image will be destroyed in the eyes of the reader immediately.
However, to stop using filler words, you need to know what filler words are. Filler words are the extra words used in sentences with no deliberate purpose. They are mostly used by writers to complete the word count or stretch the text.
Some examples of filler words are ‘really’, ‘just’, ‘very’ and ‘that’. Avoiding these words in your text can help you in improving the quality of your text.
Read As Much As You Can
Everyone wants to be a good writer but not a good reader. But that is not how it works. To be a good writer, it is necessary to read a lot. Reading helps us in countless ways, and probably more than any of us have ever imagined.
Reading broadens our imagination and makes us more creative. This creativity helps us to produce interesting text which keeps the readers hooked. Besides that, reading makes us aware of the grammar and what expressions to use.
However, what to read is a never-ending debate. According to some people, if you write a specific type of content, for example about food, then you should read food blogs and articles related to food to improve your writing skills in your field.
While some say reading any type of content helps you broaden your vision and teaches you different writing styles, it is important to read different types of content.
Do Not Try Too Hard
Trying too hard always produces terrible results. When you sit to write, do not think too hard to use the perfect words and phrases in each line. This will take away the natural feel of your text. As a result, the reader will not feel connected to what you have written.
Always remember your text is a reflection of your personality and thoughts. People are only interested in reading the work of those who do not pretend to be someone else. A reader likes to read something simple that has a natural flow.
Keeping this in mind, try to keep things simple instead of complicating them. For example, we sometimes push ourselves too hard to use good vocabulary to impress the reader. Unfortunately, this makes the text look bad, and readers do not find it interesting.
Try To Keep Sentences And Paragraphs Short
While writing, besides using the right grammar and spelling, it is essential for you to know the techniques which make your writing more appealing and interesting.
Ask yourself, would you read a text with long paragraphs and long sentences or a paper with short paragraphs and shorter sentences? Some may find longer sentences and paragraphs difficult to read.
On the other hand, a text with shorter sentences and paragraphs may seem more interesting to you because that is how our brain works. Long sentences automatically imply that the writer is unsure of what he has to say.
Meanwhile, shorter sentences help the writer to convey complicated information by breaking them down into small pieces.
Similarly, writing long paragraphs scares the normal reader who is not looking to spend too much time reading. On the contrary, a text with two or three lines per paragraph attracts the reader and makes them more likely to read the entire text.
Seek Feedback
Have you ever filled out a feedback survey? Do you know why companies ask for consumer feedback? It is so that they can improve their products according to the suggestions of their customers.
Similarly, suppose you want to improve your writing. In that case, you need to seek feedback from someone who understands the technicalities of writing so that you can adopt the suggestion and work to improve your writing as per the suggestions.
Reality checks are essential in life as they help us get on the right track. It is also important to get an honest third person’s perspective about your writing. By doing so, you will know how your writing appears in front of readers and what they think about it.
You can ask your family, friends, teachers, or anyone to give you an honest review of your writing so that you know the weaknesses in your writing that you should eliminate.
Conclusion
As humans, we strive to attain excellence with every passing day. Similarly, many of us are looking for some tips to improve our writing.
Writing is an essential part of our lives since it is a powerful communication medium. Moreover, technological growth has increased our reliance on writing since emails and texts require good writing skills to convey messages.
Besides that, increased globalization has enabled us to communicate with someone sitting halfway around the globe, and writing is considered the best medium to connect in this way.
Other than that, possessing good writing skills has become essential for every individual, since having they provide an edge when applying to jobs. This is because the use of writing has increased in all jobs over the years.
For example, decades back, when there was no social media, a marketer would probably meet new people and pitch their products to them. Back then, marketing was more about having good speaking skills. However, with changing times, social media emerged, which is much more writing focused.
To carry out social media marketing, good writing skills are essential. So, looking at the eagerness of people to improve their writing skills, we decided to write this article which highlights tips that will help you improve your writing skills.
Starting with the tips, this article suggests writing some sort of text daily, so you do not get out of touch. Besides that, it also suggests doing thorough research before writing to improve the quality of your content.
Moreover, this article highlights some techniques that can improve your writing like avoiding filler words. Besides that, applying some techniques that have psychological effects can be very useful. For example, writing shorter sentences and paragraphs can positively impact the reader’s mind.
Another valuable and simple tip given in this article to improve your writing skill is to keep things simple and do not push too hard to make everything look perfect. We hope these tips will help you in improving your writing skills.
