Writing could be the key to a whole new world for you. In this post, I will show you how to
become a better writer and communicator. Learn how to express your ideas so that people enjoy reading your scribbles and come back for more.
Even if you feel like it’s impossible, there are concrete steps you can take today to get on the right track to success.
You can improve your writing skills even if you aspire to be the next Hemingway, Vonnegut, or Grisham or if you simply want to write better essays for school and posts for your blog.
Writing online can help you achieve that confidence. Whatever your level of writing, there are always suggestions that can help.
Table of Contents
23 Tip to Becoming a Better Writer
- Dispense with the Passive Voice
- Use Strong Verbs in Shorter Sentences
- Convert great ideas into posts
- Prevent anything that distracts you
- Use a chatty easy tone
- Write for Your Reader
- Study the Great Writers
- Revise
- Be Concise
- Get Feedback on Your Most Recent Posts
- Get Reviewers to check your work
- Be Bold to Show Who You Truly Are
- Plan a Structure before you Write
- Get to Know Your Audience and Understand Your Situation
- Just Write
- Have a Strong Start and Strong Ending
- Experiment
- Make Every Sentence Brief
- Ensure You Can Read What You Write
- Read Your Writing out loud to Yourself
- Share Interesting Stories
- Be Conversational
- Write Consistently – Write Every Day.
1. Dispense With the Passive Voice
Use the active voice in your conversational writing. Come to the point without too many ‘ and then you should’ as it slows down the flow of your writing and becomes boring. You don’t want to bore your readers to death.
Active voice means that the subject performing the action is the subject of the sentence. This means that you might write something like “The dog caught it” as against “It was caught by the dog”; the passive voice sounds awkward and clunky.
2. Use Strong Verbs in Shorter Sentences
You don’t have to write the same sentence every time – there are variations – but you should try to create sentences that have a lot of energy. This might be easier to do during the revision stage than when you are writing your first draft. You have all the time in the world to edit and polish your words, so just throw them down and get a flow going.
3. Convert Great Ideas to Posts
You can keep a small notebook with you to write down ideas for stories, articles, novels, or characters. Note any conversation you hear. Note plot twists, visual details, and fragments from song lyrics or poems that interest you.
These ideas can be a source of inspiration or even help you write better.
If you are interested in doing factual reviews and opinion posts then dig into your research on the net and while you collect ideas note the style of the writing (you can learn a lot this way.)
4. Prevent Anything that Distracts
Turn off email and IM notifications, shut off the phone and cell phone, and clear your desk. You can put everything in a drawer until you have the time. But don’t start sorting right now. It’s writing time. You can focus on your work by clearing away all distractions.
Multitasking and background noises are not conducive to writing. Writing is best done in silence or with mellow music. Use a minimalist writer such as WriteRoom, DarkRoom, or Writer to do your writing on full screen. Or write straight into a word document so that you can go back to edit and polish it. You can even cut a paste to move paragraphs around later.
5. Use the Chatty Tone – You Own Your Voice
You can try keeping a journal or blog to get a sense of your voice. Then, go back and read your blog. The tone you use to communicate with yourself is the most natural and conversational tone.
It’s essential to have a good understanding of your own speech rhythms. What words are you most comfortable using and which ones do you avoid?
People prefer to read topics written in a conversational style. So write how you speak. Repeat it quietly if necessary to yourself to see if you are putting full stops in the right places. No sentence should be longer than 20 words.
6. Write for Your Reader
Before you start writing think for a moment of who might be your reader. Let’s say you are going to write a post about how to grow roses. Your reader may not know anything about growing roses, so you would start right from the beginning, which rose, what soil, where to plant it, when to plant and prune, etc.
Some writers even create whole pictures of their audience. I can guarantee that if you start with the reader in mind you will find it easier to write and you will know exactly where to start.
7. Study the Great Writers
If you are not very confident about your style of writing then try studying a writer that you admire. We are normally attracted to books which are written the same way that we speak. So dig out your favorite author and decide if you would like to be able to write like them.
If you do then start to analyze their work. Choose the first chapter. How did they start? Are their sentences long or short? Do they use difficult words or simplify a sentence? You can use all these tips in your own writing.
There are examples of good writing all around you every day, you just need to take notice. Such as what you are reading now.
There are many courses that you can take but if you just want to polish up your own style try Grammarly, the free version only corrects spelling and grammar but the paid version will help you to structure good paragraphs that will improve your writing style over time.
8. Revise
It is what separates the good from the bad. Not only do you need to check for spelling and grammar mistakes, but also for awkward sentences, confusing structures, and unnecessary words. For clarity, strength, and freshness, you should aim for clarity.
You’ll need to revise if you really want to crank out the text and do some experiments. That means you. Many authors hate revising. You must learn how to revise if you want be a great writer.
I actually enjoy checking my writing and that of my copywriter. I’m always surprised by the sometimes clumsy and awkward sentences that we all put in from time to time.
9. Be Concise
You can do this best during revision. However, you will need to edit each sentence and paragraph and eliminate everything except the essential. A shorter sentence is better than a longer one, every time!
10. Get Feedback on Your Most Recent Posts
Talking about something you have written is a great way to get feedback from the wider world of readers.
Most of our profound thoughts are lost in the daily grind. These ideas are easier to remember if we write about them.
Talking to someone about a blog post you wrote (or are writing) is another great conversation starter. This is a great place for you to start, as you have likely thought about the topic a lot.
Speak about the things you write in conversation. That’s how you can become a better conversationalist by writing.
Also, ask others to comment on your blog posts.
11. Get Reviewers to Check Your Work
You should get someone to review your work, preferably an editor or writer – someone who is able to give honest and constructive feedback. Listen. Instead of feeling hurt, be grateful to your editor for helping. It is easier for someone else to spot your weak areas so that you can work on them.
12. Be Bold to Show Who You Truly Are
You can create a blog if you don’t already have one to showcase your writing. However, if you don’t get any readers, you should reach out to other blogs or submit a guest blog post to get feedback. Although it can be nerve-wracking to put your writing out there, it is an essential part of any writer’s growth. So just do it.
You will eventually need to allow others to read your writing. You will need to write or publish your book, short story, poem, or article for publication. Really what is the worst that can happen?
13. Plan a Structure Before you Write
It is a good idea to plan or do pre-writing before you start writing. I often will think about it while running or walking around to brainstorm the main points.
Then, I will write down my thoughts and outline the details. When I feel ready, I can just sit down and start writing the content. The Snowflake Method is a great way to plan a novel. I created a post called How to Write killer content that ranks.
14. Get to Know Your Audience and Understand Your Situation
When a bit of formality is necessary, you should be aware. Although your writing style is informal, there are times when some formality may be necessary. To show trustworthiness, you will use a professional tone when writing about topics that the reader might be seeking guidance from.
Get to know those who admire your skills. Are they music lovers or mystery book aficionados aged over 50? There are many levels and types of informality. The right note to strike depends on the person you are writing to.
You can improve your writing skills by learning how to communicate with different groups like you are a member.
15. Just Write
It is a good idea to type your name, a headline, or some other simple thing. Then the juices begin flowing and everything just flows out of you. Wake up daily and use your computer to type in a heading, create some subtitles, add a conclusion, then all you have to do is write a few paragraphs.
It can be daunting to stare at blank paper or a blank computer screen. It’s easy to get distracted and want to check your email or grab a snack. You don’t have to think about it. Write. It doesn’t matter how you write, just start typing. It’s easy to get into the flow once you start typing.
You could trial an artificial intelligence writer to see if it can help you to write paragraphs so that you can learn structure such as Rytr.
16. Have a Strong Start and Strong Ending
Make them curious and want to learn more. Once you are done, create a great ending that will make them want more.
The beginning and end are the most crucial components of your writing. The beginning is the most important part of writing. If it doesn’t grab their attention, they won’t read any further. Spend some time writing a great beginning after you have completed your first draft.
17. Experiment
You don’t have to imitate great writers to succeed but do continue learning. Explore new ideas. Seek expert advice from others. Try new styles, voices, mechanics, and themes. Think about things you learned about. Seek out the best and discard the rest.
18. Make Every Sentence Brief
People enjoy reading shorter sentences than longer ones. Long monologues are not something we often do. Also, long sentences can lead to losing the thread. Avoid writing paragraphs that contain more than four to five sentences, even better only do two sentences per paragraph.
19. Ensure You Can Read What You Write
Although it may seem obvious, this is important. If you find it hard to read then your readers will too. You won’t be able to achieve great writing if you don’t have the ability to read it. So learn from the masters and follow their example. Strive to read more and analyze what works and what doesn’t.
20. Read Your Writing out loud to yourself
If you need to breathe in the middle of a sentence, it is advisable to stop and rewrite. Read aloud David Sedaris’s tips to improve your writing.
You can determine whether your writing flows the same way as your speech by reading it aloud. It is possible to notice words that you don’t use or too many ideas. Listen to your first draft and notice where you take a deep breath that is the end of your idea and paragraph.
21. Share Interesting Stories
How can you find the courage to share interesting stories? Share your interests in your write-ups. Jot down what you’re passionate about. Next, publish it to see what others think. You will get positive feedback if they relate to it and enjoy it.
They might just tell a story about themselves back, something they have never shared with anyone else. Here is where the conversations in writing can become fun.
By writing down your stories you will perfect your skills as a writer and polish the presentation over time.
22. Be Conversational
Many bloggers write too stiffly. It’s much easier to write as if you were talking. Readers can relate to your content easily. Although it is not an easy task, it’s worth trying. This brings us to another point: it is better to break grammar rules to sound conversational than to sound stilted by following the correct rules. You shouldn’t ignore the rules of grammar, but you should know why you are breaking them to have a better flow.
23. Write Consistently – Write Every Day
If possible, write multiple times per day. You will improve your writing skills as you write more. To improve your writing skills, you must practice it. Write for your blog, write comments, or for other publications. Writing is easy and exciting. If you practice it often, it will become easier.
Conclusion
Conversational writing is a way to build a connection with your readers and not waste their time. Pay specific attention to the way people react to your posts. You want to sound like you are having a conversation with someone, not just writing business or academic papers.
Real people use contractions, speak in fragments and use reflexive pronouns such as “I” or “we”. This works well for conversational writing because that is how we talk. Avoid filler words such as “uhh” or “umm.”
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If this has helped you in your research, I would love you to leave a comment, or a like and share. Don’t be shy, tell me what you think!
Thanks for visiting.
LILY
Wow! There are so many great ideas in this article. The power and precision of the suggestions will definitely improve my writing as I try to implement them. It’s a lot to take on all at once so I have printed the article and cut it into individual suggestions that I will tape near my computer one at a time. After spending a few days focusing on it, I’ll move on to the next suggestion. In time I can definitely see how these suggestions will lift the level of my writing. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Mike, I’m so delighted that you found value in my article. I know it is very specific but these tips really do work to get the attention of Mr. Google and draw traffic to your website. You have a great plan there.
I was never a strong one when it came to grammar and sentence structure and that is why I enjoy your article so much. It gives so much information on how to become a better writer and it does so in a concise manner. Thank you for sharing your expertise in this article as we can tell you are indeed a great writer yourself!
I think that we all need some help when we first start on the internet, you do so much writing and have to find a system that works for you that is read and liked by people. You will soon have writing as one of your top skills if you use some of these tips. Wishing you great success.
This is an excellent list and I’m always looking to improve upon my writing skills. I can confirm that reading your work out loud to yourself is a great way to catch many mistakes. I can also hear whether the writing is interesting or bland when I do this, which I see is another one of your points. Need to keep the content interesting to capture the attention of readers, which will help boost Google results.
I’m so pleased that you gained some great tips from my article Alicia. Learning to write well is an art just like learning to play the guitar and one well worth the effort.