Arnaba is a professional content writer. She is here to share her experience in impressive and effective writing skills and strategies.
So, you have decided to start writing and become an accomplished writer. You might have heard many people claiming to earn money through online writing platforms and now you want to try your luck as well. Right?
Good. However, you have to remember that luck is a secondary factor when it comes to writing. First, you have to become a good writer with effective writing skills and a good understanding of the language.
I assume you are going to write in English because mostly we will site examples based on English language but broadly the hub focuses on writing skills as a whole.
Here, we will discuss various strategies and tactics that will help you enhance and nurture your writing skills and help you become a better writer.
1. Start Writing in Simple English
First things first, as a beginner, you need to start with simple and uncomplicated English. Always remember, you are not writing a research paper or a book. So, you neither have to adapt a technical writing style nor pick Victorian-era influences to reach out to your readers.
Keep it simple and try to explain your points in detail because simple writing encourages an easy flow of thoughts. The more easily you will be able to convey your thoughts and opinions, the easier it will become for the readers to connect with you.
2. Imagine Your Readers are 10-year-old Kids
It is very easy to say that you should always write simply. But how do you know if something that seems very easy and simple to you might be very difficult for others?
Well, that is why it is convenient to think that your readers are 10-year-old kids. This will help you to write in a simple yet effective way. Write short and simple sentences and paragraphs. This will increase the readability of your articles.
Now, if you are writing on some technical topics and using jargon is unavoidable, then always explain them properly.
3. Work on Your Vocabulary
Now that you know how to write effectively to engage your readers, you have to focus on your vocabulary. Learn new words, styles of writing and their usage. Learning new words will help you express your thoughts and experiences in a better and effective way.
Writing is all about self- expression. Thus, a better expression of your thoughts is the ultimate goal of writing. It will promote a better connection with your readers.
However, it every important to note that you should never use a word for the sake of using it. Learn its meaning, connotation, and usage properly before including it in your write-ups.
4. Use Thesaurus Effectively and Intelligently
Thesaurus is a great way to expand your vocabulary. You can learn new words, their synonyms, and antonyms as well. You can learn its usage with examples, which will help you write better sentences.
However, it is very important to not use any word without clearly understanding its actual usage, meaning, and connotation.
Sometimes similar words can have a different connotations that can drastically change the meaning of your thoughts and expression.
Example: murder, assassination, kill, slay, shoot, homicide, slaughter: all these words broadly suggest the death of a person/s but the connotation of each word is distinctly different.
Thus, using a word without understanding its connotation can be dangerous for your write-ups.
5. Work on Your Grammar
Grammar is the backbone of the English Language and your writing skills. If your grammar is weak then your write-ups will collapse badly.
Try to work on your basic grammar such as sentence structure, parts of speech, and punctuation marks.
Bad grammar repels readers from your writings even if you have put your entire life’s work in it. Bad grammar shows your lazy approach towards the language and disrespect to your readers.
If you want to avoid such a huge consequence then you can try out any software for grammar correction. But it is very important to note that software can go wrong as well. They can help you as a good spell-check tool in your initial phase of writing but don’t blindly trust them forever.
6. Read Articles, Blogs and Write-Ups
Reading is the best practice to become a good writer. It helps you come across new words, different writing styles, and effective writing techniques.
Reading will help you learn and adapt to different writing styles, punctuation intricacies, writing tones, writing structure or format, etc.
In fact, reading will help you understand your weaknesses. The more you will read, the more you will acquire the understanding of the English language and its nuances.
7. Write to Express Not to Impress
As a writer, it is crucial to release the difference between writing to express and writing to impress. Your goal always should be to express your thoughts, opinions, knowledge, and experience. Only then you will be able to establish a better connection with your reader.
If you focus your writer on impressing others then you might fall short on the expression of your thoughts, which will be adverse for your writing skills and write-ups.
On the other hand, if your writing is directed to express your thoughts, opinions, knowledge, and experience then you will be able to establish a better connection with your reader.
8. Think in English
Research shows that we can think in only one language and mostly it's our native language, also known as the mother tongue.
Suppose your native language is Spanish and you are expected to talk or respond in English. Then your brain will formulate your thoughts in Spanish first and then translate it into English.
As we already know, every language has its own grammatical rules, sentence structure, punctuations, etc. When you try to translate Spanish into English, your brain might follow the sentence structure of your native language while translating it to others.
This way, your thoughts might get different connotations or meaning while translation.
Thus, it is very important to start thinking in English if you want to effectively write in English.
Example of one of the greatest mistranslations: back in 1977, the President of the US, Jimmy Carter visited Poland. He was to address a polish crowd in English, so his interpreter did the translations for him and earned a hilarious place in the history for the president.
The interpreter translated “I left the United States in the morning” into “I abandoned United states this morning”.
Now you know translation can be treacherous and misleading at times. So, try to think in English while writing the same. This way the chances to commit mistakes will reduce effectively.
9. Don’t Forget Your Personal Touch
There are many ways to make your write-ups impressive even when you are not deliberately trying to do so. One such way is to add your personal touch to your writing.
Be it a personal anecdote or your sense of humor; allow your readers to feel a connection with you. This allows your readers to stay tuned to your write-up till the end.
For writers, it is vital to keep enhancing their writing skills and nurture their understanding of the language to be able to become a better and effective writer.
As a beginner, it is your duty to apply and adapt new ways to acquire new skills in writing. If you are a pro then try to nurture your writing skills. Never settle for less because constant learning is the only way to evolve as a writer. Try a new form or style of writing.
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2020 Arnaba Saha
Arnaba Saha (author) from New Delhi on May 15, 2020:
Thanks, Sneha Bhat Ji for your time and appreciation.
Frankly, these two points are my favorite as well. Hope you will enjoy my other articles on writing tips as well. Happy Reading!
Sneha Bhat from India on May 14, 2020:
Hello Madam, impressive article. Especially two points impressed me a lot; one is about 'Think in English' and theother one is about ' imagine your reader is a ten year old kid'.
Arnaba Saha (author) from New Delhi on April 30, 2020:
Hi Nikhil Ji,
I am glad you liked my hub. These are some of the tricks that I have been practicing for some time now. And they helped me grow as a writer.
Yes, "writing for 10-year-old kid" tips is my favorite. This helps me explain the hardest and most complicated ideas to my readers in simple words.
Let me know if it helped you after you applied these tips in your writing practice. All the best!
Nikhil Sharma from India on April 29, 2020:
All the points you've explained in the article are practical and easy to follow. I personally liked the second and eighth points.
Writing while thinking your audience as a 10-year-old kid is probably one of the unique tips I've heard for improving the writing. I will surely apply this technique to all my future write-ups. Hopefully, I will be able to write better for the audience. Thank you mam for sharing these extremely valuable points on writing.
Arnaba Saha (author) from New Delhi on April 28, 2020:
Thanks for your appreciation Suchismita Ji.
Suchismita Pradhan from India on April 28, 2020:
This is an insightful and informative article on writing that seems to me would be quite enjoyable. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insight. Keep up the good work.well presented article.
Halemane Muralikrishna from South India on April 13, 2020:
Very practical step-by-step strategies and important aspects to follow — writers following your key points by letter and spirit will become published authors. A very good effort to guide the budding writers, Ms Arnaba.
Prateek Jain from Madhya Pradesh, India on April 13, 2020:
I must say this is the best article i read related to writers education and skills development. This is very useful for me as well. As a writer what all points are needed to be kept in mind while drafting a article or write-up to make it a better one to read. Also the 8th point that you explained about "Think in English" is literally amazing. I mean I have heard about this thing that many writers follow this technique but your example has given a clear understanding of it. This is a must read for all the writers whether beginning their writing journey or already working in the same field. Thank you for sharing this valuable information with us.