Writing is definitely not for the faint hearted and although it seems pretty easy to do, it is not. There are moments when writers have no idea what to do next. When hit with the proverbial writer’s block, a lot of writers start questioning their own ability to write well. Just like with every other skill in the world, writing requires practice to attain perfection. Keep in mind that perfect just means writing well, because there’s no such thing as flawless writing. If you are able to communicate your message effectively, you are already halfway there.
A good writer should have the ability to engage an audience with relative ease. It is also important for writers to seem as natural as possible. Let’s not even mention how grammar can positively or negatively affect your script. In order for you to get all of these factors right, you need to improve your writing skills on a daily basis. These are a few tips and exercises you can do to help you through the process of improving your writing skills without searching for a paraphrasing software online.
How to Improve Your Writing Skills
Random sentence building
This is definitely a very effective exercise when it comes to improving your writing skills. Open a book and look at a sentence. Use that sentence to create the beginning of a story of your own. With this exercise, you employ the sentence and repose on it. Your story can go anywhere once you have already made your start. Your story doesn’t need to be even remotely similar to the story from which you picked the sentence. With this technique, you’re not only practicing your actual writing, but you’re also working towards enhancing your creativity.
Take the Help of Guides
Start with a topic that you know enough about to start writing a guide. This one really challenges the brain and allows you to come up with steps you did not even know existed. You can also use this as a research opportunity to increase your knowledge on the subject. There is always more to learn about any topic and the deeper you dig, the more you learn. You can always use this guide as an actual piece of work if it turns out to be good. Find a good paraphrasing tool online to help you when you are stuck.
Read Read Read
Technically, this isn’t a ‘writing exercise’ for obvious reasons, you still need to read in order to become a better writer. Just like you need to watch sports in order to get some cues for your own practice drills, you need to read to sharpen your writing skills. To make someone else read what you wrote, you need to take inspiration from something you read. When you read, your mind is relaxed and you can enjoy the process while learning. There is so much good that can come from reading and the benefits to writers are endless. When you are busy reading a completely unique piece of literature, try to understand and absorb the techniques that the writers use. You can emulate those techniques or develop your own writing style based on them. People often say that the best way to learn how to write, is to read voraciously. Reading in English is useful in many ways. It is an excellent tool for understanding the various styles of writing and proper usage of words. Choose books or articles with topics that interest you. Learning shouldn’t be boring. Read each text several times to form sure you understand the way to use new words and expressions within the text.
Be Careful with Your Spellings
Needless to say, incorrect spellings can make even the most creatively thought out article fall flat on its face. You must learn to be accurate with your spellings to improve your writing skills. The minutest of spelling mistakes can change the meaning of your sentences. For example: ‘bare’ and ‘bear’ sound exactly the same but ‘bare’ means naked/uncovered while a ‘bear’ is a large, furry, omnivorous animal. Additionally, incorrect spelling makes it difficult for the reader to know what you’ve written. Even spacing errors can bring a drastic change to the meaning you are trying to convey through your content. An unwanted space can turn ‘therapist’ into ‘the rapist’.
Watch Movies
This is definitely the most fun way to improve your writing skills. Who doesn’t like watching movies after all? Choose two of your favorite movies and select your favorite scenes in each one. Then you would like to use these scenes and find out a storyline if you were to mix the two plots. You already love the movies, so you should be pretty hyped up about it at the start. Now, you want to include all the characters in your scenes into this one script. Make it as exciting as your imagination allows, or just write an uneventful story. The idea here isn’t to win an Academy Award , it’s more about having a fun exercise to help with improving your skills. You really have nothing to lose in this instance, but a lot of knowledge and skills to gain.
Work On Your Grammar
Grammar is extremely important because it improves the standard of your writing. Always use the acceptable tense and remember to use punctuation. Correct punctuation goes a long way into improving the readability and quality of the content that you write.
Always proof-read your writing at least twice. And take a short break between finishing your draft and proof reading. The mind needs to rest in order to re-focus. Great grammar is essential for improving your writing skills.
Build Your Vocabulary
To express yourself clearly, you must have an active vocabulary. That’s not just having the ability to recognise many words – it means actually having the ability to use them correctly. To expand your vocabulary, don’t just memorize endless word lists. Learn the meanings by using those words in sentences. This will help you understand the meaning and usage of the words much better. Once you learn a replacement word, go ahead and learn the different versions of that word. After that, try and learn the prepositions that are usually used with it. (For example, instead of just learning the word ‘depend’, make a note of: to depend upon, to be hooked in to , a dependant). Whether it’s Italian Sentence Construction or English, building a good vocabulary is very important.
Summarize Large Chunks of Text
A challenging task for many writers is to summarize a large amount of content. As writers, we like to write often and tons, so it’s almost going against the grain when having to summarize anything. A paraphrasing tool comes in handy, but try and do it on your own. You do not have to start with a big task at first. Perhaps take a 2000 word article and try and summarize it into 100 words. As you improve, you can always use this exercise on a short story or something even bigger (perhaps even War and Peace). You will challenge your brain and your writing skills are going to be greatly improved.
How to improve your writing skills: Conclusion
Becoming a great writer takes a lot of time, patience and perseverance. There isn’t really a shortcut or “hack” to become a better writer. Just like a writer or an artist, you must practice your craft every day. Many writers have a minimum amount of words they would ideally like to write a day. This helps with consistency and this is very important for writers who want to improve their writing skills. Creating a new habit will take some time, but after a while, you will find your perfect routine. You don’t need to start with 3000 words of writing every day, you can start with 300 words if you like. However, you must write at least 300 words everyday. The key is to write at a consistent pace, and not write 5000 words one day and nothing for a week after that. Writing can be daunting. However, the simplest way to improve is to put your pen to paper or sit in front of your laptop and type away. Be prepared to write down several versions of every text because even for professional writers, the primary draft is almost never perfect. Just remember the simple philosophy of ‘practice makes perfect’ and don’t get disheartened by slow progress in the beginning. Work at improving your writing skills every day, you will be surprised with the results.