Five Steps to Better Writing

Whether you have been writing for 20 years or are just sitting down to write your first blog entry, you can improve your writing. It will take work, and it won't happen overnight, but you can do it. If you follow these five steps, you can become a better writer.

1. Learn the Rules

If you are new to writing, there are some basics that you need to learn. At a minimum, you need correct grammar and spelling. A great way to learn the rules in writing is to take some courses. If you are rusty on grammar, take a class at your local library. The same thing goes for learning about style and other technical aspects of writing.

2. Brevity

Unless you are trying to write amazing, powerful copy and really want long, wordy strings of adjectives and descriptive, flowery prose, you should seldom write a sentence like this one. Your writing should be concise. This means using the fewest words possible to convey your meaning. Anytime you can replace a phrase with a word, or two sentences with one more concise one, your writing will be and water it down. Using long words where shorter ones would do can make your writing pretentious and harder to read.

3. Know Your Audience

It is important to match your writing to your intended readers. The tone and vocabulary that you use in an academic paper should be different from that of your blog posts. A newspaper article should not sound the same as a children's book. This is where the rules you learned about person and style come in. For example, a more informal style is acceptable for most internet writing. You will often address the reader, something which is never done in academic papers. Writing for the Internet needs to get to the point quickly and keep the reader's attention. Short sentences and short paragraphs are the norms.

Academic writing, on the other hand, requires a more formal tone. These papers are almost always written in the third person. This doesn't mean academic writing should be winded and verbose, though. Concise writing is still important.

4. Read, Read, Read

Want to improve your writing? Then read! Read the classics. Read internet articles. Read newspapers, magazines and books. When you read these things, you will leam how other people write. You will leam how great authors use words to inspire or entertain you. You will leam how jarring it is when poor authors use phasing and grammar incorrectly. All of these things will be stored in your brain, ready for you to use when you write.

5. Write, Write, Write

You've learned the rules. You've taken courses. Along the way, you've been reading everything from Dr. Seuss to Faulkner. Now start writing! Write opinion letters to your newspaper. Start a newsletter about your favorite hobby. Start a blog. The internet offers virtually endless opportunities for writers to practice their craft. Critique your writing often. Make sure you are using correct grammar and style. Check your spelling. If you can, let someone else read and comment on your writing. These are things that will help you keep improving. Writing well is a skill that can be leamed. Start with a good foundation in grammar, spelling and style and go from there.

Follow these five steps and you can become a better writer.