16 Simple Steps Towards Becoming a Better Writer
Posted on September 10, 2007
Becoming a better writer is possible for everyone, no matter your educational level or experience. Whether writing an email, a blog post, comments on another blog, or a report at work this skill can be strengthened through some simple steps.
Apply these ideas and I promise you will improve your writing or your money back. 
- Read literature a trifle more challenging. Two of my favorite books to read are the King James Bible and Shakespeare. No kidding. Both books will change your life. OK, call me weird, but every once in a while I get in a quirky mood and read through "Much Ado About Nothing" when I’m in a romantic mood or "Hamlet" when I’m in a more somber mood. Great stuff.
- Read well-written blogs, magazines, side-walk graffiti. I read many blogs and revisit few. Even some of the more popular rags don’t hold my attention. When you find a blog that is well-written, read every word written by the author and learn from their style. One of my favorite magazines is Fast Company which by the way, has an excellent website as well.
- Proof it like you were in geometry class. No matter what you are writing, take the time to check your work. Editing your work is essential to becoming a better writer. Print it out, preview before posting, review after posting, correct spelling and grammatical errors.
- Don’t be redundant, saying the same thing over and over and over again. As much as possible, steer clear of using the same verbiage in a given post.
- Become a foxy speller. Firefox has a built-in nifty spell checker that underlines questionable words in form fields.
Use the tools Luke. Constantly hit dictionary.com and thesaurus.com to look-up words. I use it for posts, comments and anything else I’m writing. Add the dictionary.com button to your browser for quick reference, as pictured to the right.- Ask your significant other or brother or mother to read your work. My dear wife periodically will review a post or other key writing projects when I get stumped on some phrase. It’s a huge help.
- Set small, tangible goals for yourself. If spelling is your greatest struggle, try for 30 days to proof and look-up every questionable word.
- Outline it, then write it. Sometimes when writing, it helps to get the main points on paper and then go back and write out the more eloquent prose.
- Write to a person not a post. Think of a specific reader and write as if they were the sole audience for the post. This can be an amazing visual tool.
- Look-up words you don’t know. When you are in a conversation or reading, find out what a word means. Do this at least once a day and you’ll quickly strengthen your vocabulary.
- Mimic other writers. As you discover writing that you enjoy, implement some of their style and way of phrasing information. Just like children imitate their parents, we can learn from those we read.
- Find your voice. Listen for your unique way of communicating information and cultivate that style.
- Exercise your writing muscle. The more you write, the better communicator you will become. Writing is as much a marathon as it is an artistic work of art. In fact, probably more so.
- Write fewer posts. If you find yourself to be a prolific writer but producing a great amount of errors, slow-down, check your spelling, sentence and paragraph structure. Raise the bar and you’re readership will grow, I promise.
- Say more with less. If you can convey the same information with less words, do it. Your writing will pack a greater punch.
What other tips, tools or methods do you use to improve your writing?
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15 Responses to “16 Simple Steps Towards Becoming a Better Writer”
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Well done. I think reading in general does a great deal to enhance writing. Whether it be Nobel prizing winning fiction, a trashy novel, or a well-crafted cereal box, everything we read adds to our understanding of language.
I also like to focus on the needs of my particular audience. I work at a university where some will clutter their language with technical jargon, or undue complexity. In an effort to combat such habits I wrote this blog entry on Writing to be understood by your audience.
Heidi, Thanks for your comment. Your article is excellent. Very good discussion about keeping the information clean and to the point.
Some people have blogs that they have created, not because they want to have an immensely huge readership. They might just want to find a like-minded people and share their innermost thoughts and desires and fears with them. I feel people who are writing with the intention of creating a high traffic blog and people who just want to let loose and share would necessarily have different priorities and a different audience and we can’t judge either…
Random, You make a very good point in terms of intentions for a blog. This post is not meant to be a critical analysis of personal blogs, and certainly not with a thought of judging any specific blog. I have struggled in my life to become a better writer and know folks feel challenged in this area. These are just tips I’ve used to improve my writing skills that have really worked for myself.
A side note though, depending on your professional pursuits, I would not underestimate the impression personal blogs leave on potential employers and co-workers. I think yours is great, so this is no dig at all, just something for folks to consider. That’s really a whole other discussion.
Great tips Phil!
#17 should be to start a blog of your own. Especially if you care about the topic. Personally, becoming a better writer is the primary reason that I started a blog in the first place. We all know that practice makes perfect, and writing posts is exactly that, practice.
Another bonus to having a blog based on a topic you care about is that you are constantly double checking yourself. I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to verify the simplest thing that I was about to write. After all, I would hate to look like a fool. (See, I just scrolled up to make sure you left off at 16)
Mike, that’s an excellent point and so very true. Since blogging I have revitalized and constantly worked on my written ability. So true, writing about something you care about has many positive outcomes. Good thoughts Mike.
Excellent suggestions, Phil. And I really enjoy Fast Company as well. Their articles are extremely interesting, well-written, and inspirational. Thanks for the Firefox tip — I didn’t know about that one…
Kelly, Glad it was informative, especially the Firefox tip. I’m always so enamored by the more effective use of the web browser. I suppose that’s obvious with my posts, but I find huge efficiencies in doing much of my work web-based. Even website creation itself.
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Useful tips, well organised.
Typo at the end of #9: “eloquent pros.” should I think, read “eloquent prose.” Write out #3 100 times
Colin, Thanks for the comments and catching the typo. I knew of all posts that I’d have a mistake in there somewhere. Even proofing it, still missed one. I’ll start my writing drill right now. That’s really funny, hehe.
Hi Phil,
Thanks for this great tips! I agree with you that one can really improve their writing by reading the Bible. Writing well is one of my goals. Phil you are indeed good in writing!
Best Wishes
Let’s Acquire Wisdom and Live with Passion
Sam, Thanks for the comment. I’m glad the tips are helpful. It’s encouraging to me that it’s possible to improve ones writing ability. I wish I had as methodical of methods to improve my verbal communication.
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