24 Quick Tips That Will Improve Your Writing

24 Quick Tips That Will Improve Your Writing24 Quick Tips That Will Improve Your Writing Every day, we write college papers, blog posts, work documents, emailles and social media updates. Our writing represents who we are personally and professionally, so its worth it to hone your skills. Here are twenty-five tips to help you communicate better in text.Maybe you want to write a certain number of words per day or upgrade your vocabulary. You cant reach a goal unless you have one , so write that goal down and work toward it.For many people, writing comes easier right after a good nights sleep. Grammarlys research also shows early birds make fewer writing mistakes .Heres a tip Grammarly runs on powerful algorithms developed by the worlds leading linguists, and it can save you from misspellings, hundreds of types of grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and words that are spelled right but used in the wrong context. Learn moraBefore you begin writing, do some reconnaiss ance reading. Take notes as you read up on your subject material. Ideas will form as you research.Heres a tip Once youve jumped into the writing process, dont stop to do more research. Instead, add a placeholder like RESEARCH and keep rolling. You can come back to finalize facts and add references when your first draft is finished.If you often find yourself rambling on without a clear structure, start with an outline. Follow this simple, no-fail outlining process to organize yourself from the start.Brevity is important in professional communication . Respect your colleagues time by knowing exactly what you need to communicate before you begin writing so you can keep your message concise.Does the person youre communicating with have the same information and frame of reference you do? If not, make sure you provide context. You dont have to give the entire backstory, just fill in the missing pieces so your message will be clear.Use good email formatting structure . Write an enticing s ubject line so your recipient is compelled to open your email. Understand proper email salutations and closings .Yes, you might be irked at your colleague for dropping the ball on that project and making you look bad, but dont send emails when youre still fuming. If you must write when emotions are hot, do it offline. Walk away for at least twelve hours, then edit with a calm head.Heres a tip Dont treat email as anything less than an extension of your professional persona . The way you communicate in professional settings reflects on you in a potentially lasting way.Typos and grammar gaffes make you look bad. Scan your email and fix errors before you send it. Youll look your best when your correspondence is mistake-freeYour writing should sound natural and fluid. Unless youre communicating in a more formal context, write as though youre talking to a friend.We just said Write like you talk, but theres a caveat - dont ramble. Avoid winding twists and turns, and dont use filler words such as like , really and you know . Good writing should get to the point and avoid fluff.No matter what the message, we humans are drawn to stories. Consider Pixars guide Once upon a time there welches ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.Empathy can improve all kinds of writing, from fiction to content marketing to email outreach. Take the time to put yourself in your readers place. Are you preaching to them, or are you engaging them by showing that you relate to their feelings and experiences?The more interested you are about the subject youre writing about, the more intrigued your readers will be with what youve written.Heres a tip Faced with less-than-inspiring subject material for an assigned project? Find a fascinating angle for your story. With the right approach, its even possible to write an interesting story about something unappealing.Whenever possible, dont edit just after youve finished writing. Come back af ter a break and review with fresh eyes. Even stepping away for a quick walk or a cup of coffee can help you shift gears from writer to editor.When you edit, its time to cut the fluff. Every word needs a job, and those that arent pulling their weight have to go. Heres our list of words and phrases you can eliminate right now .Get rid of fruchtwein adverbs and use stronger verb choices instead . When you do, ran swiftly becomes darted and cried pitifully becomes wailed . Remember what Stephen King said I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs.The comma is a misunderstood punctuation mark. There are a number of rules for proper comma usage, but if you study them, theyll become second nature. Heres a quick guide . And heres another that lists the most common comma struggles and how to solve them .We often write in the order that ideas and thoughts come to us, but thats not always the best way to present the final product.Heres a tip If you didnt outline before you began writi ng, try outlining your finished draft. Sometimes, the process of outlining a finished draft will reveal paragraphs or whole sections that would make more sense if they were moved.One of the best ways to find clumsy sentence structure is to read your writing aloud. If you stumble as youre reading, take a look at the sentence you tripped over and see if you can clear it up.We all have our writing struggles. Make a list of your most frequent mistakes so you can easily find and eliminate them next time.Heres a tip Let Grammarly do the tracking for you Members receive free weekly email insights , which include not only statistics about their writing habits and level of mastery, but their top writing mistakes.Sometimes a second pair of eyes can prove helpful. Just remember the mnemonic, TWYWALTR - in creative circles, it means Take What You Want And Leave The Rest. Give all the advice you receive your full consideration, but make your own choices in the end.Editing yourself is hard. Gram marlys app can help you find all kinds of writing errors . Think of it as a helpful friend looking over your shoulder and saying, Hey, that doesnt seem quite right. Want to take another look?Read about writing. (Youre here, so youre off to a good start) Read in general, and youll learn style and grammar by osmosis. And practice often. The best way to improve your writing is by doing it. OnwardThis article was originally published on Grammarly . It is reprinted with permission.