We all want to become better writers overnight and avoid the hassle of achieving results in months or years. Fortunately, it is possible to do when following ways that actually work to do so.
Writing consists of research, grammar, strong lines, and connecting with the text or work you are trying to accomplish. In addition, you need to consider the audience.
Many factors are considered in order to improve, but today, we will be summarizing them into 30 simple tricks that will improve your writing skills in no time.
You’ll find out how to better your vocabulary, grammar skills, and even just the way that you think. The best part is that many of them are free or cost very little money.
All it takes is a bit of time and dedication from your end, so read on for some great advice!
Learn the Basics & Polish Them
Before you are able to start with the other tips and ways we have for share, ask yourself: Do I really know enough of the principle of writing and all the basics?
Many people ignore how crucial this is but notice they are nothing without them when the moment of truth comes. Thus, what about starting with this simple yet crucial method?
You don’t have to take specific classes to polish your writing in this aspect but rather take the time to pay more attention to how you write and the grammar.
Several ebooks are available for those who are unable to pay for a specific course. In addition, software like Grammarly can be very useful since the more it corrects you, the more you remember what to do and what you shouldn’t.
In our case, it has helped a lot to avoid common mistakes, punctuation, and polish what we thought we already knew.
If You Don’t Work in It, Act as You Do
Practice makes perfect, and it isn’t any different for writing. In fact, we consider it is the most important skill you need to continuously practice to finally get better.
Of course, we are here to discuss all the shortcuts that can transform you into an amazing writer overnight, but a few will include long-term work.
In this case, make sure you are always writing as if you’re working. Why? Because you are more serious but will also focus on other elements, like SEO, formal writing, and details you usually don’t use when it comes to writing for yourself.
Before we decided to work in this niche and make posts like this one, we still practiced doing every single writing like it was for work. You bet it worked.
Therefore, try to combine the thrill of writing as a hobby because you like it with what it will be when you become a professional. Or just do it like you already are one since we are sure we have more than one writer reading this.
Reading Is Your Life
Or so people say. For any writer, however, it is.
If you want to improve your writing dramatically, reading can do so for you, even literally in a night.
A daily reading habit allows you to increase your vocabulary and get used to specific styles and grammar rules. If you don’t read from others and focus on how some things are written, how can you improve what you know?
Let’s put it in this way: Reading is studying, and surprisingly, many people don’t like to read, but they like to write.
You need to find love for both if you want to be in this niche and truly improve what you know or learn what you don’t.
As much as we want to tell you to read anything, we suggest you’re a bit more selective with your choices. Continue with your favorite novels or books, but add other styles and types of literature to expand what you get from the reading.
Reading academic journals and literary fiction are only a few we would place at the top of our recommendations. They allow you to learn more complex writing projects and are completely different from what you get from pop-culture books.
To start your habit and read every day, always take a book with you wherever you go, and this will help a lot whenever you are bored or have some time to kill.
The best writers are keen readers, and reading daily will turn you into one of them more than you think.
Pay Attention to Capitalization
This feels more like a grammar lesson and trick, but it is actually a way to improve your writing in no time.
If we go back to what we mentioned about basics, this is probably the one most people ignore since it seems simple to know when to capitalize. However, it cannot always be as clear as water.
Thus, these are the elements you should always remember to capitalize:
- Proper nouns: This includes a person’s name, city, company, book, and anything that is unique and follows as a name.
- Title case: All titles should start with capitalization and, sometimes, each word of the title should be capitalized in the beginning, except for prepositions or similar words.
This includes any type of writing or format. Blogs, books, academics, or anything you might write. As long as you face any of these two elements, you must follow the rule.
Consider Your Audience
This is strongly related to the formal and informal aspects.
When writing certain types of texts or formats, most people believe that they don’t need to follow strict grammar rules. However, unless you are texting friends and loved ones, we suggest you stick to the correct grammar.
It isn’t a matter of being super formal in the words you use, but rather just use the correct words that are a bit less informal like our writing here. For instance, instead of “It isn’t” like at the beginning of this paragraph, go for the “It is not.”
In addition, you want to adjust your tone to the person or people you are writing to. Otherwise, you will either sound too formal or the opposite. Try to understand this, and you will succeed in improving your writing without a doubt.
Another Study Case: Commonly Misused Words and Phrases
It can be hard to differentiate certain words in English, especially if it isn’t your mother tongue.
Do you need a good example? Then, is it “beer,” “bear,” or “bird”? This can sound simple for some, but it can be hard for others. It is very common to misuse words and phrases even when the person writing is a native speaker.
On the other hand, there are many commonly misused words and phrases that you ought to learn.
Another example we can give you is the usual confusion between “that” and “which.” For those who don’t know, “that” helps to introduce essential information so that the sentence would make no sense without it. Moreover, it doesn’t use a comma.
With “which,” you have a word that introduces non-essential information, and a comma always precedes it.
Simple yet crucial factors like this will change the entire style and delivery of your writing.
Forget About the Word “Very”
Although the word is namely used to add more strength to something, it feels like it does the opposite. Indeed, it does.
When people use “very” in a sentence, they are achieving the opposite outcome, and instead of getting a phrase that sounds strong, it feels like the word stops the emotion from it.
Some examples include:
- She was very passionate about going to the lab.
- I’m very happy they are getting married.
- It was very nice of John to drive her home.
For some, it may sound just right. But what if you read them without “very”? Or what if you replace it with another word? For the latter, you could say “incredibly nice,” and that sounds much better for us.
It is a matter of finding better adjectives or just removing the word to avoid dilutions in the delivery.
Ask & Be Open for Feedback
If you want to become a better writer, you need someone to tell you how you are doing, your grammar, the words you are using, how you are improving your style, everything.
It is different from having the perspective of someone who is reading and, in this case, should also know what it takes to be a good writer.
Simple feedback from people you know is also welcomed, so make sure you ask your friends, coworkers, and family to take the time to read your texts for a bit.
They will help you better perceive, improve where you are failing, and grow as a writer in any theme and field.
Join a Class or Workshop (It Can Be a Free One)
This tip is usually discarded by many. If you ask us, it should be at the top of your list.
Sharing your writing with other people and learning grammar or new elements you have been missing all this time will get you better every single night.
As people who have taken a writing course and several workshops, we are always happy about our decision.
You see, we got to improve our writing and also get deeper into more elements we thought only practice would provide us.
Joining a writing class or workshop can be fun; you can learn about how to write specific genres and literature and how to avoid the common mistakes you’ve been making so far.
Imitating Isn’t the Same as Plagiarism
Is there any writer you love and look up to? What about copying their style a bit?
As mentioned in the subheading, this isn’t about plagiarism but rather taking notes of how this author writes and where you can improve your writing in terms of grammar, tone, and style.
You don’t have to go too far as to choose a book or specific author. If you read daily blogs or websites, you can identify what you like from them and imitate it a bit in your writing.
This will usually result in polishing your grammar but also how you deliver your ideas.
Many professionals and famous authors have admitted to imitating others. In fact, thanks to it, they were able to find their own style and reached the final outcome.
Thus, this is ultimately what you want to achieve.
Edit as Much as You Can & Need To
You are your best critic. Since we told you earlier to create a writing habit, this will be the introduction to becoming your own editor.
Editing is part of the writing career and field for a reason. It takes lots of knowledge, works and have a keen eye from critics.
If you read your own novels or texts, you need to make sure you understand what you did wrong based on what you continuously learn from the previous methods.
Otherwise, you won’t improve in your writing, and it will continue to be poor and bland.
We know this can be difficult. Every author loves their work, after all. But sit down for as long as you need and start thinking, “what could be better?”
From there, make as many edits as you see fit and take notes of why.
Don’t Sweat It: The First Draft Is Always Awful
This sounds more like a simple mention to accept your work. However, it is actually a way to get better.
Many writers get stuck with their first drafts and want to make them work no matter the cost. Well, that’s probably the worst thing you can do.
Inevitably, you will need to edit your writing, and this will take you to the next drafting over 99% of the time. Why? Because you will notice you are unhappy with the result.
However, do you accept it was a “failure” or stick to the idea of making it work? If it is the latter, you are just going in circles.
Thus, meditate and remember: You won’t get it the first time.
It is very hard for us to mention someone that just took a piece of paper, wrote on it, and achieved the result at once. It is simply impossible.
Be a bit gentler with yourself and less attached to using a specific draft. Improve it, and this is, logically, improving your writing.
Get Rid of Words that Aren’t Needed
Overly complex sentences. Do they sound familiar?
Some people use them depending on their writing content and if they want to add a different tone to their writing. However, they are not the best choice 90% of the time.
The best option is to eliminate unnecessary words and make sure your message is delivered properly. Shorter sentences have proven to achieve a more significant impact and avoid making people want to stop reading.
Don’t get us wrong; you can add some sassy elements and words, but keep it short and ensure people won’t feel they are going in circles because of them.
If you take a read at news portals or even your favorite reader and blog, they avoid complex sentences and try to find words that fix what they are explaining, even when some readers might not understand them at once.
In addition to this, we have to include the standard comma instead of a full stop. English is about dividing through declarative or independent clauses. This is why full stops are more used in the language than in others.
More You & “Less” Others
Although we mentioned imitating, you should always add your personal touch. With personal, we mean what you actually think and want to share.
It is a common mistake among beginners and even professionals to be stuck in what others are doing. As a result, what they are writing turns out to be dull.
You want to be the writer of a great blog, novel, book, or just anything you are working on. Hence, add your thoughts and “voice” to everything you do and prioritize it all the time.
This doesn’t mean you should ignore grammar because that’s not how you usually write. It means you need to follow what you’re thinking and show it in your writing.
This will help you find your own style and avoid plagiarism in the future.
Always Do Your Research
Natural yet ignored. If you are writing about the history of Korea or what you ate yesterday and why it tasted so good, you need to do your research.
Many writers ignore how crucial this part is and choose to start writing without the right information.
Following the previous examples, you probably know nothing about Korea’s history, and even if you do, are you certain about the facts?
For the meal you had yesterday, do you actually understand why it tasted so good? Was it because of the ingredients or the preparation? Maybe both?
All this can be determined with your research. Moreover, this helps you add facts to your writing that say, “I know what I am writing about and have proved it myself.”
When you do your research, you write more about facts, serious aspects and feel confident you know the topic. When you don’t, you usually make mistakes like filling spaces to fake you know what you are doing.
It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect at Once
Following the previous trick about accepting your first draft isn’t great, we enter this part: You need to understand it won’t be perfect.
It can sound a bit harsh, but it is a fact. As happy as an author or writer can be about their work, there’s always something they want to change.
Add more details, remove others, follow a different storyline or idea. There’s so much we can list that we don’t feel we will end today. Thus, what you need to understand is that your work must be perfect to a certain extension.
Take the time to review, proofread, edit, and change elements in your work. Doing so will improve your writing since those are some of the methods we have mentioned.
However, when you are able to get all the details in terms of grammar and build properly, there’s nothing more you should do.
Get your work done and learn as much as you can from it and make it as good as you can. However, don’t get stuck with it for months or years.
What does this have to do with becoming a better writer? You will know when to let things go, understand that you did your best, and learn from the mistakes you possibly made during the last t you wrote.
It is more a mental improvement than action.
Write-In a Place You Can Relax
If you can avoid distraction, your work will come out to be better.
Even when you could be someone who doesn’t feel bothered by music or other sounds, you might want to try something different.
Have you ever been to a quiet place or, at least, a relaxing one? There, you could spend your time writing without anyone being a nuisance or distraction.
In our case, we are the type of people who likes to listen to music. However, we have confirmed that distractions, even when we can handle them, are just that.
In other words, they are influencing your writing, and unless they are an actual inspiration for your work, there’s no point in letting them be.
Therefore, we would recommend you to get rid of everything around you and do your best to get a place where your concentration allows you to boost your writing skills.
Keep Your Ideas Jotted Down
You can keep a small notebook with you and use it to write down ideas for stories, articles, novels, or characters. You can also note any conversation you hear.
Take notes of plot twists, visual details, and fragments from song lyrics or poems that interest you. These ideas can be a source of inspiration or even help you to write.
We always keep a list with post ideas that we want to include on the blog and add to it regularly. This also helps to keep things fresh. Haven’t you gone through one of those moments when having the perfect idea, yet you forget it when it is the moment to write it?
You can also have a board or anything that is comfortable for you. The idea is to take notes wherever you go, though. Thus, this one is more for whenever you are in your writing station.
Taking notes helps to become a better writer since you have your ideas together. You don’t get confused about what you thought or wanted to a specific scene or content.
Create a Plan Before Writing
Writing whenever you feel like it is great for improving. However, if you are working on something very specific that will be shared, it is a good idea to plan or do pre-writing before you start the actual deal.
Think about it while running or walking around to brainstorm. Then, write down your thoughts and outline the details.
When you feel ready, you can just sit down and start writing the text.
This will help you have a better course of the story, concepts clear, and guarantee you are not going over unnecessary steps (and words as before).
Sometimes, Conversational Is Better
This feels a bit odd to be a trick, but it will work quite well for those who write blogs, informal or semi-formal texts, and want to add some fun.
Since many people write too stiffly, the tone doesn’t go well with the text they’re trying to write.
For blogs like this and other similar styles to write as if you were talking without the unnecessary words and previous elements. Though, contractions are often allowed.
Although it is not an easy task, it is something you should strive for. This brings us to another point: It is better to break grammar rules to sound conversational than to sound stilted to follow the correct rules.
We know it is contradictory. You shouldn’t ignore grammar rules, but you should know when it could be a good fit for the sake of your text—mostly online ones.
Write in Different Platforms & Genres
Although most writers gravitate towards one genre and stick to their comfort zone, it is important to practice writing across genres, styles, and platforms, even if you are just doing this for creative purposes.
If you are a fiction writer, try applying your creativity to a work email. Or write an informative blog post. If it is the opposite, dive into a completely different genre.
Every day brings new opportunities for writers to improve. Don’t limit yourself to published books or manuscripts or the comfort zone you are so, well, comfortable with.
Try to write the best emails, texts messages, journal entries, and memos you can. Anything you write must be the best you could do based on the type.
Learn to Make Powerful Word & Sentences
Concise sentences are key to powerful sentences. You can remove any unnecessary words or “fluff” during editing, but strong verbs will make your sentences more powerful.
This can feel similar to removing unnecessary words. However, this one is more about making the sentences more powerful yourself.
For instance, verbs (or action words) can be weak or strong depending on how clear they communicate the action. Weak verbs are usually some like: stand, talk and walk. After all, to fully describe what they do, they need a qualifier.
Strong verbs are words that add additional information about an action, such as emotion or intention, speed, significance, or direction. They also eliminate the need to provide unnecessary descriptions.
It Isn’t Bad to Write for Yourself
Write about what you love. Professional writers might constantly be writing content on different topics. Writing about your interests can help you recharge your writing skills and improve since your mind will be fresh.
Write down some topics that you have always wanted to write about. Do not worry about whether you will share them or not. For now, just write them.
Get Rid of Your Habit Words
Just like unnecessary ones, you can’t add the words you would usually use while you speak. On the other hand, you constantly use those every time you write any type of text.
We used to use the expression “carry out” quite a lot. However, we noticed how much we would expand it to any text we created. After removing it and using similar ones to express the same, every writing project got much better.
The same happens with other words or habits you may have during your writing sessions.
Observe yourself and get rid of them.
Outlines Are Your Friends
Even for experienced writers, the blinking cursor on a blank page can be a formidable foe.
Before you start writing, make a sketch of the outline. This will help you win the war. Without a plan, many writers will sit down to create anything and don’t understand what they want to achieve.
A simple outline does not have to be complicated. An outline can be as simple as a list of sections that should appear in a particular order and a few sentences about each section.
Your outline may need to be more detailed if the topic you are tackling is complex. However, having an outline is like having a map in your car’s glove box before going on a road trip. You can refer to your outline if you feel lost.
Stroll Down Memory Lane
We have been writing professionally for a long time. If we take a look at some of our previous work, we will definitely hate it.
Writing will never be perfect, and you will feel there’s something to improve all the time. In this case, to get better, it’s a great way to see how far you have come.
You should reread old work every now and then, but not too often. This will allow you to marvel at how much you have improved since then—Pat yourself on the back. Don’t be ashamed to acknowledge your hard work.
But also determine what you continue repeating or needs to be improved to be a better writer.
Start Strong but Also End Strong
Your writing’s most important parts are the beginning and end. Between them, the beginning is the most important.
If it doesn’t grab people’s attention, they won’t read any further. Spend some time writing a great beginning after you have completed your first draft.
Make them curious and want to learn more. Once you are done, create a great ending that will make them want more and come for your next works.
This will help you continuously improve how you write your stories but also any other type of text. Engagement is always key and part of what a writer needs.
Don’t Push Yourself Too Hard
Writing can sometimes be difficult because we get so attached and invested in our work that it becomes impossible to let go. This doesn’t sound so bad, but it is important to schedule some exercise time, such as a walk or another form of movement.
It’s a great way to relax and recharge your creative juices by getting out in the fresh air.
Spend an hour in a park or forest nearby, or, if you feel adventurous, take a drive to a lake, mountain, or another natural area. You’ll feel refreshed and ready for writing again.
This can help to improve your writing since you won’t feel overwhelmed with everything.
Create Your Writing Ritual
You can save time and get great results by choosing a time during the day when you can focus on writing without distractions. Make it a routine.
Mornings are perfect for most people because their neighbors and loved ones are usually asleep. Others prefer to write at night.
Make it a priority to do every day, no matter what you like. It is sufficient to write for 30 minutes to an hour each day to keep you engaged.
Writing for several hours a day is necessary to be a full-time author. Writing is easier if you do it more often, as we previously mentioned as well.
Avoid Cliches
Clichés are simple to remember, but they can be boring.
It is difficult for readers to focus on your message because they are bored with how you are sharing it.
Keep writing down any ideas that come to mind. You will save a lot of energy and time by coming up with new ways to describe people and places instead of using the usual clichés.
This will dramatically improve how you set every aspect and detail of your text.
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