Improving your writing skills is easy if you’re focused on it. Once you know the right practices, you can use your writing skills to publish books and play your part in improving society. Keep reading this blog to find eleven tips you can adopt to sharpen your writing skills the right way!
- Join writing classes
You won’t find it easy to identify and fix your mistakes as a writer. It’s better to get assistance from an experienced writer who can review your writing and give you some actionable tips.
Enrolling in a class is the best way to sharpen your writing skills. For example, creative writing classes can help you get more comfortable with writing and express your thoughts comfortably.
You don’t necessarily have to join a college to get better at writing. If you don’t have a lot of free time, you can join online classes and learn at your own pace.
- Read more books
It’s important to read famous books if you want to get better at writing. Reading books that have fascinated readers over the years allows you to identify the elements that differentiate “good” books from “worthless” books.
You don’t have to spend a lot of time reading books every single day. It’s better to set some time aside from your daily routine to read books of your favorite genre. Make sure that your reading routine does not stop you from doing other important activities.
- Start with outlines
Most newbie writers think they should not follow any “restrictions” and write whatever comes to their mind. It’s true that you should allow yourself to write how you want, but it doesn’t mean you don’t have to focus on productivity.
It’s essential to follow a pattern if you want to publish your books. An outline is a pattern that allows you to streamline your ideas and present your thoughts.
- Follow a routine
You should set achievable writing goals if you want to complete your book without wasting your time. The simple way you can achieve your goals is to follow a routine. A proper writing routine allows you to sit down and “write” instead of focusing on other activities.
Creating and following a routine is not as difficult as you might think. You should set some time aside from your daily routine to focus on writing. Make sure you get rid of distractions when you sit down to write, so you can get the most out of your time.
- Connect with writers
You should know how other writers are focusing on their writing routine so you can also optimize your journey as a writer. The best way to connect with other writers is to join a writer’s club in your area.
Joining a club gives you access to writers and other professionals who know a lot about the publishing industry. You can also communicate with writers in a writer’s club to learn how you can overcome obstacles as a writer.
In some cases, you might not be able to find a writer’s club in your area. You should join online communities to connect with new writers in no time.
- Prioritize your readers
If you want to sell more copies of your books and become famous as a writer, you have to prioritize your readers.
Remember that your job as a writer is to entertain, engage, and educate your readership. You won’t be able to achieve these goals if you are focused on “yourself” in your writing. You must present the topic in such a way that it persuades your readers.
A simple trick that can help you get closer to your readers is doing research. Proper research allows you to find out specific topics that engage readers in your target audience.
- Portray yourself
Prioritizing the readers doesn’t mean you have to “neglect” yourself. Your readers will find your books “boring” if you don’t sound different from other writers. Therefore, you should learn how to use your writer’s voice in your books.
Having a specific writer’s voice will allow you to get recognition as a writer. You can read this short guide to learn how to identify your writer’s voice.
- Be straightforward
Beating about the bush won’t help you at all as a writer. When writing, you must stick to one topic and avoid sharing any information your readers won’t find valuable.
The best way to ensure you don’t “skedaddle” when writing is to follow an outline. Your outline allows you to cover all the details of the topic or story you’ve chosen. Make sure you follow your outline and don’t steer away from the main theme.
- Participate in competitions
How can you ensure that your writing skills are top-notch? Besides joining a class, you should also participate in writing competitions to find mistakes in your writing style.
Writing competitions allow you to find writers and mentors who can help you on your writing journey. Some writing competitions also offer prize money that you can use to buy new books.
Exploring different writing competitions is not as difficult as many people think. You can search for different writing competitions that allow newbie writers to participate. Other than that, you can also visit a local library to learn about writing competitions.
- Use writing tools
Gone are the days when writers had to rely on professionals to improve their manuscripts. Using online tools, you can easily boost your productivity, find mistakes in your drafts, and learn how to engage your readers.
Some of the famous writing tools are:
- Grammarly
- Evernote
- Google Docs
- LibreOffice
- Mellel
- Edit ruthlessly
Remember that you cannot write the “best” book in the world right off the bat. If you want more people to read your books, you have to ensure that your books are free of grammatical or factual mistakes.
Learning how to edit your manuscript is not an easy job. It’s better to rely on a skilled editor if you don’t have time to learn editing from scratch.
However, if you have free time and want to improve your skills, you should enroll in online classes to learn how to edit.
