Improving your writing

[Shaden]

What tips do you have to become a better communicator and writer?

One of the tips I have to share with you is to practise, practise, practise. Writing is a skill that can be significantly improved simply by repeatedly attempting it and building up a natural flow over time. I think one of the reasons why I manage to write with the confidence that I do, is that I write for my hobby - I'm familiar with the basic elements of writing.

A lot of my friends ask me how I write so effectively for my age. How I manage to achieve such cohesion and composition. Usually I just give them a blank stare. I have no idea what they are talking about when they ask me these questions. For me writing is a natural process, there is no need to pin it down within any kind of literary paradigm. But five years ago I wasn't necessarily a good writer. Because I practised so much between then and now, I have significantly boosted my skill with writing - and there was no need to teach myself any particular style.

Reading is another excellent way to learn how to write properly. A lot of the techniques, styles and mannerisms of different authors are just absorbed into our heads. I remember when I first started to read a book a week - sentences would just seem to flow naturally. I was quite surprised at first, but I eventually became used to this flow. Quite often I'll write 50-100 words without stopping before going back over what I've written and smoothing the edges.

Do you have any advice for how to become a better writer?

[SamBeaven]

There are plenty of books on the subject, but I'd say the best one is Amazon.co.uk: The Elements of Style (Elements of Style (Paperback)): Books: William I. Strunk,E.B. White Strunk & White[/url]. It's very dense and packed full of rules on how to be a better writer and, by extension, better thinker. Or at least better communicator.

[gberardi]

Originally Posted by SamBeaven

It's very dense and packed full of rules on how to be a better writer and, by extension, better thinker. Or at least better communicator.

It also fits in your pocket. Very convenient.

[Cassie]

The key for myself was consistently writing. I force myself to write at least twenty minutes each day. I have noticed a remarkable difference.

[helgi]

I picked up a couple of books on writing a few months ago, in an effort to get serious about writing; The Elements of Style, and On Writing Well by William Zinsser. Also, I recommend Stephen King's autobiography On Writing -- I've read and listened to that book probably more than 10 times through, having never even read any of his fiction. It's good.

Becoming a better writer is probably just as simple as everyone says it is: read and write a lot, and then you start to pick up on things naturally from there. Noticing patterns and methods, etc.

My writing has improved considerably over the past few years, mostly through reading books and writing a journal, but it's only recently that I begun consciously trying to become better at it. And so I'm very interested in hearing what people have to say on this.

Steve?

[Shaden]

The key for myself was consistently writing. I force myself to write at least twenty minutes each day. I have noticed a remarkable difference.

At the moment I'm writing an average of two hours a day. My skill is increasing at an unprecedented level and I'm really excited where I might be in a year or two. This is the fundamental advantage of starting early. I can't wait

[Lucas]

"The Elements of Style" and "On Writing" are probably my favorite books on writing...but the biggest factor, I think, is to read more often.

[dor]

I second the nomination for Strunk and White, and read this:
probably the best essay ever on the subject
George Orwell: Politics and the English Language
Politics and the English Language
he really...umm brings the point home in this passage:
....
Now that I have made this catalogue of swindles and perversions, let me give another example of the kind of writing that they lead to. This time it must of its nature be an imaginary one. I am going to translate a passage of good English into modern English of the worst sort. Here is a well-known verse from Ecclesiastes:

I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Here it is in modern English:

Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account
.....
I think the following rules will cover most cases:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

[chopsaw]

I'd also include Orwell's "Why I Write" and Francine Prose's "Reading Like a Writer." And read with a dictionary, it's amazing the insights you'll gain when you know the multiple meanings of the words, and how they can be interpreted.

[dor]

Originally Posted by chopsaw

I'd also include Orwell's "Why I Write" and Francine Prose's "Reading Like a Writer." And read with a dictionary, it's amazing the insights you'll gain when you know the multiple meanings of the words, and how they can be interpreted.

and listen to gilbert & sullivan - talk about mastery of the english language:

I know our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's;
I answer hard acrostics, I've a pretty taste for paradox,
I quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus,
In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous;
I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies,
I know the croaking chorus from the Frogs of Aristophanes!
Then I can hum a fugue of which I've heard the music's din afore,
And whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore.

CHORUS

Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform,
And tell you ev'ry detail of Caractacus's uniform:

[Pegasus]

I learned a lot about how to write essays by walking around university libraries and reading academic journals. Professionals break the rules all the time! You know, rules such as don’t use first or second person, don’t end a sentence with a preposition, don’t use contractions, etc. Once I realized that rules serve as mere guidelines, my writing became unhindered and began to flow more naturally. In addition, reading is a great way to learn different writing styles and to build a vocabulary, both of which facilitate clear expression.

[MisterEThoughts]

anyone else? Thank You! all...

[Shaden]

Well I just compared the first article to my latest article on my blog and I've come to the conclusion, looking at them, that the best way to become a better writer is to just practise like mad.

[John Wesley]

I think one of the things that has helped me is reading difficult books. If you read the best writers who ever lived, it definitely rubs off a bit.

Practice is also important and also self editing. You need to reread things you written and find the parts that suck. One of the things I always try to focus on is using as few words as possible. The less words you use to get your point across the better. This leads to simpler more stylish prose that is easy to understand.

[Pat P.]

I would add the following practice: try to get out of the way of your own writing. By this I mean, try to separate (or decouple) the creative you from the critic.

There is a moment for both - actually, there is an ongoing interaction between both stages - but a common practice among people is to write a sentence, correct it, write it again, and in the end they never get to the point they original intended. I usually imagine someone driving a car pressing the gas and the brake pedals at the same time; not a very smooth ride .

One of the things that help to overcome this is to do some freewriting. The process has two rules: 1) write non-stop for a fixed period of time (usally 20 minutes, but you can extend this at will), and 2) do not revise (forget about mispellings, grammar, or even coherence; if something is not clear, write another sentence that maybe more clear).

This is a great way to create a lot of raw material that later could be the base of a first draft.

Pat

[dor]

Originally Posted by Pat P.

I would add the following practice: try to get out of the way of your own writing. By this I mean, try to separate (or decouple) the creative you from the critic.

There is a moment for both - actually, there is an ongoing interaction between both stages - but a common practice among people is to write a sentence, correct it, write it again, and in the end they never get to the point they original intended. I usually imagine someone driving a car pressing the gas and the brake pedals at the same time; not a very smooth ride .

One of the things that help to overcome this is to do some freewriting. The process has two rules: 1) write non-stop for a fixed period of time (usally 20 minutes, but you can extend this at will), and 2) do not revise (forget about mispellings, grammar, or even coherence; if something is not clear, write another sentence that maybe more clear).

This is a great way to create a lot of raw material that later could be the base of a first draft.

Pat

I think Doretha Brande recommended that she invented the concept of 'morning pages' you just get up, first thing, write three pages - no editing no thinking just write.

[Scipio]

Writing with proper grammar allows you to be understood. I recommend Rex Barks for diagramming sentences. Practice diagramming and understand the rules of grammar consciously, rather than implicitly, so you can use them if you need them.

I recommend freewriting at the end of your day with the goal of reviewing what was good about that day. You will be able to write drafts better and will have the added benefits of positive thinking.

Freewriting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[renie408]

Originally Posted by Shaden

What tips do you have to become a better communicator and writer?

One of the tips I have to share with you is to practise, practise, practise. Writing is a skill that can be significantly improved simply by repeatedly attempting it and building up a natural flow over time. I think one of the reasons why I manage to write with the confidence that I do, is that I write for my hobby - I'm familiar with the basic elements of writing.

A lot of my friends ask me how I write so effectively for my age. How I manage to achieve such cohesion and composition. Usually I just give them a blank stare. I have no idea what they are talking about when they ask me these questions. For me writing is a natural process, there is no need to pin it down within any kind of literary paradigm. But five years ago I wasn't necessarily a good writer. Because I practised so much between then and now, I have significantly boosted my skill with writing - and there was no need to teach myself any particular style.

Reading is another excellent way to learn how to write properly. A lot of the techniques, styles and mannerisms of different authors are just absorbed into our heads. I remember when I first started to read a book a week - sentences would just seem to flow naturally. I was quite surprised at first, but I eventually became used to this flow. Quite often I'll write 50-100 words without stopping before going back over what I've written and smoothing the edges.

Do you have any advice for how to become a better writer?

Well, spellcheck can certainly be your friend. I know that much.

[asrai]

Originally Posted by dor

I think Doretha Brande recommended that she invented the concept of 'morning pages' you just get up, first thing, write three pages - no editing no thinking just write.

Julia Cameron advoactes this as well. Maybe Julia stole it from Dorthea.

I do it everyday and it's amazing. It helps me let the flow of words out for the rest of the day.

With writing well the key is to let yourself write badly. And then look at the strengths in what you have written and make them better. And let the rest fall away.

Brenda Ueland also published a book in a similar vein that I find inspiring.