Tips for New and Aspiring Writers: One Way to Make What You Write Better

By Joyce Shafer

Anytime you decide to write anything, whether it’s an article or a manuscript, you should congratulate yourself. Some people find writing easy, while others feel less sure about the process or their skills. Either type of writer is courageous. You know that when you write, especially if you intend to share it in any way, you open yourself to comments from readers.

One of the best things you can do for your writing is to have someone read and critique it. You may feel hopeful the person will like the story, perhaps even anxious that she or he may not; but your primary goal is to get feedback that will help you create a quality result.

You want someone who will take this effort seriously, and need to expect that what you get back may have a lot of notations and questions. At first, you may not be thrilled about this. As you read through the notes, you should see tighter ways to write sentences, inconsistencies brought to your attention, and some things you didn’t give thought to as you were writing. No writer thinks of everything during the first draft, and every writer edits and rewrites.

When we write non-fiction, we sometimes forget that readers don’t know what we know and we leave things out or don’t put things in the best order. In fiction, we may get so caught up with the story we miss inconsistencies or leave questions unanswered. We hopefully concern ourselves with punctuation, grammar, and the technical aspects of writing, but miss something or several things that could make our writing go beyond good and become excellent or, at the very least, accurate. One definite benefit is that you learn and hone your skills as a result of getting such feedback.

The thing you want to do is rely on someone who not only has the skills to do this but is objective enough to do it so that you get what you need. Writers sometimes ask the wrong people to do this for them and it often results in frustration. Many projects get shelved because of this. Do everything you can to nurture your creativity and move your project forward until you get your desired outcome.

Get what you’ve written critiqued or learn more about services for writers offered by Joyce Shafer, author; weekly columnist; and freelance proofreader, editor, and rewriter at http://www.freewebs.com/write-onwriting.

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Improve Your Writing Skills With These Three Easy Tips

By wahbws

For some, writing effectively is as simple of a task as breathing. For others, writing is like a car that keeps stalling and really doesn't ever seem to get going smoothly. Have you ever wished that you could improve your writing skills? If your writing is more like the stalled automobile, don't let that stop you. You can improve your writing skills just by using the following tips.

Do a quick reminder course about nouns, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions and prepositions. If you want to write well, it's important to know what they are and how to use them properly. When you write using proper spelling and grammar it can make a difference in your perceived credibility as a writer. It is true of all of us, we get turned off to what we are reading if the author has made an obvious writing mistake. Make it a habit to confidently write. If needed, use a spell checker when you can and when in doubt: look it up.

This may sound backwards, but to be a good writer, you need to be a good reader. Try to read something everyday. Expand your knowledge by reading different types of writing. If you are primarily a fiction reader, start reading the newspaper or non-fiction books. Read articles online versus magazine articles and see if you notice the differences in writing styles. If you happen to read something that you really enjoy, study the article or story. Use the tips you find to improve your own writing. On the other hand, when you read something you don't care for, make mental notes of the mistakes the writer made and try to avoid them when you sit down to write. By all means give yourself permission to break the rules provided it provides impact to your writing.

Just like any skill, practice is what makes the difference between novice and pro. Writing something everyday, even something as short as a few sentences can improve your writing over time. There are many websites targeted to writers that offer daily writing exercises. For example, they may ask you to write the opening paragraph of a action story one day and the next day they could ask you to write a "how-to paragraph" about butter churning. Experimenting with different writing genres will greatly improve your writing style.

Keep what you write and review it every once in awhile. You will see how your abilities have changed with practice. As your skill and confidence grow, you will find that writing becomes easier and more enjoyable.

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