You may speak English fluently but still, experience struggles with your writing. That’s normal even for native speakers. The reason is, that writing takes a different set of abilities and creates a different effect. For instance, the written word leaves a lasting impact because it remains on paper or the internet for a long time. People will revisit your written text and any issue it has will come to the surface. That’s why investing in your writing skills and grammar knowledge is so important. No matter how well you know your subject, your professors will grade it based on how you write about it. So, here are 7 amazing tips for students to improve their writing skills.
Make an outline
The most frightening moment in writing is when you see a blank page in front of you and realize, that you haven’t produced anything yet. Negate this encounter by putting forth an outline of your future text. Divide your work into sections and conquer it by filling in the paragraphs you created. The additional benefit of this approach is that your text will also be much more structured and cohesive. You can use this approach in different ways, even in writing books. Writing a book is more challenging though because you need to have an intensive knowledge of the subject. Hiring a book writing coach like Catherine Nikkel can be beneficial in order for you to have someone who will guide you in your writing journey.
Invest in grammar
A text with smooth grammar is like a cozy room that gives you comfortable vibes. And the opposite is, of course, also true. Broken grammar not only makes your text uncomfortable but also in many cases illegible. Use every opportunity to refresh your grammar knowledge. Take advantage of writer assistants, like Grammarly, to highlight the holes in your grammar skills. And consult essay writers to get professional aid with your writing.
Implement active verbs
The temptation to write in the passive voice is strong. You may see that every unprofessional writer tends to overuse passive verbs in their writing. The result is, that such texts take more words and sound less engaging. A couple of examples of passive voice:
- This article is being written by me.
- Your writing skills are being improved.
This sounds like someone is avoiding responsibility for their actions. If you aim to become a proactive business person, strive to be active in your writing as well:
- I am writing this article.
- You improve your writing skills.
Enrich your synonyms
Any person with a basic vocabulary knows at least one word for every item or action in the world. But basic vocabulary is not something you can build a beautiful text from. That’s why you should expand your arsenal of synonyms. The most straightforward way to do it is to look up a synonym every time you feel that you repeat some words too often.
And a good thing to look after in synonyms is power words. These are the words that induce emotion and color into your text. Basically, these words can’t be described as emotionally neutral. For example:
“A hungry eagle dives from the sky to grab a frightened mouse in its sharp claws” – makes the reader much more emotionally invested than – “An eagle flies to a mouse and catches it”.
Revise your text
When students write their dissertations, they have to revise them quite a lot. This is what their professor demands of them to make their paper excellent. Inspired writers love to read their texts and imagine the reaction of their readers to every sentence. And while at it, they find lots of ways how to improve their text. If you hire dissertation assistance, they will provide you with free revisions. Because revision is important. Revisit every sentence and estimate it from a new perspective to see the ways to improve.
Seek critique
It might sound countermotivational, but critics will do marvels to your writing skills. The best college essay writing services do not become leaders in their business by avoiding feedback on the quality of their work. Join circles of professional writers who would know which piece of advice to give you. You won’t grow if everyone would give you only praise.
Read good pieces of writing
Good writers are passionate readers. But not every text on the internet or even in books is a good text. Reading up half-baked social media posts won’t give you any useful experience in terms of writing. To improve your writing skills, read articles written by the best authors. Soon, you will incorporate their techniques and forms of speech into your texts as well. After all, the love of reading is what makes us want to create more reading material.
Final words
Becoming an amazing writer takes time. There is no secret ingredient to it, other than practice and learning. But doing it by sheer intuition is not right as well. Take advantage of these pieces of advice about improving your writing to grasp the correct direction. The more writing skills you have, the more you will realize that writing is a joyful process. Be it for college or other work, it is a way to express your thoughts. And knowing that other people would read and learn from your words is wonderful indeed.
