Do you think that some people are born with a natural talent in writing or do they follow tips to somehow empower their writing skills along the way?
Although talent is important, let’s face the truth. Nobody was ever born a writer. Every writer turned himself into one by writing and improving his skills day by day. Although anyone would agree that there is no magic recipe or secret to success, I think there are some basic thoughts most writers would align with.
Below you may find some of these thoughts summarized as tips that could be used to help you empower your writing skills.
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Table of Contents
- Tips to Empower Your Writing Skills
- 1. Study the Basics is the First of the Tips to Empower Your Writing Skills
- 2. Read a Lot of What You Are Interested in Writing
- 3. Make Your Research
- 4. Enhance Your Vocabulary
- 5. Get Ruthless in Cutting Off Everything Unnecessary
- 6. Try to Use Powerful Words to Evoke Emotions
- 7. Be Specific So That Questions Are Answered
- 8. Keep it Relevant
- 9. Use Outlines to Structure Your Writing
- 10. Read What You Wrote Aloud And Hear What it Sounds Like
- 11. Pay Attention to The Language You Use
- 12. Write, Write, Write And Write Some More is The Most Important of All Tips to Empower Your Writing Skills
- Final Thoughts on Useful Tips to Empower Your Writing Skills
Tips to Empower Your Writing Skills
1. Study the Basics is the First of the Tips to Empower Your Writing Skills
Writing is an art and a craft. In order to be able to produce a piece of art or a piece of craft, you must arm yourself with the necessary tools to do so. Inevitably the basic tools when it comes to writing are language, grammar, and spelling. Do yourself a favor and take enough time to study those tools before you start writing.
When it comes to using a computer, Grammarly is a useful tool. It has a free plugin for Google Chrome and can make your life easier. However, I must advice you not to blindly correct everything it suggests because it is not inside your head to know what you are trying to write.
“Grammar is…the pole you grab to get your thoughts up on their feet and walking.”
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
2. Read a Lot of What You Are Interested in Writing
Whether you are interested in writing fiction, a formal essay or blog posts just make sure you read a lot of what you are interested in writing. Read the work of those you admire. Check out how they use their writing to write a memorable blog post when it comes to bloggers or to make descriptions, to build characters to structure their plot when it comes to fiction writers.
Try to mimic them. Do it as they do it. Allow them to inspire you and find new ideas. Read also some of those you think of them as bad writers. What is that that annoys you the most in their writing? Read them to find out what you should avoid.
If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Read also: Introduction to Creative Writing – Benefits of Writing?
3. Make Your Research
It is hard to write about something you know nothing about. This stands also for both fiction and blogging. I couldn’t write a scene about a boy who did cardiopulmonary revitalization and saved the life of a guy having a heart attack without knowing anything about first aid. Likewise, I couldn’t write a post providing guidance and information about a specific topic without having done any research first.
You do not necessarily have to make thorough research. But you must know what you are writing about.
4. Enhance Your Vocabulary
You can enhance your vocabulary through reading. Reading can teach you so many things. Get interested in learning and using new words. Break the borders of using the same words everyone does. Go ahead and make better word choices. Replace common words like “very bad” with words like evil, villainous or vicious. Check for new words in a dictionary or in https://www.thesaurus.com/.
5. Get Ruthless in Cutting Off Everything Unnecessary
Read what you write. Is every word or sentence you use necessary to make your point? If you remove a sentence from a paragraph would it alter the whole meaning? Would removing a word out of a sentence make any difference? If the answer to any of these questions is no then go ahead and remove it.
Allow your writing, every piece of it, to be meaningful and unique. Try not to repeat yourself or use clichés that everyone hates.
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.”
STEPHEN KING, ON WRITING: A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT
Relative reading:
6. Try to Use Powerful Words to Evoke Emotions
Powerful words are words that make the reader feel something. Whether it is pleasure, agony, relief, reassurance, anything. While reading what people seek the most in this life is not knowledge, but to feel things out of what they read.
Choose your words with wisdom. Inspire your readers, make them wonder, make them laugh. Allow them to feel your words and live through them.
Read also: 6 Great Tips to Use Storytelling in Blog Posts
7. Be Specific So That Questions Are Answered
When the reader reads what you have written it is important to understand what he is reading. Make sure that all the questions created in a reader’s mind are answered. Do not leave holes in your writing.
Answer the questions but make sure that you do not over-explain. Write as much as is needed. Avoid unnecessary details that your writing could live without.
8. Keep it Relevant
Write about what is relevant to your topic or story. If you don’t, just make sure it will be relevant somehow later on. Even if it doesn’t make sense right away, it must make sense at some point.
If this is not the case then make sure you get rid of it.
9. Use Outlines to Structure Your Writing
An outline is your guide. If you have an outline structure ready for your post it is mostly sure that you will not write irrelevant things and that you will stay focused on those that matter the most.
An outline is a useful tool for every kind of writing. Having an outline prepared gives you a basic road map of all the things that must be mentioned and in which order.
10. Read What You Wrote Aloud And Hear What it Sounds Like
Reading what you have written is extremely useful. Think about yourself while reading a book or an article. Doesn’t it feel like you hear a voice inside your head?
When writing has a good flow it seems like this voice goes on uninterrupted and smoothly. We follow each word, understand everything and feel satisfied with what we read.
This is why reading your writing aloud is useful. It makes you realize if your writing has a good writing flow. If you feel that something does not fit, change it. Repeat again and again until you are satisfied.
Read also: Tips That Will Help You Get a Good Writing Flow
11. Pay Attention to The Language You Use
When it comes to blog posts, the language used should not be too formal. Blog posts are mostly written using a language we use in our everyday lives. Just try not to use too excessive words or too wordy sentences. Keep your sentences and your words simple.
Always adjust your language depending on who you write for or what you write about. There is no one rule that fits everything.
The same stands also when writing fiction. Let’s take dialogue for example. To write a good dialogue pay attention to how people talk to each other and use it. Nobody uses formal or extraordinary words when talking to his friends and family. Get out and overhear other people talking to each other, copy that. People talk in real words. That is how your dialogs should be.
12. Write, Write, Write And Write Some More is The Most Important of All Tips to Empower Your Writing Skills
The best tip to improve your writing skills though is no other than writing. Write and write a lot. This is the only way that writing will come out naturally and become better and better the more you practice.
Read also: How Does Freewriting Help to Writer’s Block
Final Thoughts on Useful Tips to Empower Your Writing Skills
Writing is a skill and as every other skill can only become better with lots of practice.
Make sure you study the basics to be armed with the necessary tools to write. Read a lot of the work of others who have already written what you would like to write. Make research so that you know what you are writing about and pay some effort to enhance your vocabulary.
When you edit your writing make sure you leave everything not necessary out of it. Make good use of powerful words so that you can evoke emotions in your readers. Be specific and make sure that you answer each and every question that might be generated inside your reader’s mind.
Everything you write about should be relevant to your topic or your story in a way that you will define. Use outlines to create the main structure of your topic or your story.
Read aloud everything you write to ensure you have a good writing flow. Pay attention to the language you use each time, who you are writing for, and what you are writing about. But most of all write and write a lot to ensure that your writing will become better.
The best writers are those who read a variety of types of text themselves. Interesting points.
I totally agree Jamie. That is what most of the authors I admire say. You cannot put lots in practice when you have never been aware of the theory.
Great tips here, reading is definitely key!
I’d also say listen to radio news – that will help with being ruthless, and give you an idea of how a story with all the relevant facts can be written in 3 lines 😂
Sure I have that Stephen King book somewhere
Hahaha yes radio news are ruthless! I have tried to do it as excersise and it is impressive how nuch you can say using just few words. Thank you for reading and commenting Sarah!
Great tips, I’m trying my best to learn more about how I can improve writing and read tons of blogs and books. Thank you for sharing these amazing tips!
I am glad you liked it Frank. Thank you for commenting!
These are good tips. Read your writing aloud works a lot for me. It also helps me to improve my editing skill. Thank you for sharing.
Reading aloud can be extremely helpful Fadima. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Great tips! I if you haven’t tried it, I recommend ProWritingAid the free version gives you much more than Grammerly does. Reading what I have written aloud is something that I do often, especially when I feel like I’m struggling through that part.
Oh thank you Dru! No I haven’t tried it but I definitely will. Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
I totally agree – I read more than I listen to music or watch television even! Thanks for sharing this was very insightful.
This is great for you Gee. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Great tips here! Sometimes I google synonms if i use the same world too many times and thar helps.
Glad you liked it Em. Thank you for commenting 🙂
Admittedly, I am not as on-top of reading in my genre as I ought to be! I do buy collections of poetry and indulge in fantasy, but I feel a need to read more of if that I cannot keep up with.
Love your tip on cutting unnecessary words! I always read over what I write a few times and make cuts each time to improve the flow and language. 🙂
I am glad you enjoyed it Jaya. Thank you for commenting!
You’ve shared some great tips here which I’ll defiantly be taking note of! I’m someone who defiantly watched tv more than reading but I’m trying to change that. Thank you so much for sharing this with us Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Thank you Elle!
I find reading something I wrote out loud SO helpful. Sometimes it makes sense on paper (or on screen) but then when it comes to saying it out loud, it just doesn’t flow like it should! These are some great tips x
I am glad you liked it Jenny. Thank you for commenting 🙂
I really appreciate your tips. I am looking forward to trying them.
Thank you Mahlet!
These are fantastic tips! I absolutely love Grammarly and have been using it for years. I also really like the tip of reading it aloud first it’s a really good tip to keep in mind thank you for sharing these!
Reading it aloud does make a difference when it comes to good writing flow. Thank you for commenting Andrea ❤️
These are some great tips!
I particularly agree about cutting out unnecessary text. I used to be such a waffley writer but I’m starting to master the art of cutting out unnecessary chunks of information that don’t add true value. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Cutting out what is unnecessary is a taugh one and it takes time to master it. Thank you for reading and commenting!
I always enjoy how encouraging your posts are for us fellow bloggers and writers — thanks for sharing all this advice; it’s so helpful!
I am glad you found it helpful Molly. Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
Some great tips here. So much about writing is about reading more and just getting writing down to practice.
Exactly Emma! Reading a lot and writing a lot. Thank you for commenting 🙂
Thanks for your tips! Especially the last one speaks to me. Write write and write some more!
Thank you Benny!
Thank you for sharing these very helpful tips!
Thank you!
Being ruthless is where I fail. Sometimes I just don’t know what to cut from the draft. Other times it’s easy but I’ve seen some of my writing being way over budget because I think everyone needs all this information.
I know that sometimes it can be hard to decide what to cut. Especially since we usually try a lot to create our content. It feels as if we throw away part of our job. We have to tgough. Thank you for reading and commenting!
These were extremely helpful for me! Thank you so much for sharing these with us! x Penny | http://www.whatdidshetype.com
Glad you found it helpful. Thank you for commenting!
These are great tips. Keeping it relevant is so important.
Thank you for commenting Kelly!
Reading aloud is an excellent tip. When I tape my podcasts, I often catch a mistake. Thanks so much for the great advice.
Oh, definitely Sue! You do the ultimate crash test for a podcast. Thank you for reading and commenting!
These are some really helpful tips to improve your writing. I am always looking to improve my writing, so these tips are going to be really helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Lauren – bournemouthgirl
Glad you found iy helpful Lauren. Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
I love this post! It would be useful for language learners as well. Can I send it to my students who are preparing for language exams?
I am glad about it Rita. Yes, of course you may share it! I would love it 😍
Writing is the fundamental criterion by which one’s intelligence and learning will be assessed. Writing skills enhances our capacity to communicate and think —- it also helps us to explain and develop our thoughts to others and ourselves. Writing abilities are essential for effective communication.
I couldn’t agree more! Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
Wonderful tips! And although I knew most of them – it’s good to reread them and keep them freshly in my mind. Thank you for that!
Thank you for reading and commenting!
You have rightly pointed out, You do not have to conduct much research. However, you must be knowledgeable about the subject you are writing about. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for reading and commenting!