Channel: Writer
Tips for Improving Your Writing Style — Part I
1. Be direct in your writing
Good writing is clear and concise.
2. Choose your words wisely
Always choose the simpler of two words. Use familiar vocabulary instead of lofty words from the English language. Simple words are more direct and easier for all readers to understand.
3. Short sentences are more powerful than long sentences
A story loses steam with wordiness. Short sentences are easier to comprehend, something that readers appreciate. Avoid trying to pack too much into a line. Every sentence should contain one thought or idea.
4. Write short paragraphs
Keep your paragraphs short and manageable. Each one should consist of sentences that support the same idea.
1. Be direct in your writing
Good writing is clear and concise.
2. Choose your words wisely
Always choose the simpler of two words. Use familiar vocabulary instead of lofty words from the English language. Simple words are more direct and easier for all readers to understand.
3. Short sentences are more powerful than long sentences
A story loses steam with wordiness. Short sentences are easier to comprehend, something that readers appreciate. Avoid trying to pack too much into a line. Every sentence should contain one thought or idea.
4. Write short paragraphs
Keep your paragraphs short and manageable. Each one should consist of sentences that support the same idea.
Tips for Improving Your Writing Style — Part II
1. Always use the active voice
Use the active voice and adhere to subject-verb-object sentence structure. It’s the most direct path to making your point. The passive voice might be grammatically correct, but it creates long, complex sentences and is a weaker way of presenting information.
2. Review and edit your work
Tighten your writing, check your word choice and sentence structure, and hone your voice to improve your style.
3. Use a natural, conversational tone
Your writing style relies on your own, unique voice. Write like you converse. Shape ideas with your original thoughts and voice, and do your best to avoid clichés. Your writing style should reflect your personality.
4. Read famous authors
Great writers put a stamp on their writing with a signature style. Learn how other writers create their style. Then do the same with your own writing.
1. Always use the active voice
Use the active voice and adhere to subject-verb-object sentence structure. It’s the most direct path to making your point. The passive voice might be grammatically correct, but it creates long, complex sentences and is a weaker way of presenting information.
2. Review and edit your work
Tighten your writing, check your word choice and sentence structure, and hone your voice to improve your style.
3. Use a natural, conversational tone
Your writing style relies on your own, unique voice. Write like you converse. Shape ideas with your original thoughts and voice, and do your best to avoid clichés. Your writing style should reflect your personality.
4. Read famous authors
Great writers put a stamp on their writing with a signature style. Learn how other writers create their style. Then do the same with your own writing.
Follow the headlights
It doesn’t matter if you’re the kind of writer who plans meticulously: Give yourself some leeway in the early drafts. Throw out all your plans and assumptions, and make room to surprise yourself.
Andre Dubus calls this following the headlights: it’s like driving a car down a dark, unfamiliar road, simply describing as things become visible under the beam. “What’s on the side of the road?” he asked. “What’s the weather? What are the sounds? If I capture the experience all along the way, the structure starts to reveal itself. My guiding force and principle for shaping the story is just to follow the headlights—that’s how the architecture is revealed.”
Dozens of writers have told me some version of the same story. “The writing I tend to think of as ‘good’ is good because it’s mysterious,” Aimee Bender said. “It tends to happen when I get out of the way — when I let go a little bit, I surprise myself.”
It doesn’t matter if you’re the kind of writer who plans meticulously: Give yourself some leeway in the early drafts. Throw out all your plans and assumptions, and make room to surprise yourself.
Andre Dubus calls this following the headlights: it’s like driving a car down a dark, unfamiliar road, simply describing as things become visible under the beam. “What’s on the side of the road?” he asked. “What’s the weather? What are the sounds? If I capture the experience all along the way, the structure starts to reveal itself. My guiding force and principle for shaping the story is just to follow the headlights—that’s how the architecture is revealed.”
Dozens of writers have told me some version of the same story. “The writing I tend to think of as ‘good’ is good because it’s mysterious,” Aimee Bender said. “It tends to happen when I get out of the way — when I let go a little bit, I surprise myself.”
Skip the Clichés
You may know people who speak in clichés and perhaps you're one of them. But when it comes to reading, tired phrases make your writing sound sophomoric. "Time will tell", "at this point in time", "without a care in the world", "a shiver down my/his/her spine", and "loved her more than life itself" are good examples of clichés you should avoid if you want to sound like a professional.
You may know people who speak in clichés and perhaps you're one of them. But when it comes to reading, tired phrases make your writing sound sophomoric. "Time will tell", "at this point in time", "without a care in the world", "a shiver down my/his/her spine", and "loved her more than life itself" are good examples of clichés you should avoid if you want to sound like a professional.
Separate Dialogue and Narrative
Conversations will read much better if they are stacked, meaning separated out from narrative paragraphs. Don't let clever dialogue get lost among asides and unnecessary descriptive language. Assuming you've given each character a solid and unique voice, dichotomizing dialogue helps create a readable scene that flows at the right pace.
Conversations will read much better if they are stacked, meaning separated out from narrative paragraphs. Don't let clever dialogue get lost among asides and unnecessary descriptive language. Assuming you've given each character a solid and unique voice, dichotomizing dialogue helps create a readable scene that flows at the right pace.
You can’t become a better writer if you never write
You can always edit a bad page.
You can’t edit a blank page.
The best of all writing tips is this one. You have to actually write if you want to get better because great writing doesn’t happen on the first try. It happens on the second, fifth, and even tenth.
You first have to write the words in order to make them better.
You can always edit a bad page.
You can’t edit a blank page.
The best of all writing tips is this one. You have to actually write if you want to get better because great writing doesn’t happen on the first try. It happens on the second, fifth, and even tenth.
You first have to write the words in order to make them better.
Quantity is what leads you to quality
Michelangelo’s, da Vinci’s, Tintoretto’s billion sketches, the quantitative, prepared them for the qualitative, single sketches further down the line, single portraits, single landscapes of incredible control and beauty.
In essence, the more you practice writing, the better you’ll become and that makes all the difference when it comes to separating yourself form other writers.
Michelangelo’s, da Vinci’s, Tintoretto’s billion sketches, the quantitative, prepared them for the qualitative, single sketches further down the line, single portraits, single landscapes of incredible control and beauty.
In essence, the more you practice writing, the better you’ll become and that makes all the difference when it comes to separating yourself form other writers.
Show, Don't Tell
It is one of the most important writing techniques you should employ and bears repeating. Using dialogue and action to convey emotion is more powerful and interesting than narrating it.
In other words, don't write that Jack furrowed his brow; convey his concern with the language he uses when speaking to another character.
It is one of the most important writing techniques you should employ and bears repeating. Using dialogue and action to convey emotion is more powerful and interesting than narrating it.
In other words, don't write that Jack furrowed his brow; convey his concern with the language he uses when speaking to another character.
Avoid Zigzags in Your Storyline
Although it might be tempting to flip back and forth from one time period to another, this is a technique best left to the masters and even among them only occasionally.
Stick to a chronological storyline or you're likely to confuse and irritate your readers. Flashbacks and zigzags can have your readers spinning unless you are able to write them seamlessly.
If you have mastered this technique go ahead and try it, but consider using a sequential timeline as well. You can avoid a lot of rewriting if the zigging and zagging doesn't read well.
Although it might be tempting to flip back and forth from one time period to another, this is a technique best left to the masters and even among them only occasionally.
Stick to a chronological storyline or you're likely to confuse and irritate your readers. Flashbacks and zigzags can have your readers spinning unless you are able to write them seamlessly.
If you have mastered this technique go ahead and try it, but consider using a sequential timeline as well. You can avoid a lot of rewriting if the zigging and zagging doesn't read well.
Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing
How many unfinished novels do you have sitting on your hard-drive, aging like fine wines?
We all do this.
Dream up a brilliant idea, get a few thousand words into it, only to be whisked away by the next distraction.
We all like to think that we’re capable multitaskers. However, multiple studies have shown that handling various tasks at once is not only damaging to the brain but also your career. Put your full creative energy into one project at a time.
How many unfinished novels do you have sitting on your hard-drive, aging like fine wines?
We all do this.
Dream up a brilliant idea, get a few thousand words into it, only to be whisked away by the next distraction.
We all like to think that we’re capable multitaskers. However, multiple studies have shown that handling various tasks at once is not only damaging to the brain but also your career. Put your full creative energy into one project at a time.
HTML Embed Code: