Some Great Ideas to Help Improve the Quality of Your Writing.

The internet is a wonderful resource for people wishing to increase their knowledge and gather information about the subjects that interest them. More and more of us wish to share what we’ve learnt by writing articles to publish online or in print. But what if getting your thoughts down on paper (or on screen) is no longer as easy as when you were in school? Or perhaps you’ve never found writing easy?

This article contains some hints and tips, based on my own experience, to consider when you sit down to write. It cannot tell you what to write, nor how to become a more prolific writer (and banish the dreaded “writers’ block”!) but you may find it useful. It is aimed primarily at native English speakers, but those of you writing English as a second language may pick up some useful pointers.

Never Stop Reading

You will become a better writer if you find time to indulge your love of reading. Whether you curl up with a favourite novel, study reference books about your chosen subject or enjoy discovering articles and blogs online, you are helping to grow your vocabulary and develop your own writing style. 

Be a critical reader – if you don’t like the way something is written then ask yourself why. What would you have changed? Learn from other authors’ mistakes. 

When you encounter words that are unfamiliar don’t just skim over them. Look them up in a dictionary and try to use them in your own writing. Always have a dictionary to hand and try not to rely too heavily on your word-processor’s spellchecker.

Organise Your Thoughts

Maybe it’s a bit like being back at school, but before you put pen to paper (or fingertip to keyboard!) you need to plan what it is you are going to write about. 

For starters your piece will need an introduction, some background to the subject and a description of what you are going to discuss. Try and make your first couple of paragraphs interesting – you want to draw the reader into your article.

Next, decide how you will present the main body of your article. Will you use a paragraph for each piece of information? Will those paragraphs need subtitles? Is there a logical order to the points you wish to present? Check your facts (especially data) against other publications and reference these publications where appropriate. Do not derive and quote statistics unless you understand their meaning and relevance and do not consciously reproduce other people’s work. 

Your article will also need a conclusion or a line or two where you can “sign-off” from your readers. Don’t just leave your readers hanging on the end of the last point you made. Bring your piece to an obvious close.

Style

Who are you aiming your writing at? You may wish to adopt a more casual, chatty style (imagine you are delivering a talk to a group of friends) or a formal approach might be appropriate. Whichever you choose, be consistent! Don’t start out writing an academic paper and finish by making jokes. 

Maybe I’m old fashioned but I would avoid using texting acronyms in my writing. You might know what BTW and IMHO mean, but your readership may not. It is unwise to use slang terms as they may not be understood by certain age groups or readers from overseas. I would never include swear words unless I was quoting another person. Why risk offending potential readers? They may avoid other (clean) articles you have written because just one contained language they found offensive. 

Both British English and US English spellings are acceptable but don’t mix and match – “the elephant’s color was gray” or “its colour was grey” – make up your mind which version you wish to use.

Above all use variety in your writing. Use adjectives and adverbs – the “describing” words – to make your articles more interesting. Try not to keep repeating the same words – a thesaurus is a valuable tool here. 

When should you use commas? One piece of advice I have read was that you should avoid using a comma unless leaving it out would allow the sentence to be interpreted in more than one way. I personally insert a comma at the point I would take a breath if I were reading out loud. I also use them to avoid ambiguity.

Grammar

I believe the rules of grammar are important. The meaning of a sentence can be completely transformed by the poor use of grammar (and inaccurate spelling). You could be an expert in your field or have a great deal to share about a particular subject but many people will stop reading what you have written if you cannot express yourself correctly. This might be because they cannot understand what you are trying to convey or because they feel your poor grammar indicates a lack of education. You don’t want to deter people from enjoying your writing – you’ve put a lot of time and effort in and you know you’ve created something worth reading, so let’s deal with the grammar issue once and for all!

There are many books available about the rules of English grammar and how to improve your use of grammar. I highly recommend that you purchase or borrow one if your understanding of grammar is a bit shaky. There are also some marvellous resources available online. Here I shall outline just a few of the more common errors that people make:

Apostrophes

Why are so many people confused about apostrophes? Many seem to believe that whenever an “s” is found at the end of a word then an apostrophe must immediately precede it. Remember the following basic rules and you should start to master the use of the apostrophe.

Apostrophes replace missing letters. When we speak we often shorten words to make our speech less stilted and formal. 

“You have” becomes “you’ve” – the apostrophe represents the “h” and “a” which have been removed.

“Do not” becomes “don’t”. You should see quite clearly why it does not (or doesn’t!) become “do’nt”. 

“It’s” means “it is”. 

“Will not” becomes “won’t” – this is irregular, but the apostrophe still replaces the missing “o” of not.

Apostrophes demonstrate that one thing is possessed by or belongs to something else. For example:

“Billy’s sister enjoyed skipping.” – the sister belongs to Billy, she is his sister.

“The cat’s eyes were bright green.” – the cat had green eyes.

Where the possessor is singular the apostrophe goes before the “s”. For plurals the apostrophe is placed after the “s”.

“The boys’ bicycles were very fast.” – here we are talking about more than one boy and they both/all have fast bicycles.

Interestingly the apostrophe is not used with possessive pronouns – his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs – apart from “one’s”:

“One must pay one’s bills immediately.”

They’re, Their, and There

These words may sound the same but they are NOT interchangeable! Learn where to use each one.

Now that apostrophes make more sense you’ll acknowledge immediately that “they’re” represents “they are”. If you have written a sentence containing “they’re”, read it back to yourself. If it still makes sense when you substitute “they are” then you’ve probably made the right choice. If not, consider the following options.

“Their” is used to indicate possession or belonging. For example:

“Billy and Johnny wanted to take their sister to the playground.” 

“The girls opened their books and read them in the sunshine.”

The sister belongs to Billy and Johnny. The books are the possessions of the girls.

“There” is related to a place/location.

“England looks like a wonderful place. I’d love to go there.”

“There he is! Over by the lake.”

Your and You’re

The difference between “your” and “you’re” should now be plain.

“Your” indicates possession or belonging:

“Please take your complaints to the manager.”

“You’re” is a combination of “you” and “are”:

“You’re the best player we’ve got!”

Try substituting “you are” for “you’re” in the sentence you’ve written and if it still sounds correct then you are probably on the right tracks!

“Could Of” / “Should Of” / “Would Of”

I hate seeing these phrases in writing but I can understand how they have come about. As “could have” has become shortened to “could’ve” this now sounds increasingly like “could of” especially in certain English regional accents. People naturally convert what they hear into the written word. Take a moment to think about this. Does “could of” make any sense? Not really, so don’t use it!

I hope these hints and tips will help you improve your writing. The main thing is to enjoy writing and keep practising. Don’t be overly self-critical. You will make mistakes and not everyone will enjoy your writing style but if you have entertained or educated one person you will have succeeded. Proofread your work and ask a friend to read through before you publish. Read your piece out loud – does everything make sense, do the ideas flow well? 

One tip I received from a history teacher many years ago has proven useful time and time again. When you have finished your writing and you have checked it and are rightfully proud of what you have created, put it to one side for a few hours, maybe overnight. Allow the pride of authorship to subside a little. The next day, read it through again with a more critical eye and make those vital final edits. You will be amazed how often you’ll want to make changes and additions. Now you are ready to publish.

I welcome any comments on this article – I wish to improve my writing too! Please share your own tips and constructive criticism and/or recommend this article to your friends. Good luck with your writing and above all, have fun!

Disclaimer: The author does not claim to be an expert in the subject described in this article and accepts no liability for any loss or damage caused by inaccurate information or unsuitable guidance.

Copyright: CambridgeLady, 16th March 2009.