FIVE instant ways to improve your writing by David Stephenson
1) WRITE, AND WRITE SOME MORE
Write all the time. Don't stop. Find anything to write about. It doesn't matter. Expressing yourself is all about training your mind to put one word in front of the other. But it takes practice. Write every day, about any subject, and you will twice the writer you are now within six months. Improvement happens quickly. The mental discipline of changing thoughts into written expression needs exercise. It's your writing muscle, if you like. Make it work! If you cant think of a subject, interview your family and friends about anything, then make a story out of it. It's a great habit to get into. It will improve your journalistic skills overnight. How can I possibly make a story from this?
2) BE SELF-CRITICAL
Become your own worst critic. Take every sentence apart. Turn the phrasing around. Write, then rewrite. And again. If it sounds hard work, it is. The rewards can be great but you need drive yourself to become a better writer. How can I make that story better? Is that the right angle? Have I missed the best quote? When you are pleased with your efforts, re-write it ask a friend to read it.
3) START A BLOG
When your writing confidence begins to grow, which it will very soon, start a blog. About anything. Have a serious think about what interests you most, and download a Wordpress blog, which is free. Start writing. It's a blank page and you don't need any paper! But be self-critical. Don't post anything until you believe it's the possible writing you can do.
4) SUBMIT ARTICLES
Go to one of the many article submission sites such as goarticles.com and get cracking. The Internet is a gift to the new writer. The first bonus is that you will not have an editor screaming at you that you have left the most important fact from the first paragraph. But this is not to say you can't concentrate on writing anything without keeping an eye on the quality. Make sure before you press the submit button, that this is the best work you can do. I do every time. I once worked briefly helping to compile procedures for a quality assurance engineer. His motto: "Get it right first time." it's worth learning.
5) READ
What an old fashioned notion. When you're not writing, you should be reading. Anything. Papers, magazines, books, Internet. Read quality writing, too. Try to avoid trashy mags. You will learn nothing about writing style there. The more you read the more you will learn about identifying a good writing style over tosh. Then you can employ it yourself. Become a good judge of writing, and you will become a good writer yourself.
About the Author
David Stephenson is the TV Editor of the Sunday Express in London, UK.
He runs the Journalism Tutor teaching website Journalism Tutor where you can download TWO FREE courses
