Are you a writer or an English student? Looking to improve your English writing skills? Although there are various writing disciplines, the tips in this post should apply to all types of writing.
Here are a few tips to help you develop your writing:
Grammarly
Grammarly is like your very own grammar assistant.
It’s a grammar checker that guides you as you write content on website pages.
It helps me when writing blogs, on WordPress, for example, or other websites that may not have innate grammar checkers.
It’s super simple to download as an extension on your internet browser and makes the process of writing a lot easier. Saving you time, Grammarly has your back!
Proofread To Improve English Writing Skills
Even though Grammarly is great for grammar, you’ll still need to read over your work yourself to assess whether the piece as a whole makes sense and isn’t waffling, for example.
I’d recommend proofreading your work in full at least once before you publish or share it.
Alongside this, I’d also say to proofread and correct as you are writing your drafts. This helps save time as you are constantly correcting as you type, compared to if you were to only proofread when finishing your draft.
If you have the advantage of someone else looking over your work, I’d encourage you to make use of this!
Another pair of eyes can spot things that you may have missed. They can also suggest areas to improve on.
Even Writer’s need editors. And even Editors need editors! We are all human and so mistakes can easily be done. This is why proofreading is so important.
I offer editing and proofreading services. Contact me if you’d like me to have a look at your work.
Read Widely To Improve English Writing Skills
Whether it’s blogs or books, reading opens up a world of knowledge that you can build on and the opportunity to broaden your vocabulary.
In return, you can embed this new-found knowledge into your writing.
It’s important to know the facts about what you are writing about, to increase your credibility so that your readers can take value from your content.
Join Writing Communities
There is a wealth of communities out there for writers.
Joining some of these groups, or even following fellow writer’s social media accounts, means you can learn tips from those who are ahead of you and grow with others on your level.
According to Kori regularly does grammar quizzes on her Instagram stories. I’ve learned a few grammar tips from joining in. It’s a fun way to learn whilst scrolling on social media, when you may have not specifically intended to learn whilst casually on the app.
There are also writing groups on Facebook and LinkedIn that are specifically designed to help writers grow in their craft.
You can post questions to the community and it’s open for others to answer.
Freelance Writer’s is one that I am a member of.
For something more specific to what you are looking for, simply type in related keywords and select the group filter to search. For example ‘English GCSE Tips’.
Joining community groups like these have really helped me throughout my freelancing journey. I would strongly recommend taking advantage of them. As well as network and learn, it can be a good place to promote your writing too.
Take Writing Courses
There is a variety of writing courses and workshops out there to help you develop your writing skills.
Udemy, for example, offers both free and paid online courses in a variety of subjects.
YouTube also has a ton of free videos where you can gain valuable writing tips.
If you’re a student looking for English student resources, have a read of this blog post, where I’ve compiled a detailed list of several resources, including some I have made myself.
Thesaurus
As a writer, there’s no cap on how much you can expand your vocabulary.
Granted, it’s great to familiarise yourself with keywords in your niche, but once you’ve mastered this, you should look to further diversify your vernacular.
Using a Thesaurus is a quick and easy way to do this. I tend to open up a tab when writing and type in a word I’d like a synonym for, as and when.
It’s super quick to type and scan what other word options there are.
Use The 4 W’s To Improve English Writing Skills
When in the flow of writing, sometimes you can get off track from what you are writing and waffle.
Asking yourself the 4 W’s (who, what, when, why) and how frequently can help you stay focused on your topic.
Remember that when you are writing, it’s also about your readers.
Your writing should be easy to follow.
So the intention to be focused and asking yourself whether you are sticking to that throughout can help guide you to be clear.
I hope this post on how to improve English writing skills has given you some insight into how you can be a better writer.
If you have any other suggested tips, please feel free to comment them below on this post.
Also, if you are at the start of your freelance journey looking for guidance on how to navigate this world, I offer a Beginner Freelancer E-course to help you with this.
