8 tips to quickly improve your writing style
Whether you are a journalist, a web editor, a student, or simply an asset in search of professional development, you have everything to gain by developing your written communication skills.
Just like you, I wanted to find out how to develop my writing skills… And the problem is that for a long time I thought it was a waste of time without a literary streak.
1) Use simple language and keep sentences short
“What is conceived well is clearly stated and the words to say it come easily”. Or simply .
Whether it’s verbs, nouns or adjectives, the simplest words are often the best. They have a clearer meaning than complex words to keep for specific uses.
NB: this does not mean that all your sentences must be short. But when rereading, don’t miss the obvious opportunities to shorten your prose.
2) Avoid redundancies.
Whether it’s the words or the ideas, stop the redundancies. We all make that classic mistake of repeating the same things over and over again.
Among the classic redundancies: get rid of the “is” “do” “has” and enrich them with synonyms: “consists” “has” “possesses” “holds”…
The same goes for qualifying adverbs: very, excellent, super… To be used sparingly to avoid looking like someone who is too excited.
3) Make way for the active voice, the verb and examples.
Example: The passive voice is heavy rather than the passive voice is characterized by heaviness.
By favoring the active voice, you are immediately more powerful. Plus, you use fewer words to mean the same thing.
To improve his style of writing, I also invite you to prefer the verb to the noun.
Example : I prefer to use the passive voice rather than I prefer the use of the passive voice
4) Develop your oral expression
You will agree… When you exchange with an interlocutor, the primary purpose is to convey an intelligible and clear message. Well, it’s the same in writing.
No shortcuts possible, you also need to practice public speaking and discuss with others.
Before putting our thoughts black on white, we think about how they fit together to better dissect them.
Another piece of advice, do not confine yourself to a particular “genre” of discussion. Broaden your horizons to enrich your writing style.
5) Read as much as possible
Some people prefer detective or science fiction novels and others, poetry, etc. As the saying goes, “tastes and colors are not discussed”.
Except, when it comes to reading closer… There, it becomes counterproductive.
The act of reading in itself consists in going well beyond the simple words that parade, to appropriate the text in an approach favoring self-knowledge.
Like a child learning to swim, initially struggling to survive, then eventually finding his balance, the writer finds through regular practice an ease in navigating his pen with more grace.
“Originality consists in trying to do like everyone else, without succeeding ”
6) Equip yourself with the right writing tools
Antidote: an existing tool in French and English that allows you to dissect your texts from A to Z. You can test it for free for a period of 30 days. I highly recommend the French version which is excellent and which has personally allowed me to really progress. I haven’t tested the English version yet, but the feedback isn’t great.
Scribens : a simple typo or inattention is quickly spotted, thanks to this program. All you have to do is copy and paste the text you want to check in a dedicated space, and it will quickly point out all the anomalies with colors according to their type, whether grammatical, spelling, or punctuation.
These tools are useful and make life easier for an editor even if he is an excellent writer.
You know it in your heart, family and friends, very often, for fear of offending, do not give their objective opinions on the quality of the writings of one of their own.
At the same time, who doesn’t like to hear praise about them?
Dare to share your content more with colleagues without particular affinities. Pick the toughest ones and open your mind to criticism… That’s the best way to improve.
You will be able to learn how to reformulate, eliminate the superfluous or on the contrary support the vague passages for a more precise text.
Whether it’s the fear of not being up to it, the lack of mastery of a subject or a singular writing style.