Writing is hard. It is even harder when you are writing for an intended audience. But most of us don’t realise that and continue to sprout out words of wisdom into lengthy blogs that goes over everyone’s head. But hey, we all can improve. As I edit around 10 stories every day, I have found that there are a few common mistakes in most of the stories. So based on it, here is a list of seven tips that can help you improve your writing quality.
1. Pay attention to your sentence structure
For this, you need a grasp on the basics of grammar. Then make sure that your sentences are concise and clear. Your readers should understand what you have written in one attempt.
2. Don’t forget who you are writing for
Just keep in mind that you are not writing an answer sheet to pass your University exam. You are writing for people who are looking to gain value out of your content. So, try to alter your writing style according to your intended readers.
3. Don’t be pretentious
Simple language is beautiful. Don’t try to find synonyms of every other word to make your content sound fancy. It breaks the flow of your writing and confuses the reader. Nobody wants to refer to a dictionary while reading your content.
4. Avoid adjectives and adverbs
In the words of J. Anthony Lukas, “If the noun is good and the verb is strong, you almost never need an adjective.” It’s the same with adverbs. Words like ‘very’ and ‘actually’ don’t add any value to your content.
5. Make paragraphs and subheads
Breaking the content into different paragraphs with subheads makes it easier for readers to understand it. It is also easier to browse through the content and find out what is important.
6. Stick to the subject
Every sentence of yours should contribute to the subject you are writing about. You may have a lot of information that you want to share, but if it is not relevant to your subject, don’t include it. You can always make a separate blog post about it.
7. Self editing
Be ruthless. If a sentence can be written in fewer words without compromising its grammar and meaning, then rewrite it. Also, don’t forget to recheck the spellings of names, places and brands.
Remember that you are trying to get the attention of readers. Let it be worth their while. One of the best pieces of writing advice that I have come across is Kurt Vonnegut’s “Pity the readers”. Since the readers do have the Herculean task of filtering information on the Internet, make it simpler for them to find the information they are looking for.
