Knowing how to use great words to craft stellar sentences is an excellent way to improve your writing skills as an English learner! Sitting down to pen your thoughts is an interesting activity. It’s true that writing is a skill that you mostly practice on your own. These days, you use writing in just about every interaction. The way people speak with each other has changed, making texting and email the primary forms of communication. You use writing in almost every interaction you have with other people, sending a text or a letter to a friend.
If you dream of becoming an author but don’t know where to start, here are five ways to improve your writing.
Read More
Currently, it’s possible to read books from almost every corner of the planet. The internet contributes to spreading knowledge through eBooks and platforms where you can download different published works. If you’re busy doing several activities at once, audiobooks are available, too. Reading is crucial for improving your writing skills.
Reading Improves Your Vocabulary
How many words did you learn from your last book? As an English learner, you need to have a list of all the new terms you add to your vocabulary. It’s fascinating to see how your lexicon grows just by dedicating thirty minutes each day to reading. This is a way to benefit from reading and improve your writing.
The more words you know, the easier it is to pen your ideas. But how do you practice what you have learned? Grab a pen and a piece of paper. Then, using the words you’ve learned, come up with a list of ideas you’d like to write about. In writing, there aren’t limits! After that, start your work and use the words you previously learned from the story you read.
Reading Enhances Your Concentration
Reading provides the same benefit for everyone: a concentration boost. Reading requires a lot of concentration to remember details or information so you understand the text.
How long should you dedicate to reading? That will mainly depend on your schedule and availability. Ideally, thirty minutes of reading a day can help.
This skill is also beneficial if you’re a writer. If you plan to write a novel, you should take into consideration that you need to remember all the plot chapters and characters you’ve developed. That sounds challenging, but it’s possible to do.
One way to apply this to your writing is to come up with a fiction story. Brainstorm the characters, settings, and chapters. It doesn’t have to be long. Remember that you’re starting to work on the thread that the story will follow.
If writing about real events is what you like, non-fiction is the genre for you. In simple words, you’ll be writing about a real story. It could be your biography or a meaningful event that happened that you want to inform others about. Concentration comes into play in the plot. It’s mandatory to remember the dates or facts you’ve used throughout your story.
Imitation
Many believe that imitation is the best form of flattery. If you want to find fresh ideas on what to write, read other authors’ books.
Basically, pick up a book you’re interested in and read it. Write down details or descriptions that the author used. Did you like the tone or voice? With that, you can start your own compositions.
However, be mindful of plagiarism. Imitation doesn’t mean that you copy and paste what another person has written to improve your writing skills as an English learner. It means that you mimic someone else’s style, tone, or voice to reproduce a new text using your own words.
The beauty of checking someone else’s work is that you can identify the style you want to follow, as well as discover several genres. Plus, you can critique or come up with new versions of what has been written.
Work on Your Grammar
Grammar is the backbone of a language. It contains the rules of how to keep words organized in sentences. As an English learner, you might have heard about the eight parts of speech and each of their functions in a sentence. Grammar covers different areas and terms that you have to master to become a respected writer.
Grammar Improves Sentence Structure
In English, there are four main types of sentences: exclamatory, interrogative, declarative, and imperative. The construction of each varies and is used for different purposes.
- Exclamatory: This type expresses strong emotions. It is a complete sentence, so it has a subject and a predicate. It often ends with an exclamation mark.
- Interrogative: This type of sentence poses a question. The word order is different. First, you’ll find the verb followed by the subject and the complement of the sentence. It ends with a question mark.
- Declarative: This is a common type of sentence found in almost every text. It’s used to convey general information or facts. It’s made up of a subject, verb, and complement. Declarative sentences end up with a period.
- Imperative: This type of sentence expresses an order or a command. It commonly ends with a period or exclamation mark.
Grammar also involves punctuation and word order. Both are necessary to become proficient in writing.
Grammar Gives Writing More Credibility
Readers generally look for fluency when reading a stories. However, grammar is as important as any other part of the writing process. Sloppy sentences or basic sentence structures cause readers to quit reading. Grammar isn’t the three-headed monster many view it as. It’s a part of the language that makes your speech or writing more sophisticated when used correctly.
As a writer, you must start building your credibility by chiseling your grammar. Add sentence variety to attract new readers like a magnet and avoid monotony. Also, pay attention to tenses and correct use of pronouns.
Brainstorming
Organization is essential as a writer. You might feel tempted to only write your story as ideas bloom in your mind, but some order is necessary to avoid repeating yourself.
In order to brainstorm successfully, you need to come up with the ideas, characters, plot, or settings beforehand. Then, on a piece of paper write them down without editing them or paying attention to grammar mistakes–you’ll fix those later on. After that, write what you’d like to focus on.
Save Your Time
To improve your writing skills as an English learner who wants to become a writer, you need to plan everything. Time is your best ally to finish all your projects.
Managing your time properly will make you more efficient. It’s true that when there’s no organization, there’s room for a silent enemy you need to avoid: procrastination. By brainstorming, you’re more productive and able to follow steps that were previously established.
Hire an Editor
In a previous blog, we talked about the pros and cons of editing software. Having your work revised by a person has several benefits. It’s natural to make mistakes in writing. There are things you might ignore or be totally unaware of. Therefore, having an extra pair of eyes to review your work will help you identify areas you missed while writing.
So, how do you proceed? One of the things you need to know is that hiring an editor doesn’t mean that all your work will undergo a drastic change. In fact, a professional editor will give you constructive feedback about the flow of your story.
Promote Your Work
Unlike editing software, editors can recommend your books to other people or post it on their social media platforms. This will reach more readers or potential followers.
Takeaway
After going through these five tips, writing doesn’t sound so challenging, right? Remember, there’s a process you need to follow. Time will show results if you’re consistent and persistent.
