Earlyface

You may not be making a living as a full time writer (fiction writer, journalist, blogger etc) but for many career individuals it is important they develop their writing ability to above average. If you work or intend pursuing a career in marketing, business development, publicity etc it is even more important that you learn the skills and habits of successful writers.

Writing well certainly can be beneficial in a host of ways like;

- helping you market your business
- giving you a better chance in your job search
- helping you be more positive and crystallize your thoughts & plans
- Helping you build an attractive personal brand and so on.

When you are able to express your thoughts in concise and good writing you become a better communicator. Communication sure helps in business and career growth.

To improve your writing and become better at conveying written information here are a few tips.

Read More and You’ll Write Better

Readers are always more likely to become improved writers. The wider you read (fiction and non-fiction) the better you get in acquiring style and structure.

Your reading should not be restricted to one of fiction or non-fiction; each helps in a different way to build your thought and eventually writing process.

Take a Notebook Along

One thing good writers don’t fail to do is to have a way of capturing their ideas for later expansion. The more you read and get aware the more ideas fester in your mind. Great writing ideas often start with an idea that erupts when you are nowhere near your writing desk.

Note down ideas as soon as they come to you so you can later work on them. Have a portable jotter wherever you go and use them to keep track of ideas that occur to you. A decent idea for that report you have to write for your Head of Department could pop up anytime.

Listen

The way and how people converse around you can contribute to your thinking. Talks and conferences you attend are a good way to sharpen your ideas and develop your own writing ability. Listen to smarter people and professionals around you and build your own way of capturing dialogue in written form.

Improve Your Vocabulary; Use Dictionary and Thesaurus

These days you need not have to consult a bulky Oxford dictionary to get meanings of words you don’t know. There are literally many dictionary and thesaurus applications out there that you can install on your phone and improve your understanding of words on the go.

When you come across any difficult word your phone is only a few buttons away from helping you out. Take advantage of that and improve on your command of words.

Crossword puzzles can be a good way to get involved with new words and expand your scope of knowledge.

Write Simple

Obviously many do not realise that for writing it is a case of the simpler the better. Don’t try to impress your audience (be it your boss or a committee) by writing superfluous. Writing simple helps you avoid ambiguity.

To write simply bear in mind the following;

Sentence Structure and Length: If your aim is to write concisely you shouldn’t do more long sentence form. While it is good to vary the length of your sentences you may want to be sure that they don’t end up too long. Try as much as possible to give the intended reader a breather and make it easier for them to read your work or report.

Active and Passive Voice: Consider these two sentences;

The car was crashed on the highway by Ahmed (passive voice)
Ahmed crashed the car on the highway (active voice)

Most times writing done in active voice conveys more powerful and direct meaning. This is not to say that you shouldn’t write in passive voice. It means however that you should consider making your writing more direct and cleaner especially when you are writing in non fiction or business related issues.

Always Proofread Your Writing

It doesn’t matter if it is a 3 sentence memo you just wrote always re-read your writing before sending it along to your audience. Your write-up may look very decent at first glance but taking the time to read through what you have written might show you a few loose ends.

Always proofread with the mindset of a critic looking for mistakes and unsavoury construction of words.