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As a writer, I’m always looking for ways to improve writing skills. Over the years, I have gathered a few tips for my writing skills, and I want to share them so you can also improve your writing.
Ways to Improve Writing Skills #1: Write Daily
If you are a singer, you practice on a regular basis. Marathon runners have a schedule for being able to keep and/or improve their pace. Why wouldn’t writers write to improve their skills?
Writing every day helps you to practice. You can journal about your day or write imaginative stories. No matter what you are writing, put something on the paper (or on the screen) so that you can improve your writing skills.
Set aside time in your daily schedule to write. It could be first thing in the morning; a gratitude journal is great for this. You can do it right before bed; this is a great way to clear your thoughts and be able to relax without your brain staying in overdrive all night. One way to write daily is to keep a list of prayer requests and write out the prayers for those requests. Once the prayer is answered, you can write that as well.
Ways to Improve Writing Skills #2: Utilize Prompts
Find a journal that has writing prompts. Join a writing challenge that supplies daily prompts for writing. Search Google for a list of writing prompts. You can find something to write about for just about any season–Christmas prompts, Halloween prompts, or even prompts for each day of a specific month.
Writing prompts force your mind to think about a specific topic or thought. They also free you from having to think of your own topics. This allows you to use your time for writing and not procrastinating finding a topic.
Ways to Improve Writing Skills #3: Read Diligently
I probably should have put this as the number one tip to improve writing skills. It is probably the most important way to improve writing.
Read books of different genres. Pick up short stories and poems as well. Newspapers, blogs, and anything else that is published are great to read in order to improve writing skills. Don’t limit yourself to what you think you want to read, but read many different books by various authors.
Take notes–on paper and mentally–about what you read. If you own the book, you can write directly on the pages. However, if you are like me, you can also use Post-It notes. (Maybe I will make an Instagram reel showing how I do that one day!)
Note how the authors create scenes and settings. Write down how the characters are developed. Put vocabulary on your page of notes as well. Finally, write down how you felt and what you thought about the book or story you read.
Ways to Improve Writing Skills #4: Take a Course
In a perfect world, this would be where I would introduce my own writing course. However, I do not have one to offer you, but I still think that enrolling in a writing class or course is a great idea.
There are many online and in-person options. Some of these options are free, but others are paid. If I were starting over and had an option, I would try to attend an online course through the community college where the class meets together live. This way I could get feedback from my classmates and teacher.
Check with places like SkillShare, Coursera, and your local community college for writing courses you can take to improve your writing skills.
Ways to Improve Writing Skills #5: Join a Group
Writing groups are great for support and encouragement. As with the courses, these can be online or in person. In these groups, the members share their writing with one another.
After reading the works, the members of the group share comments and suggestions with the author. This is great feedback for writers to see what areas they are strong in and areas of writing where they need some work.
Sometimes, these groups “meet” online, like in Facebook live videos or Microsoft Teams meetings. The members can work together and bounce ideas and thoughts off of one another.
Conclusion
There are so many ways to improve writing skills, and these are only five of the top ones I have used over the years.
If you know me or have been around for any length of time, you know how much I love to write. Some of my writing skills came from imitating some of my favorite authors. Other skills came from suggestions from my writing professors during my graduate studies for both of my Masters degrees–Teaching Secondary English and Creative Writing.
What do you need to improve in your writing? Which of these ways to improve writing skills will you try?
Follow me on Instagram (@heartwork.by.leslie) for more tips and upcoming writing prompts.