15 Tips for Becoming A Better Writer

By Michael Angier

Whether you're writing a memo, a letter, an article or a full-length book, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind that will help your message first to be read and then to be better understood and accepted.

1. Never Be Boring Your reader will forgive almost anything except you being boring. Your reader doesn't have to agree with you, but he or she should at least be intrigued. Make the reader care. Don't be afraid to be "edgy." Look at every sentence and ask yourself, "Why will the reader care about this?"

2. Write in Short Sentences The reader shouldn't have to work hard to understand what you're saying. If he or she has to go back over a sentence because of poor structure it's not his or her fault, it's yours. Read what you've written aloud or have someone else read it aloud to look for sentences that are too long or convoluted.

3. Write to the Reader Use "you" often. Look for ways to eliminate or reduce "I" and "me."
Present tense, second person is always best. It feels more to readers like you're talking to them.

4. Go Active Use active verbs as much as possible. They're more engaging. They move the reader along and take fewer words to get your message across. "John loves Mary" is much more powerful than "Mary is loved by John."

5. Keep it Simple The front page of The Wall Street Journal and all of USA Today is written for the eighth grade reading level. Why should we be any different? People aren't interested in things they don't understand. Make your points quickly and succinctly. Make your words work and use as few of them as possible. Use the right word, not just to show off your vocabulary (or your new thesaurus), but to convey your message clearly.

6. Tell Stories Facts tell and stories sell. The best writers and speakers of the world have always been good storytellers. Your own stories are the best. What you are sharing is wisdom from your point of view and stories can illustrate this better than anything else.

7. Know Your Subject Write on things on which you've earned the right to write. The more you know, the more confidence and credibility you'll have.

8. WIFM This is the radio station that everyone listens to. The call letters stand for "What's in It For Me". People want to know what they'll get out of what you're writing, so appeal to what they want.

9. Write Like You Talk Often I see people who are good verbal communicators trying to put on a different air in their writing. It doesn't work. It's much better to be conversational.

10. Paint Pictures We think in pictures and should write in ways that create these pictures in the mind of the reader. Be descriptive. Use examples. Describe the unfamiliar by using some of the familiar. For example: "Jennifer's first day at her new job reminded her of the freshness and unfamiliarity she experienced on her first day of school."

11. Sleep On it It's a rare individual who can sit down and write something well at the first attempt. Any writing of import should be written and then reviewed later, preferably at least a day later. Some things should be edited several times over an extended period of time in order to properly convey a clear understandable message.

12. Write and Read Extensively This advice is from Stephen King, a prolific writer. If you want to be a good writer you have to do two things … read a lot and write a lot. Enough said.

13. Break it Down Where appropriate use bullet points. Use them for summaries or outlines. Think about someone who may only start out by scanning your text. Let your bullet points draw the reader in.

14. Keep Paragraphs to no more than Six LinesShort paragraphs provide white space to the text. They break up the page and make it appear less formidable to the reader. Like in music, the space between the notes is as important as the notes themselves.

15. Avoid using Capital Letters to make a Point Capital letters are harder to read than upper and lower case. They also can be perceived as SHOUTING! A little uppercase usage is OK but regular use of words with every letter shown as a capital doesn't work and it looks amateurish.
Writing can be a happy and rewarding experience. If you follow these tips, you will find it easier to convey your written communications to others.

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