Photo by Jess Bailey Designs
Every job requires some level of written communication.
Your writing skills are an important professional skill. You don't have to be a copywriter to know the difference between adjectives and adverbs.
Whether you're a marketer, a salesperson, or an underwater welder, your career will likely require you to string some words together at some point.
To be honest, I have procrastinated writing this article for a long time. Why? To write an article about writing felt pretty meta.
As I began to outline this article (hello, tip #8), I started seeing the faces of my English teachers flashing through my head. Miss McDonald was the queen of a diagrammed sentence. Miss Vitti taught me that the strongest sentences were often short and succinct. Mr. Kahn taught me that I had a writing style, whether or not I knew it yet!
As my career requires a ton of writing—everything from emails to entire courses—I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing.
21 Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills
When your job requires you to write for a living, it can suck the joy right out of the page. If you lack confidence when it comes to written communication, even the "easiest" email can set your palms sweating.
In this article, I'll share some of my favorite writing tips. I use them every day.
1. Practice the Grammar Basics
Be honest, do you know what an adverb is? Do you default to passive voice when writing? Do you know when to use apostrophes to show possession?
The English language is challenging, so there's no shame in giving yourself a little refresher. Here are a few links to help you familiarize yourself with your old friend, grammar:
- Basic Grammar Terms
- Your Complete Guide to English Grammar
- 9 Basic Grammar Rules Every Writer Must Know
2. Edit Everything
Don't let a single piece of writing leave your fingertips without editing it. Yes, that includes your Slack messages, your emails, and the super rough draft you're submitting to your boss today.
One of the best ways to improve your writing is by editing. Edit your own work and edit other people's work, too. How would you break up that long sentence to achieve clarity? What verb would make this sentence more active?
Edit your written work to become a better writer. If you find it near impossible to edit your own work, ask a friend or coworker to make tracked or written edits. This is a great way to learn how others read your written work and the improvements you can make to become a stronger writer.
3. Read More
We're going to keep this one simple. Read more. Read books, articles, industry whitepapers, bus ads, Instagram ads, and everything else. Take note of the type of writing that appeals to you. Is it simple and stark, or is it filled with rich and flowery language?
Check out lists of books that will help you get back into a reading flow.
4. Write Your First Draft With Confidence
The "fake it 'til you make it" advice isn't always the best advice. However, writing with confidence is a great way to put it into action.
When creating professional pieces of writing, use confidence. In your first draft, present ideas as facts (we'll follow with research later!), use active voice, and paint a picture that employs all five senses.
Write your first draft with confidence. Weed out hedging words like "probably" or "most likely."
Later on, we'll go more into ditching weak language and using action in our writing. Try writing a confident and direct first draft to edit later.
5. Try Grammarly
This isn't a sponsored post, but tell someone at Grammarly that I'm available. I love Grammarly, and I believe it has made me a better writer.
Grammarly is an American cloud-based typing assistant. It reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery mistakes.
I have Grammarly Premium installed in my browser, which means I always have a helpful grammar teacher on my shoulder. Grammarly will point out inconsistencies in my tone, syntax, and word choice.
Even if I do nothing else to develop my writing in a given week, I have my little digital grammar cop suggesting tips for stronger writing.
6. Use Writing Prompts
When feeling stumped, I love a good writing prompt. Writing prompts are great for goal-setting, journaling, or producing a piece of creative writing.
Use writing prompts to practice your own writing skills. You can choose from different lists of writing prompts, ask a friend to give you a prompt, or even rewrite the ending of your favorite movie or television show.
7. Write Something Different
When your career requires you to write frequently, it's easy to lose inspiration. As someone who loves to write and read, I get burned out. That's exactly what was happening way back in 2011. I felt burned out on writing all the time, and I wasn't enjoying it at all.
To fix this burnout problem, I enrolled in a flash fiction class. In this writing workshop, the writing students had to write really fast, on the spot, with no expectations and no time for edits.
The class produced short stories, poems, and loose plots to work into stories later on. Without the pressure to deliver a certain word count to a specific client in a specific voice, we all had the freedom to get creative and unstuck.
If you're struggling with your writing, write a haiku. Write a sentence about a dog you saw on the way to work. Write a funny email to your long-distance best friend. Write for the sake of creating something without any expectations.
8. Create Outlines
Here's a fun confession. Up until about five years ago, I dismissed outlines as a waste of time. I preferred to roll right into writing and create my outline as I went. Sometimes this worked out fine. Other times, I emerged from hours of writing without knowing what I wrote.
Creating outlines is the opposite of a waste of time. Think of writing outlines like a to-do list. Outlines create the structure for your writing. Outlines ensure that you answer the most important questions in an organized and sensical fashion.
Don't waste your time by writing in a stream-of-consciousness style like I did—unless you're looking to do lots of editing.
9. Know + Answer Questions
When writing anything, know your headline. Your headline is the primary question you're answering in the body of your writing.
Here's an example:
Writing Assignment: Resignation Letter to My Boss
Headline: I'm quitting!
Questions I'll Answer:
Why am I appreciative of this job opportunity?
When will my last day be?
What will I do to make my exit easy on the team?
Headline: I'm quitting!
Questions I'll Answer:
Why am I appreciative of this job opportunity?
When will my last day be?
What will I do to make my exit easy on the team?
It's much easier to produce a clear and communicative piece of writing when you keep your questions in mind. Try it out!
Writing Assignment
Headline:
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Headline:
Question 1:
Question 2:
Question 3:
Knowing your headline will also help you to edit your writing! By using your headline to double-check your writing, you can eliminate information that is extraneous to provide a more concise piece of writing.
10. Ditch Weak Language
To bring your written communication skills to an expert level, get rid of weak language. Recognize language that undermines your intelligence, strength, and your wisdom—and replace it with language that is powerful and unwavering.
Here are some examples of weak language:
- Over-apologizing
- "Does that make sense?" or "Am I even making sense?"
- "Just," "Maybe," "I feel like..."
Get rid of these all-too-common weak phrases and replace them with powerful language.
11. Keep Things Active
Active language rules!
Remember how we talked about how we learned to write long, rambling essays in high school to hit a page count? I think that's why so many of us write passively.
The active voice tells us what a person or thing does. Meanwhile, the passive voice tells us what is being done to something or someone.
For example:
Passive Voice: That article was written by me.
Active Voice: I wrote that article.
Active Voice: I wrote that article.
Passive Voice: The blue ball was thrown by Jennifer.
Active Voice: Jennifer threw the blue ball.
Active Voice: Jennifer threw the blue ball.
Active voice is generally more action-based, persuasive, and compelling. It draws readers into the action. Use active voice to create a confident piece of writing.
Passive voice is generally used in academic writing when emphasizing a result instead of an action.
12. Prioritize Clarity: Longer Isn't Better
If the last big piece of writing you completed was in high school, then you know all about making those thick margins, increasing your font size, and using filler words galore to meet that page count.
Unlearn everything you learned in high school to help you reach the page count needed for a writing assignment. Put the thesaurus away, and forget about using million-dollar SAT words in your writing. Say goodbye to complex sentences that are probably run-ons anyway.
Be more like Ernest Hemingway (but really only when it comes to writing).
When writing professionally, simplicity is your friend. Get to know your new friends, including short sentences, bullet points, and straightforward vocabulary.
13. Do Research
When producing a piece of written content that shares facts or historical information, do your research. A piece of writing that cites sources and statistics is not only more compelling, but it's also more trustworthy.
14. Write for Your Audience
It's always important to keep your audience in mind. What you might write in your personal social media posts will differ from the technical blog posts you write at work.
Keep your readers in mind when writing anything.
Here are a few things to consider when writing for an audience:
- Who is my audience?
- What do they want to know?
- What do they need to know?
- How much time do they have to read?
- What is their daily life like?
- Why do they care about what I'm writing?
- How can I appeal to their pain points with my writing?
- What writing tone suits my audience? Casual? Professional?
15. Start a Journal
If you're looking to improve your writing skills, get a journal. Don't create a bunch of rules for your journal. Keep it as loose or as specific as you want. You can create a work journal to track your career, to deal with your worries, or to set new goals!
Journaling resources to get you started:
- 25 Journaling Ideas That Will Change Your Career
- The Benefits of a Work Journal (+ How to Get Started)
- Why We're Starting a Worry Journal to Worry Less
16. Find Inspiration
Chances are that you have a favorite book or a favorite blog. If you're not a big reader, then you might have a favorite movie or television show.
What is it about the way the writers approached storytelling that appeals to you? Is it the language they use? Is it plot development or the use of character traits when describing characters?
Pull from your favorite pieces of literature or media. Identify what makes it special to you—and what captures and keeps your attention. Now, try to do that in your writing!
17. Find Your Hook
What's your hook?
A hook is an opening statement (which is usually the first sentence) in an essay that attempts to grab the reader's attention. A great hook will compel the reader to keep reading—often with excitement.
Hooks are effective in virtually any type of writing.
- Want your client to open your emails? Create the hook in your subject line!
- Want to ask your boss for that well-deserved raise? Your hook can detail exactly what you have brought to the organization up until now.
- Need to write a piece of (otherwise boring) technical content? Use a hook to share fascinating facts and interesting statistics.
- Do you write a weekly email to your work teammates? Start it with a joke each week.
Be creative when developing hooks. They will have a huge impact on your readers—no matter what you're writing!
18. Summarize
When wrapping up a piece of writing, no matter the length, make your closing strong. Reiterate your main points, create action-based items for your reader to complete, and close with your clear message.
A common mistake made in professional communication is assuming. When communicating in written text, use your closing paragraphs to summarize your points and invite your reader to ask questions they might have.
19. Find a Writing Buddy or Mentor
Having an accountability buddy or a writing partner is a great way to stay on task. When looking to improve your writing, find a friend or colleague with similar goals. Schedule weekly or bi-weekly writing dates to critique, edit, and rewrite your own pieces of technical writing, short stories, or copywriting work.
Working with someone helps to develop and expand ideas. Even the best writers of all time had friends and loved ones who reviewed and critiqued their work. Be like them!
20. Take Writing Courses
We already touched on this a little bit, but writing courses are a great way to improve your writing skills. Whether you want to sound more confident in emails or improve your writing to develop your company's blog, there is a course out there for you.
Use your favorite search engine to find writing classes to develop everything from writing emails to technical writing.
21. Think About Style
If writing is a big part of your daily work, then you might consider thinking about your style of writing. If your goal is to write a novel, a self-help book, or a nonfiction tome, your style and voice are so important.
Your writing style will include:
- Your tone and voice
- How you use words
- Types of words you use
- Your level of formality
- Your sentence structure
If you're developing a larger piece of writing, a personal blog, or a professional piece of writing, develop a writing style that suits yourself and your target audience.
