6 Surefire Ways to Improve Your Writing Starting Today

I’m surprised at how often people are impressed by the fact that I write for a living. Surprised because it is far from glamorous and a lot more work than most people would guess.

Writers block, self doubt, and just plain laziness plague me on days when I have no choice but to put fingers to keyboard – like it or not. It’s publish or perish or in my case, produce or perish.

Inspiration often comes when I least expect it. On a walk. Driving with my kids or at the field watching a soccer game.

Recent inspiration came in the form of a book by Bob Bly that I’m finding is rejuvenating my writing and getting me excited about the prospect of taking some risks with my writing. Bly starts by covering some basic every writer – novice or professional – can use to immediately improve their writing.

Here are just a few:

Use Effective Headlines
Grab the reader’s attention with headlines that deliver a complete message but leave room for elaboration later on. Remember, many people never read beyond the headline – especially if it’s weak.

Select an Audience and Write to Them
Determine your audience and write to that specific audience rather to a general one. Bly gives the example of an ad for life insurance targeted at people 65 and older. “Screen out those readers who are not potential customers,” he says.

Use Shorter Sentences
Write sentences with an average of 14 to 16 words and no more than 25. Vary sentence length to include a few short punchy sentences. It will spice up your writing. (example of short sentence)

Use Simple Words
Don’t try to impress readers with your extensive vocabulary. Substitute ‘help’ for `assist,’ ‘car’ for `automobile,” and ‘tell’ for ‘indicate.’ These are just a few examples of instances when a simple word will do just fine.

Be Concise
Cut words whenever possible. Avoid redundancies, run-on sentences, wordy phrases, and the passive voice.

Be Specific
Don’t say ‘he teaches various courses’ when you can say `he teaches science and math.’