How to write better
What follows are some helpful tips that you can incorporate in your story-telling skills today. Like all life skills it will take time and practice in order to become a truly better writer. But these tips should help quickly get you to make yourself understood better and to be a little more entertaining.
Read.
You’re heard this one before. I know it makes sense. You know it makes sense. Reading more will make you a better writer. Think of it as a pep-talk. You wouldn’t want to play a game without a nice warm-up and a fire in your belly. So why would you start writing without words already in your head? I also find it helpful to read people who consistently inspire me. I don’t have any intention of writing like Shakespeare, but he can sure fire me up to write.
Relax? Nah. Go for a run.
It’s not going to do you any good to sit and stare at the computer. Grabbing a smoke or getting a cup of coffee isn’t going to help either. In order to get my creative juices flowing, motion is best. I like to go for a run or at the very least a long walk. You may be a swimmer or a tree-climber, but the effect is the same.
Movement gets your mind moving too.
Keep it short.
Your sentences are best short. So are your paragraphs. So are your stories. Not so short that you don’t get a sense of what’s going on or who was there. But short enough where your reader doesn’t have to invest much but gets a reward nonetheless.
Say it out loud.
I like to read my stories out loud. It helps me figure out if I’m writing in my voice or the voice of someone I’m pretending to be. In most cases, your own voice is better. It’s what’s real and your reader will be able to hear through the bullshit.
Don’t use slang.
This should go without saying. I’ll say it anyway. Don’t use slang is designed for verbal communication. It looks and feel wrong on the page. If you’re Mark Twain or William Faulkner, then disregard this rule.
Good grammar, good punctuation.
If you’ve got a good command of the language, great. If not, no worries. Keep it simple. Keep you sentences short. Resist the temptation to use a lot of commas. Don’t add two or three exclamations when one will do. For example, saying “I had a great time!!!” doesn’t say more than “I had had so much fun four hours seemed like ten minutes.” If you feel compelled to make up for your lack of detail with extra exclamation points and questions marks, you’re probably not making yourself understood.
When to use semi-colons, colons and em-dashes.
Never. If you’re not confident about what the proper use of a colon is, you don’t need it. If you’re confused about whether to use a comma or an em-dash, just use a period instead and start a new sentence. Short, unclomplicated sentences solve 99% of all grammatical problems.
Capitalize!
Seriously. If you’re going to go through the trouble of writing, make the extra effort to properly capitalize and spell correctly.
