These 7 Tips Will Improve Your Writing More Than 12 Years of English Class

Writing is one of the most useful skills you can learn.

It helps you better communicate your ideas, learn new things faster, and even become more aware of your own thoughts and the world around you (try journaling if you haven’t already).

Most of us learn to write during our many years of school. And while schools provide a great foundation for learning new skills like writing… there’s?a lot?they don’t teach.

Actually, let me rephrase that. When it comes to writing, schools are teaching you?wrong.

Yes, you read that correctly.?Everything school taught you about writing is a lie.

Want to become a better writer? Here are 7 tips that will improve your writing more than 12 years of English class.

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1. Know Your Audience

Now, I’ll give schools credit for this one. I remember my teachers constantly reminding me to “know who you’re writing for.”

But did you?actually?know who you were writing for? All I knew was I was arguing why we shouldn’t wear school uniforms (yes, that was an actual essay prompt I remember writing about).

Here’s my point. If you want to write effectively, you have to know your reader better than they know themselves.

And that’s certainly something schools don’t teach.

Instead of writing to a group of people, write for an audience of one. Write to an individual reader.

Why?

Because it’ll be a heck of a lot easier to get your message across. But not just that, you’ll be able to better understand who your reader is.

What are their interests? What are their goals and dreams? What are the challenges and obstacles that stand in their way?

When you know exactly who you’re writing for. When you know exactly?how?they can benefit from the point you’re trying to get across… your writing will flow effortlessly.

2. Have a Conversation With Your Reader

The best writing doesn’t sound like writing. The best writing sounds like a conversation with an old friend.

In the previous section, we learned to write for one single person. Think about it. It’s hard to have a casual, 1-on-1 conversation when you’re writing to an audience of thousands.

So here’s a simple trick:

Write in the way you would speak.

People don’t want to read something that sounds like it was written by a robot. They want to read something that sounds like it was written by a genuine human being.

Use pronouns to build an authentic connection with your reader:

• You
• Yours
• You’re

Use contractions to make your writing flow and sound less rigid:

• It is → It’s
• Cannot → Can’t
• Was not → Wasn’t

Writing doesn’t have to be formal like you were taught in school. In fact, the best writing is typically very?informal.

Don’t be afraid to add a bit of personality to your writing. It makes it a lot more fun and engaging for your reader.

And if your writing doesn’t sound natural when you read it out loud? Fix it.

3. Keep It Simple, Stupid

Who knew that a design principle could be so useful for… well, pretty much anything.

Keep It Simple, Stupid?— aka the?KISS principle?— originated as a design concept in 1960. Its main idea is that most systems work best when they’re kept simple rather than made complicated.

And you can see it in practice everywhere you look. The Nike swoosh, the Apple MacBook, the Gucci belt… the list could go on and on.

But the KISS principle doesn’t just work in design. It’s also an effective method to use in your writing.

Contrary to what school wants you to believe, most people don’t want to read long blocks of text or big words.

In fact, some of the best authors in the world — Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, Mark Twain — all wrote at a fifth-grade level.

Why?

Because they knew good writing can be understood by few. But great writing can be understood by anyone.

Let’s use quantum physics as an example (the most complicated subject I could think of). If I wanted to learn about quantum physics but didn’t have any background in the field, would I prefer to read a bunch of technical papers with big words or an article breaking it down simply?

If you said the latter, you’d be correct.

The best writers are able to break down complex concepts in a way anybody can understand.

Because nobody wants to read something and still not have a clue what they just read.

When in doubt, simplify your writing.

4. Focus on Readability

I’ve got some bad news for you…

Most people won’t read your entire article, email, or webpage.

They want to be able to get the most information in the shortest amount of time. And the quickest way to do this??Scanning through your content.

Now, while you may be a bit hurt to find that most people won’t read every word of your writing, you can actually use this to your advantage.

Humans have short attention spans. We don’t want to read long, boring blocks of text all the time.

So how can you take advantage of this?

Add more whitespace to your writing.

While school teaches you to write in long paragraphs, the only way to grab your reader’s attention is to do the opposite.

You see how I’ve included only one idea in each of the paragraphs above? How there’s lots of whitespace throughout, giving your eyes a break from long blocks of text?

This makes it easier for you, the reader. Because even if you quickly scan through my writing, you’ll still be able to gather the most important ideas I’m trying to convey.

How else can you make your writing easier to read? Include proper heading formats throughout. If you’re writing a listicle (like this) or want to separate different ideas, be sure to include numbered headings and bullet points.

Want to emphasize a main idea??Try using bold text.

Want to highlight a dialogue or emphasize a word??Try using italics.

You see, readability is one of the most important elements of your writing — especially in today’s digital world.

So before you hit publish on your next piece, ask yourself if you can change anything to make things easier and more enjoyable for your reader.

5. Create Content People?Want?to Read

Listen, nobody wants to write what schools want you to write.

Let’s be real. Do you want to write a “Well-outlined, five paragraph persuasive essay on why your school should or shouldn’t require school uniforms?”

Yeah, I didn’t think so.

While it makes sense in theory (gotta learn the foundation I suppose), this way of thinking actually draws kids?away?from writing. At least I know it did for me. And look at me now… I love writing!

In school, you’re handed a prompt and told what to write about. There wasn’t really a?purpose?behind it other than the fact you were told to do so.

In life, nobody will tell you how to write a story. They won’t tell you what story to tell. That’s something only?you?can decide.

So write with a purpose, not just because somebody tells you to write something.

Ask yourself a few simple questions:

• Why should someone read my ideas?
• What’s the message I’m trying to get across?
• What do I want my reader to do with the information?

You could be the best writer in the world. But it won’t mean a thing if nobody wants to hear what you have to say.

Give your audience a reason to listen to you.

6. Share Your Own Ideas

In school, you’re taught to cite where your research came from. Now, this is still necessary. I’m not saying you should plagiarize. Give credit where credit is due. Just hear me out.

I remember reading “find 8–10 sources to back up your claim…”

And hated it.

Not because I didn’t want to give credit where it was due. But because I didn’t like being?forced?to reference things when it wasn’t really necessary. What about my own ideas, did those even matter?

School teaches you that you can get away with writing an entire essay just by sharing the ideas of others.

But what’s the point in that? Your reader wants to hear your?own?thoughts. They want to hear your?own?perspective and opinions.

So give it to them.

Don’t just cite sources for the sake of it.?Use research to form your own ideas… and then share them.

Because your reader doesn’t really care what someone else says. They care what you think about it and how you present the information.

7. Create Your Own Rules

Here’s the most important rule of writing:

There are no rules.

Yes, you read that correctly. Contrary to what school wants you to believe, there is no right or wrong way to tell a story.

You don’t always have to be grammatically correct. And you don’t have to follow all the formal conventions you learned.

In fact, it’s okay to break?every single rule?you learned about writing.

Why?

Because people want to be entertained. They want to become informed. They want to?enjoy?reading your words.

And sometimes the only way to give the reader what they want is to break all the “conventional” writing rules and create your own.

Look, there’s a reason you’ve read this far. Maybe I grabbed your attention, made you feel part of a conversation, or kept you informed and wanting to come back for more.

But if I turned this in as a school paper?

I would probably lose points because it’s not the “right” way to write. I broke all the conventions and created my own rules.

I created my own style of writing.

And that’s exactly the thing that kept you reading.

So here’s the best piece of writing advice I can leave you with:

Find your own voice and write in a style that differentiates you from anybody else.

Maybe you have a signature slogan or saying at the end of your articles. Maybe you format your text differently than others. Maybe you have a unique way of transitioning between ideas.

Whatever it is, create your own rules and find your own voice.

Trust me. Once you do, it’ll be a lot more fun as a writer and a reader.

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Now, I’m not saying I have everything figured out when it comes to writing. I’m still learning and improving my skills just as much as the next person.

But what I?do?know is these seven tips have improved my writing more than any English class ever could.

Writing doesn’t have to be hard. And it doesn’t have to be boring.

There’s a whole world outside of what you’ve been taught in school. And all it takes is to open your eyes and change your idea of what writing is.

I’d love to hear your own thoughts! What are some useful tips that have helped improve your writing skills?

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