How to be a better writer

I would hazard a guess that almost all of us would like to be better writers. Whether we consider ourselves wordsmiths or not, being able to write well is something that many of us aspire to. That is a noble and worthy goal. But what if you think this is a goal that is beyond your ability to achieve?

Many of my clients (and potential clients) tell me they can’t write a book because they’re not writers. Despite working in publishing for over 12 years I came across very few authors who considered themselves to be writers but they still published books (sometimes bestselling books), so this is clearly a limiting belief. You don’t need to be a writer to produce a book.

It’s also a bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy. If you don’t think of yourself as a writer, you are unlikely to do a lot of writing. As a result, your writing won’t improve and writing won’t get easier. You’ll continue to think of yourself as ‘not a writer’.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of video but I accept that I can get more comfortable and learn to perform better in front of a video camera if I do more of it. Isn’t the same true with writing?

I sense there are two problems with writing, though: the first problem is that writing is a skill we all believe we ought to have mastered a long time ago (specifically when we were children) so we think if we couldn’t get better at it when we were at school we’ll never get it as an adult. The second problem is that we are too critical to give ourselves room to learn and grow: we don’t progress as writers because we never embrace our writing style and allow it room to develop.

Being self-critical is a necessary part of growing and becoming more skilled at performing a specific task. Yet there is a point at which there is too much criticism and this leads to shut-down. The key is to embrace your writing style. Accept the way you write (even if your inner critic is saying it’s rubbish) then do more writing. Be aware of good writing as a reader and work out what makes it good. Use new words and try different ways of putting a sentence together. Play, experiment, and have fun.

Ultimately, the only way to improve your writing is to write. Whether you do that publicly by publishing more posts and articles or privately via a journal or diary is your choice. However, I would always advocate publishing your work eventually because it is only then that you will be willing to go through the process of honing, editing and amending your work. Editing your own work is definitely what helps you to improve fastest of all.

If you want to be a better writer you need to learn to accept how you write right now and you need to believe you can learn and develop your writing skills at any point in your life. Above all, you need to avoid being hypercritical of your writing, otherwise you will never get into the creative state of flow – the state that allows you to rise above your inner critic, enjoy the experience of writing and develop your writer’s voice.

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Deborah Taylor is a non-fiction publishing consultant who works with coaches, consultants, experts, trainers and speakers to help them become published authors. If you have a book idea that you would like to explore, please email Deborah at [email protected] to arrange a time to talk or visit www.booklaunchyourbusiness.com for more information about publishing a book.