Why English Learners Should Vary their Writing Diet

Sometimes, it seems like you are drafting the same content again and again. You feel like you're not improving your English writing, and you repeat the same mistakes.

Sound familiar?

Well, take a page out of the pros' book and learn to vary your writing diet. It will pay dividends by improving your English construction, and help you to produce diverse and inspiring content.

Most writers are not one-trick ponies. Think Zadie Smith (above). As well as best-selling novels, she writes newspaper columns, lectures, short stories and essays. Even for writing super stars, variety is a necessity, but for those who are not, it can still have a positive effect on your language production.

If you normally write corporate blogs, try something less formal - personal diaries or a blog. This will give you some ideas of how you can make your company text more human and approachable. It'll also ensure you can make best use of your advanced English. In your own language, you can probably write in several formats and styles, so you need to practise more than one in English.

Is your English writing project going on and on and on?

Whether your are drafting and re-drafting a long-term work project or struggling to finish a novel (see picture), you can switch it up and go for something short.

Short stories, poems or brief articles can give you a break from getting bogged down in longer projects and can also give your confidence a boost. Think of it like your diet. It can be great to work on creating the perfect spaghetti bolognese, but you don't want to cook it every night. Create light bites, h'ordeuvres and canapés which shine. You'll be proud of your little written gems, and satisfied that you were able to shape something to completion.

In order to develop your writing, say yes more. Say yes to new projects and challenges and watch your writing diet improve. If your boss wants you to take over the English social media feed for the company, say yes. The CEO needs a team to polish their speech for the international conference? You can do it!

By saying yes, you'll need to check your English carefully (increasing accuracy), and you'll undoubtedly find good examples from which to learn. Writers develop their style and technique by analysing effective examples. Saying yes will be more work in the short term, but it will drastically grow your writing skill set. Don't get bogged down in any one project. Stick your fingers in a few pies and eventually you will taste success.

I'm currently juggling many writing projects: writing a novella-in-flash, editing my short-story collection, mapping a new novel, participating in an online writing challenges, and running two monthly workshops. It helps me to move forward and continue to improve my writing.

Would you like to learn new creative writing skills and get feedback to improve your English writing? Sign up for my January Online Writing Workshop. Advanced English learners from around the world come together to analyse, discuss, write and share. Why don't you say YES and join them?

Do you write a variety of things in English? Let me know below.