5 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer

Whether you’re an aspiring author or just spend a lot of time writing emails, this blog post is for you.

My Best Tips for Becoming a Better Writer

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"The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write. A man will turn over half a library to make a book."

—Samuel Johnson

Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out.

—William Faulkner

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

—Stephen King

Most every author will tell you that the key to success in writing is reading a lot and writing a lot. They all say this because it’s true. 

Read anything you can get your hands on—newspapers, magazines, books (fiction and nonfiction), tracts, chapbooks, flyers, blogs. Just read to see how other people are using words and telling stories. 

And don’t limit yourself to what’s easy or enjoyable. While I don’t think you should punish yourself by only reading classics (maybe I’ll write a post on that another time), make sure you’re reading widely. If you’re a big nonfiction reader, try reading some fiction. If you tend to lean toward fantasy, try something literary.

The more well-rounded you are as a reader, the more well-rounded you’ll be as a writer. 

Write More

It doesn’t matter what you’re writing as long as you’re getting words out on paper. Journal, write emails to your adult children or high school bestie, pen letters to the editor of the local newspaper, or add a little to your novel each day. Just practice writing—in any form—every day.

Brush Up on Grammar

Grammar and mechanics are important to becoming a good writer, but they aren’t the only thing you need to be a good writer. Nine times out of ten, readers will prefer excellent storytelling over impeccable grammar.

Yet grammar is the foundation of writing. The bones. If you don’t have a solid foundation with grammar, your work may be difficult to understand. For example, these two sentences only vary in one small punctuation mark, but they have huge differences in meaning. 

• Let’s eat, grandma!

• Let’s eat grandma!

You’ve probably noticed that I use sentence fragments in my work quite often. Like this. Using fragments and other English-class no-nos can actually enhance your work if used intentionally.

Readers can tell the difference between intentional and unintentional grammatical transgressions. Learn the rules so you can break them. 

Two of my favorite books on grammar are The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White and Dreyer’s English by Benjamin Dreyer. 

Use Writing Prompts

One of the best ways to strengthen your writing skills is learning to write on command by utilizing prompts. You can find writing prompts online or purchase books of writing prompts (often for very cheap in the gift books section at the front of your local Barnes & Noble).

I started with Writing Smarts: A Girl’s Guide to Writing Great Poetry, Stories, School Reports, and More published by American Girl back in 2002. This book has been on my shelf for 20 years, and I still open it a couple times a year to do one of the exercises in the book.

I also really like The Write-Brain Workbook by Bonnie Neubauer. It has 400 writing exercises with fun, colorful illustrations to help you get started.

You don’t have to spend money to find writing prompts, either. A simple search on Google or Pinterest will provide you with enough inspiration to last a lifetime. 

Share Your Work and Invite Constructive Criticism

My skills as a writer started to improve when I began sharing my work. Majoring in journalism was a good place to start, but you don’t have to enroll in college to get feedback on your writing or work in a writing-focused career. 

The first person to critique my work was my dad. When I was kid, he’d review my school papers for me, which helped me get the hang of grammar and mechanics. Then, my teachers and professors would grade my assignments. Now, I have my work critiqued by my boss every day at work. 

For creative works, I attend a writers group through my city’s parks and recreation department. A group of us sits around tables at the local senior center for two hours every week and read our work aloud. The others listen and provide constructive criticism. Some people pick on grammar. Others on plot or characterization. It’s a melting pot of experience and writing styles. It’s brutal and empowering. 

It’s the best thing I’ve done to grow my skills.

I hope these tips for becoming a better writer are helpful to you! If you’re trying to strengthen your writing skills, share one of your biggest challenges with me in the comments.