Improve Your Writing
Do you want to be a better writer? I know I do. One of my goals for 2013 is to write more consistently and more coherently.
These tips will help you if you’re a songwriter, but this applies to writing of all kinds.
Whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, songs, or blog posts, if you apply the following three things in 2013, you will be able to look back a year from now and see improvements.
3 Ways to Improve Your Writing This Year
1) Write Something Everyday
People make this harder than they should. This doesn’t mean you start and complete things on a daily basis, but it could mean you keep a daily journal, or morning pages when you wake up.
The regular discipline of getting your thoughts on paper, will make you a better writer in the end. Not to mention you’ll have tons more to go back and rewrite if you want.
2) Erase Useless Words
This is something I need to work on. Even in this blog post I’m sure there are words that I could have left out that would have made this a clearer piece of writing for you to read.
Too often we fluff up our writing with useless words that simply clutter everything. Erase useless words.
3) Read More Books
I’ve often heard the saying “Every leader should be a reader”. Well, the same is true for writing. Every one who wants to write well should read more, and you should read a lot more.
Whatever books you’re reading, you should double that amount. And don’t forget to mix it up too. Make sure you don’t just read from the same author or niche all the time. Reading more broadly will broaden your own shoulders when writing as well.
Some resources to improve your writing in the new year:
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- Evernote
- The Elements of Style
