When it comes to learning more about the written English language, we might feel overwhelmed and confused, given the number of rules as well as exceptions. Among myriads of web resources containing plenty of useful information on how to improve your writing, only a few seem to give a hand. However, if you familiarize yourself with a couple of basic rules, you’ll be able to compose a good piece of writing regardless of its genre.
This article might prove advantageous as it contains an essential list of concepts that will help you improve your writing skills in English without having to graduate from a university as a creative writer.
1. Get to know your author
No matter how surprising it may seem, you need to read more in order to become a better writer, be it the academic sphere or anything unrelated to education at all. Fortunately, English is the most widespread language in the world, so finding your favorite novelist won’t be an issue. For example, George R.R. Martin, Steven King, or Sarah Waters are only a few contemporary authors whose stories will not only entertain you after class but also help develop a good writing style. What’s more important, they don’t need to be alive. Ernest Hemingway or Emily Dickinson are titans of American prose working in the English literature field.
Anyway, here’s the list of recommendations on how to structure your reading process:
- Choose your favorite literary genre, writing style, and historical period.
- Come up with a couple (let it be about three) of novelists or poets whose writing seems appealing and quality to you.
- Research their background and biography on a website, some search engine, or library.
- Read some reviews about their best literary works.
- Pick up a simple short story (if you’re a complete beginner) or any other genre (let’s say, essay or a selection of essays).
- Approach reading with a notebook where you can write down unfamiliar words.
- Proceed chapter by chapter, gradually rewarding yourself after minor achievements (otherwise, you might feel exhausted or uninterested).
- After finishing reading one or two chapters (or as many as you’re comfortable with), write down translation to unfamiliar words, which you should learn the next time you start reading.
2. Own a dictionary
It doesn’t mean that you should carry all twelve volumes of the Oxford English dictionary with you whenever you go to the cinema or visit a restaurant. Since we all live in the twenty-first century, you may download any offline dictionary on your smartphone or access them online on a tablet. Professional writing skills undoubtedly require some effort. But the learning process doesn’t always need to imply sitting in a library on the weekend. Instead, you can practice listening to English audiobooks, reading them on public transport, or playing with any dictionary you like. In particular, Cambridge Dictionary or Macmillan Dictionary are good examples of how an online web resource becomes the best friend, accessible on a mobile gadget.
3. Time to defy your writing abilities
Depending on your goals and interested writing areas, you have a wide variety of opportunities. For instance, if you want to compose original papers from scratch, you can either ask for expert assistance or inquire of fellow students about the fundamentals of writing. Visiting a website that offers an online essay writing service, like CustomWritings.com, usually turns out to be a beneficial experience. These are the services where you can buy a cheap college assignment, and there you can get a personalized sample for almost any genre essential for your major or needed in extracurricular activities.
Here’s why you need to defy your writing abilities:
- Putting your knowledge into practice allows you to test the level of preparation.
- You keep motivated while writing and overcoming obstacles.
- Being aware of your weaknesses in writing is essential for moving forward and turning them into strengths.
- When you practice writing skills, they are naturally improving without you even noticing the process.
- Although sometimes it may seem that you’re not progressing, do not worry. It’s just you crossing the next milestone in your writing technique.
4. Knowing why you keep learning
In the UK or USA, many companies of different sizes require high-quality English writers because customers in the international market really appreciate good communication skills. That’s why we all need to know this language well. Want a new smartphone? Go to a company’s corporate website and read the specs of your new gadgets, also learning more about the product from each review posted there. Need to research some food ingredients that seem suspicious to you? Feel free to visit Google or any other search engine, and a considerable proportion of text you find there will be written in English. These are only a few reasons why we all need to improve our writing and reading skills. Interestingly, there are plenty of them.
When you know how to write professionally in English:
- You can develop, refine, and structure your ideas more effectively.
- You can research topics of concern to you with less effort and due attention.
- You can watch your favorite TV series on Netflix or a video clip on YouTube with a better understanding of the context.
- You can read any English author or blogger you like to get more inspiration from their work.
Assume you’ve already written an essay. Congratulations!
As soon as you finish the last word in your conclusion, the work is not done yet. In order to become a better writer, be sure to proofread your work. Clearly organizing each paragraph as well as remembering a hook sentence and thesis statement in your essay is a proper composing technique. Without a doubt, writing skills are not only about the writing process itself. Instead, it’s often more about being able to polish your paper or keeping the word count according to specific requirements.
At any rate, improving your writing skills in English requires you to start reading more, taking notes, learning new vocabulary, practicing, remaining motivated, and proofreading the final draft. All these steps should undoubtedly help you acquire advanced writing skills more effectively. You just need time, patience, effort, and motivation.
Hope this article proves to be helpful to you.
Best of luck!
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