How to Improve Writing
Skills?
First, be active
instead of passive.
One
of the most common manifestations of bad writing is overuse of the passive
voice. The passive voice makes the object of an action into the subject of the
sentence with verb forms like "X had been attacked by Y" instead of
simply "Y attacked X." Learn to avoid these constructions as much as
you can.
"The
novel had been written by Frank while he was in college" is passive.
"Frank wrote the novel while he was in college" is active.
Using
the passive voice isn't always bad. Sometimes there is no clear way to make a
statement active, or sometimes you want the lighter touch a passive
construction allows. But learn to follow this rule before you start making
exceptions.
Second, use strong
words.
Good
writing is precise, evocative and spiced with the unexpected. Finding the right
verb or adjective can turn an uninspired sentence into one people will remember
and quote for years to come. Look for words that are as specific as possible.
Try not to repeat the same word over and over unless you are trying to build a
rhythm with it.
One
exception to this is the words used to describe dialogue. Bad writing is filled
with "he commented" and "she responded." A well-placed
"sputtered" can work wonders, but most of the time a simple
"said" will do. It may feel awkward to use the word "said"
over and over, but changing it up unnecessarily makes it harder for your
readers to get into the back-and-forth flow of the conversation. When writing
dialogue, you want readers to hear your characters' voices, not your own.
Strong
doesn't mean obscure, or more complicated. Don't say "utilize" when
you could say "use." "He sprinted" is not necessarily
better than "he ran." If you have a really good opportunity to use
"ameliorate," go for it—unless "ease" is just as good
there.
Third, cut the
chaff.
Good
writing is simple, clear and direct. You don't get points for saying in 50
words what could be said in 20. Good writing is about using the right words,
not filling up the page. It might feel good at first to pack a lot of ideas and
details into a single sentence, but chances are that sentence is just going to
be hard to read. If a phrase doesn't add anything valuable, just cut it.
Adverbs
are the classic crutch of mediocre writing. A well-placed adverb can be
delightful, but much of the time the adverbs we use are already implied by the
verb or adjective—or would be if we had chosen a more evocative word. Don't
write "screamed fearfully";"scream" already suggests fear.
If you notice that your writing is filled with "-ly" words, it might
be time to take a deep breath and give your writing more focus.
Sometimes
cutting the chaff is best done at the editing stage. You don't have to obsess
about finding the most concise way to phrase every sentence; get your ideas
down on paper however you can and then go through to edit out unnecessary
verbiage.
Your
writing doesn't just exist in a vacuum—it's experienced in conjunction with the
reader's imagination. You don't need to describe every detail if a few good
ones can spur the reader's mind to fill in the rest. Lay down well-placed dots
and let the reader connect them.
Fourth, show don't
tell.
Instead
of just sitting your readers down for a long exposition explaining a
character's background or a plot-point's significance, try to let the readers
discover the same ideas through the words, feelings and actions of your
characters. Especially in fiction, putting this classic piece of writing advice
into practice is one of the most powerful lessons a writer can learn.
Fifth, avoid
clichés.
Clichés
are phrases, ideas or situations which are patently unoriginal. They may have
been powerful at one point, but now they have been overused to the point of
having little value unless re-imagined in some creative way. It's hard to say
exactly what makes a cliché, other than that, as with pornography, you'll know
it when you see it.
"It
was a dark and stormy night" is a classic example of a clichéd phrase—even
now a clichéd concept. Compare these similar weather-related opening lines:
“It
was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”—1984,
by George Orwell. It's not dark, nor stormy, nor night. But you can tell right
from the start something's not quite right in 1984.
“The
sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead
channel.”—Neuromancer, by William Gibson, in the same book that gave us the
word "cyberspace." This not only gives you the weather report, it
does so in such a way that you are immediately placed into his dystopian world.
“It
was the day my grandmother exploded.”— The Crow Road, by Iain Banks.
"“It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it
was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was
the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us,
we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going
direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period,
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good
or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”—A Tale of Two
Cities, by Charles Dickens. Weather, emotion, damnation, and despair—Dickens
covered it all with an opening line that leaves the reader ready for anything.
Sixth, break the
rules.
The
best writers don't just follow the rules—they know when and how to break them.
Everything from traditional grammar to the writing advice above is up for grabs
if you know a transgression will improve your piece. The key is that you have
to write well enough the rest of the time that it's clear you are breaking the
rule knowingly and on purpose.
Seventh, edit,
edit, edit.
Don't
believe your English teachers: there is no such thing as a "perfect"
masterpiece in writing. Every author could have found something to change in
even their greatest works if they had given it another once over. Editing is
one of the most essential parts of writing. Once you finish a piece of writing,
let it sit for a day and then read it over with fresh eyes, catching typos or
scrapping whole paragraphs—anything to make your piece better. Then when you
are done, give it another read, and another.
If
you live in Bogor and you want to learn more about writing in English, contact
us (Independent English Course) via email at independent.ec@gmail.com . We
provide private English course for you with reasonable price.
