How To Be A Better Writer?

As I’m shaping my writing career, I thought to share some valuable tips for the disciplesΒ who wanna enhance their writing skills. Thus, I appeared on Nirmala Mam’s blog to reveal some practical tips on “how to be a better writer?”.

The art of writing is more developed and has become sophisticated these days. You need to write from your heart keeping your mind awake to strike the right chord with your audience. Writing also has gained a considerable momentum, especially in the online world.

May it be a unique blog post, a sales copy or an ad script, writing a useful literature is a must. If you are a words wizard and know to sprinkle magic with words, then you are the most selling person in today’s corporate world.

In the words of Cory Doctorow,

Write even when the world is chaotic. You don’t need a cigarette,Β silence, music, a comfortable chair, or inner peace to write. You justΒ need ten minutes and a writing implement.

The only way to evolve as a writer is to write consistently. When it comes to your keyboard and writing processor, I don’t think anyone should come in between, not even you. Let the fingers bleed words.

10 Useful Tips To Be A Better Writer

Here are some creative writing tips for being an effective writer.

be-a-better-writerΒ  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Β  Image Credit: Freedigitalphotos.net

On Reading

1) For being a writer, read

If you are not a reader, you cannot be a writer. Just like to be a good speaker, you have to become a good listener. Reading can assist you build great vocabulary and expand your horizon to the world. You will learn to see things the way others perceive, and this will help you to express your views ultimately.

For being an efficient reader, I would suggest you be a voracious reader. Read just everything you can get your hands and eyes on. Don’t just limit yourself to one genre. Read fiction, read web copy, read classics and read finance.

2) Don’t be a parrot

I know parrots are infamous of learning whatever they see and hear, the exact way it was. For being a writer, you don’t need to be a parrot. Imitation and Plagiarism will get you nowhere.

Writers have to keep their minds and eyes open. When you read, don’t just read; judge the author. Do you know the biggest privilege of a writer is he is no less than an expert writer? Imagination and creativity can’t be measured by a yardstick.

If you are reading other works, look at the craft of wording, ask yourself the mechanism used and also try to calculate the viewpoint of the writer. It will help you to incorporate the good in your blog post/ novel and ditch the non-appealing ones.

3) Practice Marginalia

This technique will especially help you if you are a vivid reader and an in-depth writer.

Did you write notes on the meaning of words etc. in the margins of your book during school? I did it, with a pencil. Since then I have been a fan of this technique. It is a bridge between what the writer wants you to know and what you understand out of it.

Marginalia refers to the art of scribbling or taking notes at the sides/margins if books, in between paragraphs and all tags and scribbles we use in today’s apps like read it later or pocket.

It dates back to 1652, but the term was coined by Blackwood magazine in 1819. Writer, Walter Benjamin took 13 whole years to research the art of marginalia and published his book β€œThe Arcades Project” that is one of the most popular books describing the technique.

Using marginalia can help you take quick notes on any inspirational piece you read and then you can develop a whole new post, the book on it. While reading on the web, you can use the Evernote web clipper to save bits and relevant quotations from the web or use annotate to add effectively comments on web pages and save them for offline reference.

On getting ideas and getting started

4) Find a subject

Once you are all set to sit and write ask yourself if the topic you choose is exciting enough for you to invest your next 4-5 hours on it. Will the subject of your blog post (although you can be thinking to write a novel also, and I would love to see one of you), solve the issues your audience that are eagerly waiting for you to address?

If the node is active, you are ready to go. At this point, many times we feel the project someone else has taken is juicier than ours. I tell you, the other person also feels the same about your project. If you want to be a better writer, learn to love your writing.

There is no one better than you in framing your thoughts with words.

Mark my words!!!

5) Don’t procrastinate

Procrastination is suicidal. Don’t let other thoughts empower you. I would say write as and when an idea strikes your head.

As a blogger, do you not get blog post ideas at the times it was least expected? I know you get, because I too get it, Nirmala MamΒ too gets it!

What if you aborted your creative ideas at that time? You probably will lose one of the best messages your mind wanted to convey to your readers.

I would suggest, unplug yourself then and there only. If you are at a place, you can’t get your hands on a keyboard, no problem. Take a white paper and jot down your ideas to write.

Harleena Singh used to jot down any creative blog post ideas she got while she was busy teaching at the school. Thus, she never missed a post to connect with her readers. I believe that Nirmala Mam too writes down her thoughts when she got hit with some innovative ideas. Β Β 

I am not saying to follow Harleena Mam or Nirmala Mam, but I can see no harm in learning a good habit.

On writing

6) Unplug yourself

Did you know we writers are time, travelers? Yes, you too! During writing we travel to the world of our readers, try to understand their problems and write a possible solution for it. Fictional writers are awesome travelers.

When you are about to start writing, I would suggest you unplug yourself completely from the external world. The unkempt kitchen and the dog waiting to be patted can wait.

To be just me and my creative juices, I turn the internet off.

In case you are doing a research based project, where you need to open up tabs looking for information, I would suggest you to use site blockers like Stay focused for Chrome or Leechblock for the Firefox fans.

7) Lock the editing mode

The standard rule of writingΒ effectively (at least for me) is the first writeΒ and then edit. Try abandoning all edits till you have reached your goal. Don’t touch the written stuff unless you have crossed a given number of words or written for a set amount of time.

This will not only save your time but also help in securing the flow of creative juice within you.

If you are unable to control yourself, use a simple locker like ilys or write or die.

8) Write smart

Who else can be a fan of smart writing than bloggers and authors? We have a LOT to do and one crazy simple head and 20 fingers only. Without working your way out through the long and tiring procedures, it’s better to work smartly and save our energy for the good.

If you are like me, having the too short attention span or cannot do one thing for long, you probably have heard about the famous POMODORO technique. If not, it’s a process of sitting to do your work in broken time segments. I use tomatoes for this.

In case you have a great idea of a blog post or fiction, don’t wait for the perfect chair and your desk. Simply take your mobile out and record what you have to say. Later you can transcribe the recording to words.

If you already have a podcast or video or any other recording, you can use o-transcribe to transcribe the fuss out of it.

9) Don’t plagiarize

Plagiarism is a disease, an illness that robs you of your creativity. Plagiarism is a killer that kills your personality, brutally. And guess what it also kills the original writer’s authenticity.

Assuming you are a budding writer, I would caution you to stay away from copying or imitating other writers’ work.

Sometimes, it so happens that your tone of writing automatically matches someone who has had a deep influence on your writing. At this stage, you might not be aware, but your writing may be a copy of that awesome writer. And guess what this time you are losing your credibility and that writer (your ideal) will not hesitate to file a lawsuit on you for copyright infringement.

If you are an online writer, blogger so to say, you might lose your search engine rankings too. A simple way to solve this is regularly taking a paragraph of your writing and use any one of theΒ free plagiarism detection tools to detect any traces of similar wording already present elsewhere. You can do the same to protect your content from potential content scrapers.

10) On not looking back

While on your process of writing, don’t look back. Don’t let another thought rent your mind unless the existing one is in its full-blown draft stage. You might have fears (I would lie if I said I have no fear), but learn to tame them.

If I had blogging fears, that will my audience accept me? Will the ones from ABC demography and the ones of XYZ demography co-relate with my writing? If you too have fears keep reading,

Forget them; these are utter nonsenses. Write for one person. Address your thoughts for β€œthat one person” you want to shower your words on. You are sure to find a tone that your audience (a collection of many β€œthat one person”) will relate to.

Further Sources to Improve Writing Skills

1) Tools for writers

2) 10 resources to upgrade your grammar and writing skills

Conclusion

I hope this post did provide you a bit of idea on how to be a better writer. I am not an expert writer, neither are you, we become experts the day we stop learning and believe me as writers that would be the last day for our pens.

So keep growing, keep learning and most importantly keep crafting words. By this, we can beΒ a better writer each passing day. I’ve finished my perspectives and now it’s your turn to speak. Share your views on my writing tips; I’ll discuss with you through comment section πŸ™‚


49 thoughts on “How To Be A Better Writer?”

  1. Hello Nirmala maam,
    Thank you for giving me the opportunity to write a post for your readers. I am also a learner and a reader of this blog so I know what difficulties we as writers face.
    These tips tricks are closely followed by me and I have seen good results so far. I am glad I could share my little experiences and techniques with my fellow readers here at MyMagicFundas. I would love to hear the feedback from readers and help to clear out doubts, if any. πŸ™‚
    Thank you maam
    Have a good day. πŸ™‚

    1. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Pleasure to honor you as a guest author Swadhin, I’d always like to support the bloggers who blog with passion.

      Good to know that you’re my loyal reader and I appreciate you for following some executable tips to enhance your writing skill.

      My best wishes for your writing career, have a productive day πŸ™‚

  2. Hi Swadhin and Nirmala

    Good to see you here and thanks Nirmala for getting him to share his experience and skills to write better.

    There is no ending border of writing well just like reading that is ever without border.

    Seeking knowledge is the only activity in life where the proverb “sky is the limit” can’t be applied because there is no limit in it.

    A few of the tips you mentioned are very professional and that shows you are working hard to writer better and it does reflect in your blog posts too.

    Thanks a lot for sharing these very useful tips.

    1. Hello Muba sir,
      Thanks for your support and encouragement always. I am glad you liked the post.
      Agreed sir! Learning has no limits. We die the day we stop learning.
      Thank you and have a great week πŸ™‚

    2. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Thanks for your encouraging comment Mi sir, I’m happy to get guest posts from dedicated bloggers.

      Swadhin’s post is really good and I got the opportunity to taught some SEO tips to him πŸ™‚

      Totally agree with your views on reading and writing and many thanks for your prompt visit for every post πŸ™‚

  3. Hi Swadhin, I’ve been a blogger for years and everyday I read other testimonies and tips made me realize that there are still room for improvements. I mean I can still do better.

    Your post can inspire other writers or bloggers, newbies or not. Great work!

    1. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Welcome to my blog Arsie,

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts here. Good to know that you’re keen interested to improve yourself, my best wishes for it. Stay tuned.

  4. Hi Swadhin,
    You’ve listed some nice tips to be a great blog writer.
    I really like the ways which you’ve mentioned and its a needful post for me to improve my writing skills.
    Thanks for sharing this good post.. Please keep posting
    kitchen fitting accessories usa

  5. Hi Swadhin, just completed reading your post. I was just surfing Nirmala’s blog to see if there is any new update. I have been reading her blog for quite sometime now and she has really done a great job in choosing you as guest writer.

    You are truly a good writer and the points you have raised really influence anyone’s performance as a writer. You are right that it’s crucial to become a passionate reader if you want to be a writer. To write about things you like, it’s always a better idea to know how other writers are writing. By reading their articles a person can also improve knowledge which is required while writing.

    But i wouldn’t suggest to focus on every topic. If someone really wants to be a good writer on a particular subject, i suggest to find out some best writers in that field and read their writings. This will improve their own writing skills.

    Instead of focusing everywhere, they should focus on something that they are passionate about and read only writings on that subject. Automatically they would become passionate reader and as a result, an amazing writer.

    That’s all what i learned from my experience. I’m sorry if said anything wrong. But your article is highly informative and would really help anyone seeking to be a writer.

    1. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Tamal,

      I’m delighted that was surfing MMF for updates. This is real blogging success and consistency matters a lot. Feeling good that am having honest readers like you and thanks for leaving your thoughtful comment.

      I do agree with your suggestion on focus writing at one specific thing would lead to write with more passion. Why would you be sorry? Thanks many for sharing your experience, keep looking for updates πŸ˜›

    2. Hi Tamal,
      Glad you were surfing for updates. I too do it here and some other of my favorite sites.
      Glad you gave a review on my writing. That shows you have read it clearly and its an honor for me. Thanks.

      On reading everything, I would say focus on a single topic but read everything once in a while for a change. SO that you can adopt some good elements of somethings in your work.
      These changes will help you develope your niche only.

      Hope you have a great week. Waiting to see you over my blog too.

  6. Hi Swadhin,

    Glad to read your post here. Its simply great! Loved reading it.

    Reading is one of the best things you can do to be a better writing. Writing daily is also help boost in writing. For me reading is possible but writing daily is not possible thus I am still not a expert writer.

    1. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Thanks for getting time to leave your feedback even in your busy schedule Atish!

      You’re managing multiple tasks on daily basis and I got inspired with your blogging activities. If you write every day, I would not be getting opportunity to visit other blogs as I’d love to read, comment and share your posts as well. So, please don’t write daily πŸ™‚

      (Just kidding dear Atish)

      Don’t worry, no one is expert here, I too. Everybody is learning to polish their skills and my best wishes for you to turn into a writing expert soon.

      Your comment always adds value to the post, keep visiting πŸ™‚

    2. Hi Atish bro,
      who said you aren’t a good writer. Thats your modesty. Actually the millions of readers of TTW are proof of your writing skills and many have benefited from your posts including me. πŸ™‚

        1. Nirmala Santhakumar

          Cheers to see a lot of smile here πŸ˜›

          My heartfelt wishes to get millions of visitors soon for TTW Atish πŸ˜€

  7. Hi Swadhin, and welcome to Nirmala’s blog πŸ™‚

    Good to see you on the other side this time, as her guest, with a wonderful guest post on being a better write. How could I not come over and comment in it!

    You are absolutely right about all that you mentioned – well done! Yes, a writer’s work never ends! They become better each day with the writing they do, so keep writing consistently!

    I loved going through all of your writing tips. I guess you’ve practiced these yourself and become better daily, isn’t it?

    Your post reminded me of the few posts on writing I’ve written on my blog, and I think you’ve read and commented on those. I mentioned some of these tips there, though not all, as some are new sites for me, so learning never ends, isn’t it?

    Yes, you need to read to become better in your writing. No two ways about it. I liked your point about Marginalia and Evernote – perfect match! I never used to scribble in my books, but always carried a separate sheet of paper that used to be like a bookmark, so wrote it there. But my sister and so many others, including my kids, scribble in their book margins, so I know what you mean!

    Ah…thanks for the kind mention, and yes, I still make those notes, either on my mobile if and when I carry it, or on the simple note pad, offline or online, and it’s always of help to grab great ideas because inspiration can strike you anywhere.

    I’ve never used any site blockers as you know, because I don’t lose focus when I work – old habit of being very disciplined in my work, being from the Army, it runs in our blood! So, no such watches, software, or tools were ever needed, but it’s good you share them as people do have problems of procrastination and lose focus too.

    Yes, always sleep over your edits for a day or two, and remember, the more you edit, the better your post will become. But keep the edits for last or it stops your flow of thoughts and words. Of course, now I’ve got in the habit of using MSWord and edit alongside, then keep the draft for a day before finalizing it but it doesn’t work for all that ways.

    Thanks for sharing these tips with us at the ABC (Aha!NOW Blog Community), which would help bloggers and writers. Have a nice week ahead, both of you πŸ™‚

    1. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Hi Harleena,

      I always love to read your long post, sorry comment (lolz)

      Cheers that I’ve honored Swadhin as guest blogger as he contributed a nice post for my readers. Not only that, he brought some new visitors to my blog and I’ve replied few of them to show my gratitude.

      Swadhin has shared some great writing tips and tools and yes, I too believe that he is following these tips to write better.

      Good Harleena that you’re not using any application to block sites and even I haven’t installed any plugin to focus while writing. I’d say that if we are interested to write fascinating stuff, we never lose focus, Am I right?

      Great to know your wonderful views and agree with your opinion on editing the posts. Will be joining in ABC community soon to network with people of same wavelength πŸ™‚

      1. Lol…sorry for the length! I actually never see how many words I write while commenting…it only strikes me later πŸ™‚

        You are absolutely right – if there is a strong will and you are determined, you’d never need any tools, software etc and will remain focused. I guess being homemakers also, we ladies know the perfect art of time management, isn’t it?

        You are most welcome to join the ABC, anytime. Would love to have you over, whenever possible.

        Thanks once again πŸ™‚

        1. Hi Harleena maam,
          wouldn’t dare to mess between ladies talk but I think I can admire two of the most hardworking and inspirational ladies here.
          Yes maam, I have learnt a LOT from your those posts and as I said, I have written here what I have practiced so those tips are here as well. πŸ˜€
          I also have learnt some good SEO from Nirmala maam too. Yesterday itself she was saying me some good tips on image optimisation. πŸ™‚
          I don’t use blocking tools but have mentioned it to help other writers in concentrating.
          Thank you maam. πŸ™‚

  8. Hi Swadhin Bro!

    Gotta say this is an really helpful and amazing post. I am a writer myself and has been contributing to some top notch blogs like Life Hack.

    Your post reminded me to do stuffs which I wasn’t (like reading). This post will surely help the newbie bloggers to write excellent posts.

    Thanks.

  9. Hi Swadhin and Nirmala Di,

    Indeed a great help to encourage one like me to keep writing and getting ideas from different resources. One can get ideas anywhere at anytime so, he/she must be ready with small notebook or anything where they can write their ideas so that they don’t have to struggle to find ideas for new blog post.

    Swadhin, Your tips are really helpful to write blog post consistently.

    Thanks for sharing. πŸ™‚

    >SK Lohar

    1. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Hi Shiv,

      Thanks for your prompt presence even you’re busy with day job and travel long. This displays your blogging interest, keep doing it.

      Yes, noting down the ideas always help us to craft a good blog posts and am following it from long.

      Yes, you’re very right, Swadhin revealed some good tips to keep up blog constancy πŸ™‚

    2. Hi Shiv,
      Glad you liked the post. Thats what I say. Getting ideas can occur at anytime. I am the most creative at weird times, like travelling in buses (in buses only not cars).
      I also would want to say keeping a paper at that time is quite handy. I do have cellphones but let me admit writing on a paper can be as you wish and faster.
      Glad the post encouraged you.
      Keep writing.

      1. Yes, having paper to write anything is faster but its not always possible to carry paper everywhere. But yeah, as you said that we can use the technology I mean our phone to jot down anything anywhere.

        I think you should reveal, why and how you get weird ideas in bus only, why not in car? πŸ˜€ πŸ˜‰

        >SK Lohar

  10. Hello Swadhin Bro,

    Thanks a lot for writing such an useful article πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ i am not a good writer but i am trying to improve myself πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ All your tips are really very useful.. those two tools which you have provided are really very useful to improve writing skills πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ thanks a lot Nirmala maam for proving all these useful articles : ):)

    1. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Glad you liked Swadhin’s tips to write better Aryan Alex, my pleasure to publish these kind of helpful posts for my beloved readers like you.

      Thanks for showing interest in leaving your comment, keep writing to improve yourself πŸ™‚

    2. Hi Aryan,
      I love that line “but I am trying to improve myself.”, it means you are the best. The ones who don’t improve become static like stones. Improving keeps us energetic and fresh like rivers.
      Glad that the tools mentioned helped you. Feel free to ask for any help you need writing.
      Keep improving

      1. yes bro those tools were really helpful and thanks a lot for posting such an useful article πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚ I checked your blog digitalgyd and its really awesome.. Will try to learn many more SEO and blogging tips from ur blog πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

  11. Excellent advice! Being a writer is hard work. It’s something we have to work at every single day. I find if I don’t make a time commitment and deadline with myself, I’ll keep pushing it off to do other things…none of them necessarily more important, but maybe more fun on certain days. Thanks for the reminders that writing is something I have to do daily.

  12. Hello Ma’am and Swadhin Good to see you again with stunning inspiring blogging post as usual! I like the third point which was missing but I’ll too start implementing it from now on wards and will ensure I write well than I write now. However we are likely to get distracted if we are new, as I have faced this many a times but to overcome need to read a lot more that will not only help to improve your skill but you’ll sooner develop a habit and start enjoying it.

    Now a days Blogging Is common not because a lot people thinking its enjoyable but they made a mindset of money generating source so as a result people don’t focus on content rather find way to get copied or plagiarized content which is not only bad for your blog but the habit is bad for you too. As one is not learning just trying to imitates as what Sawadhin said giving example of parrot (not actually parrot here).

    have a good day!

  13. Swadhin becoming a better writer is not as easy as some people think. But, by following the tips given by you many people will definitely be able to improve their writing skills. Swadhin a writer needs to read regularly and at the same time he needs to always keep writing on new type of topics. I hope that you’ll keep working hard on your writing skills and achieve all your goals which you want to.

    1. Hi Mohit,
      Agreed to you! Indeed every art needs to get polished before it reaches perfection. In writing reading is polishing.
      Thanks for your wishes, I have miles to go before I sleep.
      Wish you the same success in the future buddy. πŸ™‚

  14. Hi Swadhin,

    Wonderful tips for being a better writer. πŸ™‚ I loved the line which you mentioned that for being a better write you need to be a good reader first. Reading can increase our language proficiency and there is not doubt in it.

    Haha Creative point indeed, We don’t need to be a parrot. Plagiarizing content will be the worst sin a writer can ever commit.

    You are so right on unplugging from the external environment. I liked your tip about turing off internet when not needed. Otherwise we will eventually end up replying to mails and messages hence getting distracted from writing.

    I will try my best to implement these awesome tips shared by you. Wonderful guest post Swadhin. I love it!

    Regards,
    Rohan Chaubey.

  15. Hi Rohan,
    Thanks buddy. Your words are an encouragement. Yes to be a better speaker you need to be a better listener and to be a better writer you need to be a better reader.
    Haha the parrot line comes from the teachers in schools who either rebuked us if we answered a thing in our own words or scolded us if we answered them as it is.

    I really need to be unplugged Energy wise too. I might sound odd but I am the most creative when I am shut down. OS I work with my windows closed so that a noise doesn’t disturb me. After working I go out to breath and enjoy the freshness.
    Glad you liked the post πŸ™‚

  16. Hi Swadin Bro,
    Welcome to Nirmala Mam’s blog and a big congrats for your guest post. I am agree with you that before be a write you need to become a good reader as you say. I would like to share my experience my experience here, when I start blogging I dont have no idea how to blog or write and I never reader whole post of any blog, it results for me to lack of ideas to write posts but slowly slowly as my knowledge grow I learn something and now I have some ideas to write. So it is 100% true that to be a writer you should be a good reader.
    All the points you share are so useful and clear to understand.
    Thanks for this.
    Have a great day!!
    With Regards,
    Naveen Kumar

    1. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Thanks for sharing your experience with us Naveen πŸ™‚

      Yes, it would be good if we read a lot. Keep writing and stay tuned!

  17. Hi Swadhin,

    Indeed being a better writer is what we all try to accomplish and sometimes we need a plan or guide to go in the right path. Reading is the main thing, by doing so we get so much ideas and we can learn from others writing too.

    Whenever I feel like writing, I just open up my Microsoft Word, write it down with some tags.

    So, later I can find it, either expand it or restructure it for my audience. Writing effectively is the process of self improvement, the best we can do is try and keep trying.

    Learning and making ourselves better never stops. Nice post.

    Take care and Stay awesome.

  18. Writing part is really important which I always give preference. I’ve been reading how to improve wriitng stuff these days.

    Thanks for sharing.

  19. Swadhin this is really a good inspirational blog for me. As i am a new in the blogger lobby and always looking to learn new things and try to implement it in my daily routine. The post gave me lots of positive confidence to write something. Thanks for this post.

  20. Great post.

    I think by reading and writing more one can become a better writer. Most prolific writers write often and they do read a lot.

    If you want to get better at writing, start writing 1000 words each and every single day without any distraction. Unplug your Internet and start writing whatever comes into your mind!

    1. Nirmala Santhakumar

      Wonderful suggestions for the novice writers Anil, thanks for getting time to check my blog posts πŸ™‚

      Credit goes to Swadhin for this great post, keep coming to add value to the posts.

  21. Hello Swadhin Agrawal,

    It is good to meet you here doing what you know how to do better; writing a better blog content has been an issue of concern for most of us bloggers. Even when you think you have arrived, Google, SEO etc has a lot to do before one can actually say he or she is a good writer.

    Thanks!!
    Emebu

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