Ways to Improve Your English Writing

Do you find writing in English difficult?  Don’t worry. Even native speakers sometimes find writing difficult.

In this article I’m going to give you some tips to help you improve your writing a lot. These suggestions will help you not only improve the correctness of your writing, but also your style and flow. Then let’s go!

·      Read

I bet that you think the first two points are kind of obvious. But some people really don’t realize how important reading is to good writing.

Think of how a child learns his first language. He listens to his parents talking all the time for many months before he even opens his mouth. Just like listening is important to become better at speaking, reading is vital to become better at writing.

When learning a new language you must OBSERVE and REPEAT. Observe and repeat. Observe and repeat. Again and again. This is at the heart of learning any language. So, master this – get really, really good at it and you will be an amazing language learner.

When you read you observe someone else’s successful style—how their language flows from sentence to sentence, how they use different vocabulary, how they can paint a picture with their words. The more you read,the better you’ll be able to emulate this.

You need to collect books. Find styles that you like. And then mold your own style from these. You’ll be impressed by how much your writing improves by reading more.

If you love books, you should join Good Reads. There you can make a list of books you’re reading, you’ve read, and that you want to read and get recommendations for other books you’ll like. In addition to this, you can have discussions about books and even join book clubs. So you can read with a group and experience the book with them.

·      Write

Well obviously, right?

Yes, if you want to become a better writer you should probably write. A good first step is reading, but if you just read, your writing obviously won’t improve by itself.

But what should you write?

Well, take a moment and reflect. What do you like to read?

If you enjoy blogs like this, then start your own. There are dozens of websites that let you start a free blog. And you can write about ANYTHING. People will find it and start reading it, and some will surely find what you’re writing about interesting.

If you enjoy fiction and novels, then write a story. Again, it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece (a work of genius). The important thing is that you’re writing. You’re practicing. And you’re building you confidence.

If you enjoy prose and nonfiction, then why not research something in English and write about it. If you still go to school, you could do this for an assignment and then translate it to your native language before giving it to your teacher. Or you could share it on a blog.

A lot of people have this idea that they have to speak and write perfectly. But native speakers don’t even do this. It’s only important that you communicate. You express yourself. As long as you’re doing this, make as many mistakes as necessary, and don’t feel bad about it.

·      Keep a journal

If you don’t feel like sharing your writing with anyone yet, then a journal is a great way to make writing a daily habit.

When I lived in Spain, I knew many Americans that liked to keep a journal in which they wrote about their experiences. This was an opportunity for them to practice writing in Spanish and it’s also something that they’re going to love rereading later in life.

There is no reason why you can’t do the same.

Grab a notebook and write every night before you go to sleep and/or every morning when you wake up about whatever you have on your mind.

It doesn’t matter what you write, just that you’re making a habit of writing every day.

This will probably be hard at first. You might even feel awkward, or not be sure about what to write. This is normal, and it will quickly become easier and easier.

·      Online

There are millions of places online where you can write. You just need to find the right ones for you. Let me share some of the best online resources with you.

Italki

I talked about what a great resource italki is for finding people to converse with. But it’s also an awesome website for writing.

First, you can find people to exchange messages or chat with. This is a good way to practice conversational writing. But italki also has great resources if you want to try more formal writing.

You can write a notebook entry. This is a way to practice your writing and get corrections and comments from other users. You can write about pretty much whatever you want. And you’ll be improving your English with the feedback you get.

You can also ask a question. This is great if you have a certain doubt about grammar (for example, how to use commas in English).

If you have something interesting you want to talk about you can start a discussion (you can also do this onDuolingo). And other people will share their thoughts. This is a good way to develop your ideas about a subject, and then write about it more in a notebook entry, in your blog, or somewhere else.

 

Online Communities

There are many communities that you can join and share your thoughts with. On the RLE community a lot of people like to write about an experience or share something that happened to them during the day. Then, other community members respond. It’s a great way to start discussions and to make friends online with whom you can practice your English more.

Forums

 

If you don’t know, a forum is basically an online discussion board. Like on italki or Duolingo, you can start a discussion and people will respond. Or you can find other interesting, popular discussions and give your opinion.

There are thousands of forums online for every topic. There are several just for English learners. Word Reference has a good one.

But the great thing is that once your English is intermediate or better (it probably is if you’re reading this), you can join a forum about ANYTHING that interests you.

Do you like…

Biking? There’s a forum for that.

Rock climbing? There’s a forum for that.

Video games? There’s a forum for that.

Books? There’s a forum for that.

Just type in X Forum into Google (“X” being whatever you’re interested in).

This is a great way for you to write about things that interest you already, and discuss them with other people. If you’re proactive, you can even make friends with native English speakers who have similar interests as you. With forums, the possibilities are endless.

·      Get a Pen Pal

A pen pal is basically someone with whom you exchange letters. There are several websites to do this online. You can either exchange letters online, or via snail mail (regular postal service; called snail because it’s slow).

Snail mail can be fun because it allows you to hold a letter in your hand. It’s more old-fashioned. And it’s always exciting to get something in the mail from a far away place.

Two good websites for Pen Pals are PenPal World and InterPals.

And if you want a snail mail pen pal, check out Reddit.

Writing letters is a great way to practice formal writing habits and to make friends around the world. So try it out!

In Conclusion

 

Want to improve your writing? Then START writing write now.

Whatever you choose, just write. A lot. In a few weeks you’ll be amazed by how much better your writing flows and your style has improved. By becoming more confident about your writing, you can become more open to feedback, which is going to help you improve your structure and grammar (and this will show when you speak, too.)

But don’t get too hung up (worried) about perfect grammar. Make writing a habit first, and then focus on improving grammar and structure later.

                                                              

(Real Life English)