#36: HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING IN 8 EASY STEPS

Let me guess.

You are tired of writing articles that don't really satisfy your standards. Articles that make you feel there's a lot more you can do if and only if you knew how you could.

Well, now is the right time to throw those not-so-good articles into a trash can because you're about to learn eight tips on how to get your writing from not-so-good to really good, and possibly even better.

1. READ DIVERSELY

Writers are readers. You can't transform your writing to a top level if you don't read. You have to read, read and read. 

But it's not the flipping through of countless pages or reading fifty books in one year that's the reason you should read.

The main reason I'm telling you to read is because reading will sharpen your cognitive power. And please, not just any kind of reading. I mean reading well written books. Books whose ideas will stand the test of time, not books that will fit better in a trash can rather than a bookshelf.

If you want to know how to churn out ideas just as a fountain gushes out water, read a lot and diversely.

I believe there's this sort of magical power that comes with reading a lot and diversely because I've witnessed tremendous improvement in my writing ever since I started reading as much as I can. 

This year alone, I've read thirty books within the span of five months—books on science, philosophy, psychology and Islam. In fact, I've already strted reading another book.

Want to know more about the power of reading diversely and its impact on your writing? 

If you really do, then stay with me.

2. INFOMATION SYNTHESIS

If you're the type who reads and doesn't reflect, well, that shows you're not that rational or logical as you thought.

Okay.

Saying that might have made you feel unsettled, but come on, how can you read a post, an article or a book without thinking through all the ideas you've read?

As you're reading this article, you should be trying to discern the good ideas from the not-so-good ideas.

That's what I expect you to do as a rational being.

Taking in all a person says or writes without settling down to ponder and reflect is nothing but nonsense. 

This approach is better. 

It's better because it'll enhance your brain's capacity in terms of being able to see through things and being able to connect ideas.

Yes, that brings us to what I call information synthesis—your ability to combine different ideas to explain a certain concept effectively.

When I'm writing, I tend to crisscross in between different ideas from distinct fields. I can connect an idea in physics to something else in psychology or philosophy just to explain a certain concept effectively.

Mike Mandel the author of Brain Software once told me that “diversity stimulates ideas”. I believe that's the reason this sort of connection in between ideas happen. 

Here's an example:

Let's take Isaac Newton's third law of motion and make an analogy that'll explain how to get better at writing.

According to this law, “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Thus, we can then say if you regularly write and make efforts to update your knowledge on writing, you'll eventually get better at writing. 

Also, if you don't practice writing regularly and update your knowledge on writing, you'll not get better at writing.

Regularly writing and updating your knowledge on writing is the ACTION while becoming a better writer is the RESULT of your action.

Thus, if you dedicate your time and resources while using the right strategies you can become an excellent writer.

Simple as that.

How I explaned the concept above is what information synthesis is all about. If you get better at it, you'll be a better writer.

3. THINK DEEP & OUTLINE WELL

You can't just start writing without thinking of 

what to write about first. It's this process of thinking through your thoughts that brings out the brilliance in what you write. 

As a writer, when you pick a topic, always settle down and look into the topic you intend to write on from distinct points. Try to picture the various dimensions your topic could take.

For instance, if you want to write on the effects of Covid-19 around the world, the topic could take the following dimensions depending on how you decide to approach it:

1. Are you writing from an economic perspective, social perspective or medical perspective or...?

2 . Say you're writing it from any of the perspective, what part of the world are you interested in. Is it a country per each continent? Or how?

3 . Okay, let's say you're picking a country from each continent, are you looking at the topic from an urban or rural viewpoint?

You see? The topic is already taking different dimensions.

What if I tell you this is just a tip of the iceberg? 

Well, it is. Because this topic can still take different dimensions apart from the few mentioned above. This applies to other topics as well.

It is your responsibility as a writer to narrow down your topic to fit its purpose. Otherwise you'll fall out of the scope of your topic.

Narrowing down your topic is the building block of your article—by extension, your article's outline.

Infact, in managerial practices, planning and organizing are integral principles that one should never forget.

Clearly, this happens to writing also. You need a sense of direction of where you're headed. To aid this process, you need to think, plan and organize your ideas sequentially before putting it into writing.

The outline will serve as a guide. It'll help you in writing coherently and succinctly. 

If you know how to think deeply, combined with the other steps mentioned above, you'll be able to outline your ideas well.

4. WRITE IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE

I instinctively have a repellent against highfalutin prose.

What do you understand by that? Probably nothing, right?

The words used made the whole sentence difficult to comprehend. In simpler words, all I was trying to say is I dislike reading write ups

that are written with the use of complex words.

If your writing is not understood by people then you're writing for yourself. Writing for yourself is one sure way to bore your readers. Always write with the reader in mind.

Try as much as you can to write in a simple and straightforward manner. Use simple words. Use concise sentences. Punctuate well.

The main aim is to pass a message across and not to confuse people. 

5. BE CREATIVE

  

Be willing to be creative with your writing. Think outside-the-box by trying to explore how you can actually make your writing more interesting. 

Truth is, you need not be told everything. You are unique in your own way. Thus, find a way to make your writing unique and appealing to your audience.

For example, as part of being creative, I try to write the way I speak. Thus, I get to have a conversational writing style. Yes, and that's what I call my writing voice.

Now, that's me being creative. 

You can try something of this nature too and see if it'll work out for you.

6. VALUE FEEDBACK

Every writer writes with a clear mental picture of someone reading his work.

That's why we tend to care about what people say about our writing. 

As I'm penning this article, I really want to know whether you'll like it or not. I want to know if at all you've benefitted from all I've written. 

Should there be any mistake or suggestion? I really would like to know how you think I can make an improvement.

Truth is, we writers need people who'll critique what we write. People who wouldn't hesitate to make corrections or suggestions on how we can improve in our writing. 

Some corrections might be provocative but if you look through well enough, you might learn a thing or two.

No one is perfect. Thus, feedback, be it positive or negative, don't be quick to shrug it off or hammer a nail on it. Learn to look deeply first before you do either.

As a writer, how you take in feedback, be it positive or negative, can make or mar you. Thus, tread the path with caution.

7. EDIT AS BEST AS YOU CAN

I usually write in phases. I write the first draft first and then I edit about three to five times subsequently.

The process of editing involves a lot of rewriting. It's the critical stage that you'll get to bring out the brilliance in your writing. Truth is, good writing is writing that's rewritten till it's well written.

Your first draft isn't your final draft. Feel free to pen down not-so-good writing in your first draft. Fact is, your first draft is more of a brain dump—just put down your ideas—dumping your ideas down first is one sure thing you should learn to do.

Once you're done with that, you can edit, edit and edit till you bring out the best in what you've written.

8. NEVER BELIEVE IN YOUR GREATNESS

  

Writing, in its own kind of way, has the capacity to make people think you're high up on the intellectual ladder.

I'm not saying writers aren't intellectual people, what I'm pointing out is that people (who read what you write) have the capacity to make you feel so great (even if you're not). Therefore inflating your ego and, who knows? You might eventually end up believing that you're truly great at writing. 

The concern is that believing in your greatness can be misleading. It is misleading because once you believe you're great or really good at something, you'll become complacent or simply put, a local champion.

In fact, if care is not taken, the main aim of your writing will be placed on the basis of getting social validation—on the basis of wanting people to say that you're a great writer.

Writing to get praised by people somewhat defeats the core aim of writing. You can write as you wish but don't be moved even with an inch by the praises you receive. Praises, if not well channeled, can lead you to mediocrity. If you're praised, see it as a motivation to do more.

That's the mindset you ought to have. But if you end up feeling like the Chinua Achebe of your time (when you're not) while leveraging your writing skills at the expense of mediocrity, then fine and good. 

If that's your case, congratulations to you. You've just earned yourself a ticket to witness a show on how you ignorantly orchestrated the downfall of your writing career.

Just don't do that. 

Be humble as ever but know your value. Try as much as you can to always have a learner's mindset. This will enable you to keep learning continually and becoming better continually.

Conclusively, there are many ways you can improve your writing. The ones I've highlighted here are a few out of many. Thus, feel free to add yours. Also, I'll be glad if you can share with me other ways we can all improve our writing.

SUMMARY

Okay, that's quite a lot to take in. If you made it this far, it shows how serious you are about improving your writing. To make sure you leave with the ideas you've just read, here's a concise summary of the key ideas: 

• If you want to know how to churn out ideas just as a fountain gushes out water, read a lot and diversely.

•If you regularly write and make efforts to update your knowledge on writing, you'll eventually get better at writing.

•Your ability to combine different ideas to explain a certain concept effectively is an essential skill every writer needs to develop.

•Taking in all a person says or writes without settling down to ponder and reflect is nothing but nonsense. 

•It is your responsibility as a writer to narrow down your topic to fit its purpose. Otherwise you'll fall out of the scope of your topic.

•If your writing is not understood by people then you're writing for yourself. Always write with the reader in mind.

•Be willing to be creative with your writing. Think outside-the-box by always trying to explore how you can actually make your writing more interesting. 

•Every writer writes with a clear mental picture of someone reading his work.

•We writers need people who'll critique what we write. People who wouldn't hesitate to make corrections or suggestions on our writing.

•As a writer, how you take in feedback, be it positive or negative, can make or mar you. Thus, tread the path with caution.

• Good writing is writing that's rewritten till it's well written.

• Writing, in its own kind of way, has the capacity to make people think you're high up on the intellectual ladder.

•Writing to get praised by people somewhat defeats the core aim of writing. 

•Always have a learner's mindset. This will enable you to keep learning continually and becoming better continually.