Great Writing: Do These 5 Things for Instant Improvement
Great writing makes a difference -- in marketing, entertainment, the user experience, and the world around us. It allows us to understand what we're reading (and encourage us to read more of it).
As a freelance writer and coach, I experience tons of writing every day in various ways. I write for clients around the world. I read other people's writing to learn more about subjects I also need to write about. I also edit work from my freelance writing team before sending it to clients.
In these and other cases, I see a lot of writers making similar mistakes. Most of the time, there are easy fixes that can take the content from good to great.
So, what are some of the most simple fixes that contribute to great writing? Read on to learn more.
What is great writing, anyway?
Let me be clear: great writing can be subjective. A college professor might love reading essay collections and research papers, but an entertainment blogger might consider such things dry and boring.
So, how can we define great writing?
It ultimately depends on the type of content.
In fiction, great writing is often marked by strong and compelling characters, a well-developed plot, and a deep understanding of human nature. These elements come together to create a story that can transport readers to another world. The writing makes them feel deeply about the characters and their experiences. They might put themselves in the characters' shoes and even feel personally involved in the storyline.
For essay collections, great writing is all about using academic vocabulary and good sentence structure. It exercises basic grammar and perfect spelling. There's a noticeable absence of slang or jargon.
And for business writing, great writing thrives on clear content, internet marketing strategies, and compelling language.
While there is no single formula for creating great writing, these qualities provide essential ingredients. With practice and dedication, any writer can develop the skills to produce truly remarkable work.
What does great writing look like?
How do you spot great writing "in the wild"? Regardless of the type of writing, well-written pieces tend to share the following:
Great writing is clear, concise, and easy to read.
Great writing has a well-organized structure that is easy to follow.
Great writing is fluid and flows smoothly from one sentence to the next.
Great writing uses active and strong verbs.
Great writing is personal, engaging, and interesting.
Think about it: if something you're reading didn’t have these things, would you want to read it? Probably not.
That's why I summarize great writing as this: It's writing that people want to read.
5 Things to Turn Your Words into Great Writing -- Now!
Anyone can become a better writer with some practice. If you want to improve your writing process fast, doing these five small things will make a big difference.
1. Start with the end in mind.
I actually taught this same writing tip to my son's second-grade class. It blew their minds at first, but they quickly learned why this makes sense.
To write well, you need to have a direction in mind. This creates a path for your words and ideas to travel rather than be tossed about haphazardly. You have an idea of what you want the reader to know when they're finished -- now you can connect the dots and plan their journey.
When you think about writing with the end in mind, you gain more clarity over your ideas and the writing's purpose. This helps you to avoid unnecessary details and distractions that will take away from your core message.
If you're writing fiction, starting with the end can also help you better understand your characters and their motivations. Knowing how your story will end makes it easier to write since you'll have a better sense of what needs to happen along the way.
Of course, not every story needs to be planned out from start to finish before you begin writing. Sometimes it's more fun (and more interesting) to let the story take its own course and see where it goes. But if you're struggling to get started or if you find yourself getting stuck, planning ahead can make all the difference.
For business and marketing writing, starting with the end goal can make your writing more impactful. You know what you want your target audience to do after reading -- make a purchase, sign up for a newsletter, request more information, read another blog article, etc. With the end in mind, you can write your content in a way that makes reaching that end goal more likely.
2. Remove prepositional phrases.
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that are placed before a noun or pronoun to show where it belongs in the sentence. "In the kitchen," "On the table," and "With John" all contain prepositional phrases.
Prepositional phrases can be confusing because they often serve no purpose. They can be helpful in providing context to your writing. But in most cases, your writing can do without them.
For example, "The cat sat down" doesn't need a preposition since the meaning is clear without it.
Prepositional phrases can make your writing sound wordy and complicated. Removing them will simplify your writing and make it easier to read.
Remove unnecessary prepositions from your writing by breaking up sentences into smaller, more concise chunks. This will make your writing easier to read and understand, and it will also improve your grammar skills.
Breaking up long sentences into shorter paragraphs also makes them easier to read and follow. Plus, it gives you more room to develop your ideas without feeling cramped for space.
Here are some tips for removing prepositional phrases:
Identify the prepositional phrases in your writing. A prepositional phrase includes a preposition (e.g., in, on, of) and a noun or pronoun (e.g., the table, my friend).
See if you can remove the preposition without changing the meaning of your sentence. For example, you could remove the preposition in the following sentence: “The school purchased 100 new books for the library.” This would become: “The school purchased 100 new library books.”
If you can’t remove the preposition, see if you can rephrase your sentence using a different construction. For example, instead of “The students were busy working inside the classroom,” you could say: “The students were busy working.”
If all else fails, keep the prepositional phrase but move it to a different location in your sentence. For example, instead of “The cat slept on the mat,” you could say “On the mat, the cat slept.”
Removing prepositional phrases makes your writing simpler and easier to read.
3. Remove passive voice.
Passive voice refers to using non-active words that describe actions or events. This type of sentence sounds weaker and less confident than active voice.
Active voice is the best way to write because it makes sentences sound more confident and assertive. It's like telling a story in which the main character is doing something. Instead of describing what they're doing (in the third person), active voice tells you who is doing what, when, and where.
Passive voice can be tricky to remove because it can sound polite or formal. It's the way a lot of people naturally write. But ultimately, you should avoid it in favor of active voice. Here's an example:
Active: I received a book from my teacher.
Passive: The book was given to me by my teacher.
Passive voice is when a sentence says something about someone or something else instead of doing the action itself. Passive voice can make writing seem less active and more passive. It makes it difficult to understand what a sentence is trying to say. Writers use passive voice to avoid taking responsibility for one's actions or words.
Active voice is when the subject does the action themselves: "I am going to turn on the light." This reads better than saying something like "The light is going to be turned on by me."
Simple sentences are easier to understand, whereas complex sentences can be confusing and difficult to read. Long-winded writing can take a tenth of a second longer to read. Depending on the length of the content, those seconds add up quickly.
Switching the position of the verb and the direct object is usually an easy fix here. In order to be persuasive, simplify complex ideas. Simpler explanations are more accurate and the reader is more likely to remember them.
4. Use action words.
Action words are verbs that describe what the reader can do with the information presented. From authors of best selling books to writers who have won multiple awards, they all share the ability to bring the reader into the story or content.
When you write, use action words to make your content more engaging for your readers. Action words help readers take specific actions -- like clicking a link or filling out a form -- as they read through your content.
As an added bonus, using verbs can make your writing more concise. It helps you remove passive voice naturally and keep your sentences short and to the point.
Let's use this sentence as an example:
"The obstacle course was done by me in an hour."
Now, let's make it active:
"I conquered the obstacle course in an hour."
We shaved off two words and made it easier for the reader to envision the moment.
The word 'conquered' also brings about a tone of victory, toughness, and satisfaction. The word 'done' just doesn't bring about those same feelings.
5. Delete, delete, delete.
"I wanted to write you a short letter, but I didn't have time. So I wrote you a long one." - Mark Twain
It's easy to write long stories or content. But length doesn't equal great writing. Why waste the reader's time writing a thousand words when you could share the same idea in half as many? They get the same information but don't have to work as hard to pick out the important stuff.
When it comes to great writing, deleting is part of the process. For emotionally attached writers (like me) that invest themselves into every piece of content, it's disheartening to watch some of your beautiful prose disappear from your screen by your own hand.
But don't take it personally; take satisfaction in knowing you're doing your readers a favor by making your content clearer and easier to understand.
Plus, keeping your writing simple will help you attract more readers who are looking for clear and concise content.
Plus, when you go through your work to remove extra words and "fluff", you can use this time to edit your work for inconsistencies. You might find other areas to improve, such as fact-checking a stat or expanding on an idea.
Tips to train your eyes to spot great writing
Applying the above great writing tips takes some practice. Eventually, you will start to recognize your writing improve and even notice areas of opportunity in other people's work.
Let's look at some easy things you can do to train your eyes to spot great writing.
Read your writing out loud.
One way to spot wordiness in your writing is to read it out loud. This practice allows you to see if you're using clear and concise language, and if the sentence structure is correct. Additionally, reading your writing aloud can help you catch any errors or typos.
Reading your writing aloud helps you identify grammar mistakes, awkward phrasing, and other issues early on in the editing process. If you feel like the sentence is clunky as it rolls off your tongue, that's a good sign you need to simplify it.
Make it visually appealing.
Cleaning up your writing with a little bit of formatting and design can make it look more polished and attractive to readers. This will help you stand out and draw them in closer to your content.
Formatting can help you break up long paragraphs, organize your thoughts better, and improve the overall readability of your text. It can also add an element of style that sets your content apart from other brands.
Design is just as important as formatting when it comes to creating visually appealing content. Including images, infographics, and catchy fonts can help draw readers in closer and keep them engaged throughout the entire piece. It also breaks up long walls of text that otherwise risk losing the reader's interest.
Use online tools to improve the appearance of your writing without having to hire a professional designer. Stock photo sites like Raw Pixel, Pixabay, Unsplash, and Pexels are great resources for images. You can also use free tools like Canva to create original or semi-original designs.
Use a variety of fonts, sizes, and colors in your writing. Bold or italicize important text to catch the reader's attention. Headers in a larger font break up your content into more manageable sections.
By taking some simple steps, you can have beautiful, easy-to-read content that connects with the reader.
Read often.
Great writers are also great readers. Reading is one of the fastest ways to improve your writing skills. By reading other pieces of writing, you'll learn how to structure a sentence, use effective words and phrases, and develop a style that's both clear and persuasive.
Take every opportunity to read, whether you're walking in the park, standing in line at the grocery store, or waiting in your car. Subscribe to a few blogs so you always have great resources to read whenever the opportunity arises.
It's best to read works by writers or authors whose styles you want to emulate. This will help you get a feel for what great writing looks like.
Make great writing a habit
Making great writing a habit can help you spark ideas, improve your skills, and become a better writer. The more you practice, the more second nature it becomes to write with excellence.
As part of this great writing series, I'm sharing five steps to making great writing a habit: setting goals, planning, executing, reviewing, and reflecting.
Set Goals
Maybe you're churning out your first novel. Maybe you're writing an assigned essay for your applied linguistics class. Or maybe you're like me and need to write five articles for mid-sized businesses before the end of the day.
Whatever you're writing, it's helpful to set goals for how much to write in a given time. I start with what I need to accomplish, then break it down into more manageable milestones. This tells me how efficient I need to be with my time so I'll know how much time to leave for editing and agonizing over the fine details.
You should have specific objectives in mind when you write. This is a huge helper when you don't want to feel rushed trying to meet deadlines. By knowing what you want to achieve, you'll be able to focus on the task at hand and produce better content.
Plan
Writing without any plan or structure will result in poor-quality work. Make sure every piece of content has an objective and is well thought out before starting it.
Before you start any writing activities, get in the right mindset. Think about what the topic and what you want the reader to know. Make an outline or jot down some notes to help you stay on topic.
Execute
Once you set a goal, start drafting the article or creating the document according to your plan. Keep track of where you are in terms of progress so you don't lose sight of why it's important that this content be good quality.
Focus on getting your ideas out first; next, you can go back through to create better sentences or brush up on any basic grammar issues.
Review
After completing your writing, take some time to review what you've written. Compare it with your original objectives. Make sure it meets your standards for quality and that you feel confident sending your writing to the next step.
Reflect
You've turned in your college-level essay or small marketing firm assignments (whatever you're writing). Now that your writing has had time to simmer, think back about the writing process and the final outcome.
Reflection builds confident writers. It gives you time to think about what you've written and spot opportunities to improve. And over time, you can use this reflection time to feel good about the work you've produced.
In Summary
Great writing is subjective. Your goal might be to write best selling books or inspire future teachers. Or maybe you want to craft something worthy of being published by National Geographic.
Whatever your goals, focus on why you're writing and what it will take to get others to read it. The more you prioritize the reader's experience, the better the chance of making a real connection with the reader -- and getting them to share it with others.