English is the language that is most widely read and spoken today. So a book written in English has enormous scope to reach a larger audience than any other Indian language, except perhaps Hindi. If you want to be an English writer, you have to understand and enjoy playing around with the language. It is not too difficult to improve your English writing skills if you work a little on them. Read on to learn how you can do this.
Improve vocabulary
To become a successful writer, an extensive vocabulary is essential. What you have to say might be said many times before but how you say it will still make an impact. Make it a point to learn one new word every day and over time your vocabulary will burgeon to a satisfactory level. Reading is also important for gradual absorption of new words and the contexts they can be used in. A good vocabulary will help you improve your writing by helping you find the most satisfying way of expressing yourself.
Join a writing club
Writing skills improve when you can discuss your writing with other people, especially those who are into writing themselves. Getting feedback from others is important for an upward learning curve in your career as a writer. You can also benefit from reading other people’s writing efforts and giving feedback, which would enable you to think critically about writing. It is good if the others in the group are also working on projects, so you can learn both from getting and giving constructive criticism.
Write from different perspectives
Writing is all about getting into other people’s heads. Get into a character and write from their viewpoint. For example, a teacher, a gangster, a child – they are all different and think in ways that are unique to them because of what they are and what they do. They must sound different, feel different and be different from each other. It is only when you are able to see things from different perspectives that your overall fiction writing will brim with appropriate emotions and will improve.
Keep an eye on grammar
Like it or not, grammar is important for writers. Readers will shy away from following authors who regularly make grammatical mistakes because it implies shoddiness and a lack of respect to the reader. Grammar rules exist for a reason – to make your reader or listener understand exactly what you are saying. If that is not present, there could be confusion about many things. So learn the basics of grammar and apply them in your writing to improve your overall writing.
Write more
This is pretty obvious but many writers don’t realize that the more they write, the quicker they learn. Write something in English every single day, even if it is only a few sentences. If you don’t have sufficient time to work on lengthy stories, you don’t have to panic. But don’t wait it out till you have free time either. Just spending 30 minutes a day, writing whatever you can, will keep your language writing development on track.
Image credit: Steve Johnson on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_20141217_101736441.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Kavitha is a freelance content writer and French translator, and has been working in this field since 2008. She has degrees in computer applications and international business and has a background in business and international trade. She enjoys learning languages and is currently learning Japanese. Her interests vary from books and writing to travelling and history.[/author_info] [/author]
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