How to Improve Writing Skills | Write and Improve
The ability of good writing is art. Correct grammar usage facilitates clear communication. It comes down to how to improve writing skills. Paying close attention to your language can convey clear and organized writing that strengthens your personal writing style allowing for the individuality of expression and purpose.
In order to clearly communicate, you need to present your thoughts in an organized fashioned. The key here is to guide readers from one thought to another smoothly. Selling online requires having a great ability to write. After all, online sellers depend on their writing for product descriptions, policies, terms of use, etc. So, as a seller—it’s only natural to want to improve your writing skills.
Keep reading to learn the important aspects of good writing.
How to Improve Writing Skills-Orderly Writing
Whether it’s a single word, sentence, or paragraph—you need to make sure it’s neatly ordered. It becomes confusing to readers having misplaced words or phrases in sentences or paragraphs.
You can achieve an orderly fashion in different ways. For example, punctuation with continuity, conveying relationships between ideas. Punctuation helps with notifying the reader of pauses, inflections, subordination, and pacing normally heard in speech.
Finding a balance of punctuation marks is important. Never overuse or underuse a particular punctuation mark. Overusing a punctuation mark can cause annoyance and underusing a punctuation mark can cause confusion.
Transitional words are another great way to achieve continuity. Transitional words help maintain the flow of thoughts, which becomes exceptionally helpful when the material is complex.
How to Improve Writing Skills-What Are Transitional Words?
Transitional words consist of pronouns and pronouns refer to the noun preceding a sentence. It serves as a transition and helps with avoiding repetition.
Here are some examples of transition words:
Time Links
Then, after, next, while, since
Cause and Effect Links
Therefore, consequently, as a result
Addition Links
In addition, moreover, furthermore, similarly
Contrast Links
How to Improve Writing Skills-Say Only What Needs to Be Said
Being too generous with words creates less readable content. Eliminate overly detailed descriptions, elaborations of the obvious’ and irrelevant information.
Using shorter words and sentences are much easier to understand than longer ones. The main causes of unnecessary long content wordiness and redundancy.
Wordiness
Wordiness is very irritating to readers. Here are some examples of wordiness to avoid:
Based on the fact that (change to because)
At the present time (change to now)
For the purpose of (change to either for or to)
Redundancy
In an effort to sound empathetic, writers often become redundant. In the following examples, the italicized words are redundant and should be removed:
Absolutely essential
Small in size
just exactly
the reason is because
Length
As with anything in this world, balance and also pertains to sentence and paragraph length. Writing short sentences creates choppy, boring reading. However, long sentences create incomprehensible content. So, instead—use varied sentence length which will help maintain the reader’s interest and comprehension.
Long paragraphs have a tendency to lose the reader’s attention. New paragraphs provide a short break and allow a better understanding of the content.
Attribution
In an effort to be objective inappropriately attributing action can lead to confusion. Undesirable attributions include the use of the third person and the use of editorial we
Third Person
Writing in the third person can give the impression that you didn’t take part in whatever it is your writing about. For example, “The bloggers instructed the readers”. If “The bloggers” refers to yourself, it’s ambiguous and makes it sounds like you weren’t a part of it. Instead, use a personal pronoun: “We instructed the readers.”
Editorial We
For clarity, make sure to restrict your use of us to refer only to yourself and your coauthors (use I if you are the sole author of the article.) Using we in broader circumstances leaves readers to determine whom you’re referring to; instead, substitute an appropriate noun or clarify your usage.
How to Improve Writing Skills-Use Various Ways to Improve Your Writing Style
Using correct grammar, verbs, pronouns, and adverbs dramatically improve your writing style. Investing more time in your writing style creates accuracy, thoroughness, and clearer communication.
Grammar
Readers get confused and distracted when content includes incorrect grammar and careless construction of sentences.
Verbs
Verbs are vigorous, direct communicators. You want to use the active rather than a passive voice, and select tense or mood carefully. Always prefer the active voice.
Poor:
The invitation was designed by Winnifield
Better:
Winnifeld designed the invitation.
Pronouns
Pronouns replace nouns. A noun must agree with in number (singular or plural) with the noun it replaces.
Incorrect:
Neither the highest priced vendor nor the lowest priced vendor in the marketplace had any effect on their sales.
Correct:
Neither the highest priced vendor nor the lowest priced vendor in the marketplace had had any effect on his or her sales.
Adverbs
An adjective or an adverb (whether a single word or a phrase) must clearly refer to the word it modifies. Misplaced adverbs (also known as misplaced modifiers) can ambiguously or illogically modify a word. You can avoid misplaced adverbs by placing an adjective or an adverb as close as possible to the word it modifies.
Clear:
The vendor surveyed the customers who were using the product.
Clear:
Using this product, the vendor surveyed the customers.
Unclear:
The vendor surveyed the customers using the product.
Its sentence is unclear about whether the vendor or the customers use this product.
Dangling Modifiers
Dangling modifiers don’t have an object to refer to in the sentence. Many times this is a result of using passive voice. Writing in the active voice helps avoid many dangling modifiers.
Incorrect:
After separating the customers into groups, Group A was tested.
Correct:
After separating the customers into groups, I surveyed Group A.
[I, not Group A, separated the customers into groups.]
Adverbs can be used as introductory or transitional words. Adverbs modifying verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs and express manner or quality. Adverbs such as fortunately, similarly, certainly, consequently, conversely, and regrettably—can be used as introductory or transitional words as long as the sense is confined.
Use adverbs judiciously as introductory or transitional words. Always ask yourself whether the introduction or transition is needed and whether the adverb is being used correctly.
Common introductory adverbial phrases include: importantly, more importantly, and interestingly. Both importantly and interestingly can often be used to enhance the message of a sentence or simply be removed without losing the meaning.
A commonly misused adverb as an introductory or transitional word is hopefully. Hopefully means “in a hopeful manner” or “full of hope”; hopefully should not be used to mean “I hope” or “it is hoped.”
How to Improve Writing Skills-Final Words
As you can see, good writing requires thoughtful concern for language helps convey clear and orderly writing that improves your writing style and allows individuality of expression and purpose. The prime objective of writing is to achieve clear communication.
Use this article as a reference guide to help strengthen your writing skills in order to create product descriptions that sell themselves!
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