02 Oct 09 5 More Ways to Improve Your Writing Part-XI

Written by: bikram

We have come a long was in this series, and in the process we have learned quite a few things. We have covered from timing to inspiration to description to techniques to tools of writing. Each one of them was important, and so are the tips I am going to share in this part. In this part of the 5 Ways to Improve Your Writing series, I will tell you about quality; about how you can maintain the quality of your writing. Let’s begin with shedding inhibition for risks.

Take risks

Do not always play a safe game; rather, never play a safe game. Take risks and explore the terrain. You will not learn new things about life, about new ways to construct sentences, and will never get new ideas to write about until you venture out and take risk. Try different construction; try different storyline; so what if you fail!

Revisit your write-ups

Reading and analyzing what you have written in the past is another way to ensure quality of your future writing. You should have a sense of history. You should know from where you started and how far have you come, and then only you can realistically decide where you can go from here.

Rope in your friend

This advice is the toughest to follow because no matter how good your friendship is, he or she will not like to do proofreading for you, at least not readily. My friends have never done that for me, and neither have I put myself through the grueling session of proofreading for my friends. You got the clue, but still you need to talk your friend into proofreading your stuff. If they don’t agree then you have not tried hard enough.

Take a break

Writing is not like producing soap in the factory. You cannot just keep on pouring oil and chemicals for hours, even when you are tired and exhausted, to get the final product. To write well, you need to take breaks between your writing. Play games, watch TV, listen to music, or do whatever you like, but take breaks.

Take a break then return to proofread

Do not proofread your document right after finishing it. You will miss out many errors because your mind was primed by the article. Take a break 10-20 minutes and then come back to do the proofreading. Please do not think about what you wrote during the break.

Tags: Break, Chemicals, Clue, Documen, Friend Advice, Friendship, Grueling Session, Inhibition, Inspiration, Listen To Music, New Ways, Play Games, Risk, Rope, Sense Of History, Sentences, Soap, Stuff, Tools, Ups