If you want to succeed in business or in life, writing well is one of the skills you need to master. There are many ways to improve your writing, but here are four powerful things that my coaching clients usually aren’t doing. They’re easy to do and they will make a big difference in the quality of your writing.
Get Everything Out of Your Head
It’s not writing until it’s out of your head. When you write you’re forced to wrestle with word choice and phrasing. You must think about the order of presentation. Writing things down forces you to clarify your thinking and spot things that need improvement. So, the first step is getting everything out of your head and onto a page or into a file.
Real Writers Revise
Many wise people have said that great writing is rewriting. If you’ve got everything out of your head, you’re ready to start rewriting. Rewrite and revise as many times as you need to. Stop when your changes make your writing different but not better.
Read Your Writing Aloud
This is really simple and really powerful. You may think that we read with our eyes, but we really read with our ears. When you read your writing aloud, your mouth will stumble over things that your eyes miss.
Use Your Spell and Grammar Checker
If you’re using any kind of standard writing software, there’s a spell checker and grammar checker included. Use them. Not only will you catch things in the piece you’re working on now, you’ll also gradually improve your writing.