10 Tips for Writing English
Writing is a great way to express yourself. It’s often said that journaling (writing down your thoughts and emotions) is a good first step to uncovering how you really think and feel. If you haven’t done this before, here is a blog post with a few steps on how to do it.
In our blog post on Mastering English, we looked at mastering the four essential language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Today we’re diving deeper into the second skill: Writing.
Sometimes we have to write for business, though, and not for emotional processing, so it’s a good idea to master this skill before you send an email to your clients with the wrong sentence construction!
Below are 10 tips for Mastering the Writing skill:
Read regularly
Write daily
Seek feedback
Embrace grammar and punctuation
Use online tools
Build your vocabulary
Practise different writing formats
Edit and revise
Set writing goals
Find inspiration
Read Regularly:
Dedicate time to read daily. The more you read, the more exposure you get to different styles of writing and language patterns. Reading every day helps us recognise words more easily, and the more we see a word, the better we remember it. This helps to expand your vocabulary, which helps you to write more efficiently.
It’s a good idea to read different genres and different materials. A blog post will have a different writing style to a newspaper or a Twitter post, so it’s helpful to see how grammar and punctuation change according to the type of writing required.
Write Daily:
Practice makes progress, so set aside time each day to write, even if it's just a journal entry or a short paragraph.
If you take time to read every day, then try to write a summary for yourself about the piece you just read. Every bit of practice helps!
If you work with English-speaking colleagues, or you have family and friends who can speak English, why not send them an email or text in English? Even this is fantastic practice—just remember to use proper punctuation!
Seek Feedback:
Share your writing with peers or teachers to receive constructive criticism and identify areas for improvement.
If your friends, family, or work colleagues have notes on your writing, don’t be shy to ask for feedback. They are not judging you when they correct you, they are helping you. It’s important to know what we need to work on so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes next time.
Embrace Grammar and Punctuation:
Develop a good understanding of English grammar and punctuation to improve the clarity of your writing. Proper grammar makes it a lot easier to read and understand something, and punctuation makes it more pleasant to read.
We wrote a whole blog post on Punctuation, just for you! You can read about it and download the Punctuation Guide for free!
Use Online Tools:
Grammar and spell-check tools are available for free online. You can use these easily to check your writing and to correct errors. Popular tools are Grammarly, QuillBot, Ludwig Guru, and Scribbr.
Don’t use AI like ChatGPT to write for you, as this makes it difficult to learn how to write on your own. It's better to write on your own and check your work afterward instead of having someone else do it from the start!
There are also many proofreaders, copywriters and grammar checking services available online. These services allow you to hire real people to help check your writing for you! Examples of these services are Scribbr, Fiverr, and even The Village Tutor (we offer the service as an add-on to our English lessons, but if you just need to proofread or check grammar, send us an email)!
Build your Vocabulary:
As you read new materials, speak to more people and listen to new songs and podcasts, you’ll learn new words that will help you in your writing. When you learn new phrases, write them down to remember them! This will help you write more interesting pieces, and it will help you avoid repetitive language.
Remember, knowing vocabulary is great, but the context in which you use it is important! Learn the words or phrases and look up examples of how they are used, so that you can use them appropriately.
Practise Different Formats:
Develop your writing by practising different writing formats, such as:
Essays
Letters
Reports
Emails, and
Journal entries
Each of these formats has a unique way of how they are formatted, what punctuation is appropriate, and what tone of voice and vocabulary they require. Keep an eye out for our post on these different formats of writing!
Edit and Revise:
Think of the three R’s: Review, Revise, Refine.
Review: Always go over your work to ensure it conveys your intended message effectively.
Revise: Read through your work and make corrections if there are any spelling, grammar or punctuation errors.
Refine: Remove sentences and words that are repetitive or that don’t make sense. It’s better to send a short message, rather than a long one that says the same thing over and over again.
Set Writing Goals:
The same as with reading English, it’s a good idea to set achievable writing goals. These goals shouldn’t be too easy, they should challenge you and make you think. Examples of such goals include:
I want to complete a certain number of words;
I want to finish a short story;
I want to write in my journal every day for a month.
Writing down goals and reviewing them regularly keeps us motivated and accountable. Seeing our written goals encourages us to work on them consistently, knowing that progress is essential.
Find inspiration:
Study the works of well-known authors to learn about their writing techniques and incorporate them into your style.
Read different blog posts to see if you prefer a more official writing style or a friendlier one. It’s all up to you and we learn continuously every day, so it’s perfectly fine if you choose a style now, and find yourself changing down the line.
Finding inspiration also shows us different voices and vocabulary, and how to use them in different contexts. Have fun with it!
Why is it important to master writing?
Writing enables you to arrange your thoughts and ideas in a logical and understandable way. This teaches you how to communicate your wants and needs clearly, and will come into use in both business and personal life. In the global economy, strong writing skills are highly valued in the workplace, leading to career growth and opportunities.
Even before you step into the world of work, writing well is important for academic success, as it enables you to express your knowledge and understanding of various subjects effectively. Whether you’re still in school or studying at a University in an English-speaking country, most academic research is conducted in English, so writing in English is an important skill to have to finalise your education.
Writing also provides a creative outlet for self-expression, allowing you to share your unique voice and perspective with the world. Through writing, you can tackle complex issues, analyse problems, and propose thoughtful solutions. It encourages critical thinking, as you must organise your thoughts logically and support your arguments with evidence.
Write us a letter, we’d love to hear from you! Where are you from? What’s your passion? Let us know!
Happy Writing!
