“I’m not a writer.”
If I had a dollar for every time I heard this, I’d have more money than most aspiring writers.
This is a problematic statement because it’s not really true.
Sure, you probably aren’t a “professional” writer. You might struggle with the basic concepts of grammar and word organization. You might even hate the actual act of writing. None of these things change the fact that you, like almost everyone else, regularly write.
Yes, I’m including typing in this definition of “writing”. Don’t be cute.
Writers, Aren’t We All
Every day, we write emails, reports, papers, website messaging, and proposals. We write posts and comments on social media. We continuously write texts and chat messages…unless you’re my dad. In that case, you speak literally everything into your phone. But even he has to read and edit those text blocks. At least, he should…
Regardless, you are a writer in your own way. The average person is believed to write a novel’s worth of words every year. So if you’re going to write, why not make your writing better?
Good writing avoids confusion and saves time.
It has a stronger effect on people.
It makes you seem smart and trustworthy (even if you’re not).
“But I hate words and the process of combining them into sentences!” you say.
It’s natural to dislike things you struggle with. That’s why I’ve put together a nice and simple list that anyone can follow to improve their writing abilities and make writing a little bit easier. Yes, even you. Especially you.
Can’t I Just Have AI Do Everything For Me?
No.
The irony of using AI to write something is that you need to be able to effectively tell it what to write. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a bunch of useless nonsense. Even with the right prompts, you might end up with useless nonsense. And should you manage to get an AI like ChatGPT to create what you need, there are other potential problems.
The sentences and paragraphs that are being created and shared under your name are not your own. In some cases, they may actually be stolen from someone else’s writing.
There is also a certain fakeness to AI writing, even if it is grammatically correct. Writing isn’t just about being right. It’s about being authentic to your voice and perspective. It’s about expressing yourself.
Writing is about taking the intangible, amorphous thoughts inside that dark, mushy center of your brain and turning them into something that other people can absorb into their own dark, mushy brains.
Does that mean you can’t use any AI tools? Not necessarily. There are ways that you can still use AI to improve your writing. But first, you need to improve your writing. So, let’s get started.
Simple, Effective Tips for Improving Your Writing
Read It Out Loud
Self-editing is difficult. As an experienced writer, I can say without a doubt that it’s much harder to spot my own typos than someone else’s. At the time of publishing, there is probably still a typo buried in this article somewhere.
Our brains naturally fill in the gaps, typos, etc. in our own creations. One thing that can combat this is reading your own writing out loud.
You don’t have to do this in front of anyone. It doesn’t even have to be audible. Just read it silently to yourself, physically moving your lips and tongue as you do. It’s amazing how many errors you can catch simply by physically speaking your words.
Also, if what you wrote is stupid, it will sound stupid when you read it out loud.
Some people benefit from saying what they’re writing as they’re actually writing it. Afraid you’ll feel ridiculous? You’ll feel a lot more ridiculous when your bad writing gets called out by friends, employers, the internet, etc.
Change or Remove Overly Repeated Words
I truly hope that you grasp the true meaning of what I am truly attempting to say here.
Take a look at that sentence above. Does that sound like something a human would say? I hope not. In a single sentence, I’ve used some form of “true” three times.
As ridiculous as it might seem, people do this all the time. It’s a terrible habit that may or may not stem from all of us having to hit certain word counts on our high school essays.
You’re an adult now, so it’s time to stop with the excess words.
When someone overuses a word, they:
- Lessen the impact of that word
- Make their writing feel repetitive and lame
- Give the impression that their vocabulary is worthless
- Leave the reader with an odd sense of déjà-vu
You’d be surprised how often you repeat things like “suddenly”, “in fact”, “however”, “of course”, etc. It’s okay to use these words sometimes. Just don’t do it in every paragraph.
When you finish writing something, scan through it and make note of certain words (especially descriptors) you used multiple times. Now delete as many of them as you can.
Keep Your Sentences Short
It’s easy to ramble. I tend to ramble when I talk. That’s fine when you’re talking off the top of your head (no matter what anyone else tells you). In the world of writing, however, rambling is BAD.
Precision is king.
Get to the point. If you have a sentence that is really long, cut out every unnecessary word. Your sentence will be better for it.
Talk Like a Real Person
Don’t try to sound smarter than you are. It’s obvious, awkward, and can make your writing unintentionally funny. At the same time, it’s important that you write like an adult.
I once had to grade a college student’s paper that included sentences such as “Um, well, I guess if I like had to pick something…”
He wrote that. In a paper. For a class he was paying money to take. This is someone who apparently graduated from high school. If you’re writing for a personal blog, you can loosen up a little. Even then, be better than “Um, well, I guess…”
Remove Unnecessary Jokes and References
Everyone wants to be funny and relevant, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to insert random jokes and references in your writing that have nothing to do with the subject. It’s great that you love Star Wars, but that doesn’t mean you have to talk about it in the middle of a paper on the migration patterns of the monarch butterfly.
As for irrelevant jokes, just remove them. They probably weren’t that funny to begin with.
Avoid Excessive Punctuation (Especially Commas)
Nothing, throws off a sentence like, the odd placement of, commas.
If you can’t tell what’s wrong with that sentence, we may have a problem. Excess commas are a disease that plagues writing. People love to throw commas into the most random places.
I understand it can sometimes be confusing when to use (and not use) commas. My advice is this:
A comma is simply a moment of pause, like a breathing spot for the reader. If you have a comma placed in a spot where it feels unnatural to pause at, get rid of the comma. Reading out loud can definitely help with this.
Should you use the Oxford comma? Absolutely. I don’t care what the AP guidelines tell you. Oxford comma for life.
Lastly, ease up on the exclamation points. If you’re using more than one exclamation point per page/email/post, you need to settle down. It’s not that exciting.
Don’t Confuse Words
There are a lot of words that are pronounced the same but are NOT actually the same. These are called homophones. When you mix these words up, it can result in confusion. It also doesn’t make you look very smart.
Examples of homophones include:
- Dear/Deer
- Ate/Eight
- Red/Read
- Would/Wood
- Our/Are/Hour
That last one can vary depending on your region and accent, but it’s common to see people write things like “This is are house,” instead of “This is our house.”
In my experience, the most commonly confused words are:
- Your/You’re
- There/Their/They’re
- Two/To/Too
- Its/It’s
- Affect/Effect
Not sure which word to use when? Let me help.
“Your” shows possession. “You’re” means “you are”.
“There” is a place. “Their” shows possession. “They’re” means “they are”.
“Two” is a number. “To” is where something goes. “Too” means “also.”
“Its” is a possessive form of “it”. “It’s” is a contraction of “it is”.
“Affect” is typically used as a verb. “Effect” is typically used as a noun.
That last example can actually get a bit tricky. The English language as a whole is known for having a lot of weird rules. This brings us to the final tip…
Use Modern Tools Beyond Spellcheck
Programs like Microsoft Word and Google Docs have built-in grammar tools that can spot a lot of basic mistakes, but they don’t catch everything. They’re also wrong sometimes. That’s why I recommend utilizing other tools to improve your writing.
A quick Google search can answer basic questions like “Should I use affect or effect.” This is also an area where AI tools like ChatGPT can be helpful. They’ll not only give you the answer, but they can explain why you should use one or the other.
ChatGPT can also proof your writing and provide feedback, as can platforms like Grammarly.
These can be helpful, and while they still make mistakes, they tend to be right more often than they’re wrong. Personally, I don’t care for Grammarly’s more advanced suggestions, but others may find them beneficial.
You can, of course, ask for human feedback as well. You can even ask for some professional writing assistance. But the more you can improve your own writing skills, the better your life will be. I promise.
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
