I have been a regular reader of Daily Writing Tips ever since I discovered it a couple of months back, thanks to either Santhosh or Vinay. I am not sure.
Anyway, last week, Daniel Scocco, the publisher of Daily Writing Tips, invited inputs from the readers asking what they thought were helpful tips in improving one’s writing. He then compiled all of them into one post which he published today. There’re a whole lot of helpful tips over there. 34 entries of them, to be precise.
So my tip to you is go over there and read what the people have had to say. It’ll surely be of some help. And I am not saying this simply because I also happen to be one of the contributors. My tips are at number 21, BTW.
But there’s every chance that some of you might raise an eye brow and suspect my intentions of writing about that post. So, here’s a list of my picks in the order of their appearence.
1. Daniel
Pay attention to punctuation; especially to the correct use of commas and periods. These two punctuation marks regulate the flow of your thoughts, and they can make your text confusing even if the words are clear.3. Bill Harper
Try not to edit while you’re creating your first draft. Creating and editing are two separate processes using different sides of the brain, and if you try doing both at once you’ll lose. Make a deal with your internal editor that it will get the chance to rip your piece to shreds; it will just need to wait some time.7. Nilima Bhadbhade
Be a good reader first.10. John England
Right click on a word to use the thesaurus. Do it again on the new word and make the best use of your vocabulary.12. H Devaraja Rao
Avoid wordiness. Professor Strunk put it well: “a sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.”15. Amit Goyal
To be a good writer is to start writing everyday. As Mark Twain said, “the secret of getting ahead is getting started.”Try using new words. i.e avoid repeating words. this way we learn the usage of different words.
Do edit your previous articles. [my emphasis] I think this one’s a very useful tip.24. Joanna Young
One that works for me every time is to focus on the positive intention behind my writing. What is it that I want to communicate, express, convey? By focusing on that, by getting into the state that I’m trying to express, I find that I stop worrying about the words - just let them tumble out of their own accord.32. Suemagoo
Write the first draft spontaneously. Switch off your internal editor until it is time to review your first draft.
But as they say, reading is not enough. You have to put some of these tips into action. Go on. Do it. You can thank me later.
Image couetesy: Myself
15 responses so far ↓
Chittaranjan // December 12, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Take care of Typos! They look pretty ugly to discerning readers (like Moi
) at the first glance and that might be a put-off!
johnnypeepers // December 12, 2007 at 9:06 pm
That is really useful advice. I have been trying to tighten up my skills as of late. I probably need to find someone to review it. Anyways, good info holmes.
Liju Philip // December 13, 2007 at 12:35 am
ah….i needed this link. thanks buddy.
lazybug // December 13, 2007 at 11:09 am
Ycee: Typos happen. I tend to mostly ignore them. It’s the bad grammar that puts me off!
Johnny: You are welcome!
Liju: You are welcome!
Chittaranjan // December 13, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Yep….Typos do happen. And its the prerogative of the writer to correct them. Bad grammar may be really caught only when the reader is thoroughly reading it….for skimmers or at-a-glancers, Typos are a major put-ffos. IMHO
vinay // December 15, 2007 at 5:35 pm
yeah useful website. Discovered by me in BIU. Typos can be ignored in informal writing but better not to if you are serious to improve your language.
@Chittaranjan - Akhil told me that you are always after him to find errors in his posts. Today I found one in your comments - its (it’s) the prerogative of the writer to. Think must have happened while typing fast.
Chittaranjan // December 16, 2007 at 7:53 am
This Akki is painting a bad picture of me!!! I’m not a typo-finding-maniac…..I too make’em…and a lot too. But I correct them asap. Maybe the fact that we were used to have marks deducted for typos that I’ve become so typo-conscious
e.g.: Did I tell Akki that the last sentence of this post has a ‘o’ missing and an extra ‘e’ [:p]
sridevi // December 17, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Good piece of Information and that’s a good advice!
lazybug // December 17, 2007 at 6:48 pm
I correct my typos when I spot them, Ycee. Just that you tend to point them out too soon.
Thank you, Sreedevi!
Ottayan // December 18, 2007 at 7:19 am
Thanks for the link.
Chittaranjan // December 18, 2007 at 8:24 am
“Just that you tend to point them out too soon”
OK. I’ve saved these two for as late as possible: “appearance” is mis-spelled before your quote and then “courtesy” is spelt wrong at the fag end of your post.
P.S: That concludes the list of typos I’ve remembered from the day u posted this
lazybug // December 18, 2007 at 8:33 am
Thanks
You’re welcome Ottayan!
Chittaranjan // December 18, 2007 at 9:26 am
You haven’t corrected them?
lazybug // December 18, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Will. some day.
skantharuban // January 24, 2008 at 11:06 am
continue your service,divid your article.
everysteps very gad. thnka a lot for readers.
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