18 Tips to Improve Your Writing Skills and Become a Better Writer

Editor’s note: This blog was originally published on March 2, 2020, and has been updated.

I have had an interest in writing for as long as I can remember. It was my strongest subject in school, and it was the one thing I felt I could do exceptionally well. I didn’t think it would encompass my entire career, but in recent years, that’s exactly what has happened. But as I write more, I’m running into a problem a lot of people have: writer’s block.

If you’ve never experienced it, consider yourself lucky, but it affects every writer at some point. Early in my career, I struggled to get Twitter posts under 120 characters (including links) and when you have only so much space, you learn to write efficiently quickly. When I worked in higher ed, it was common to get email copy from professors that was the length of a CVS receipt. I’d have to cut out at least half of it for it to be good enough for emails sent to thousands of people.

Over recent years, I’ve composed blogs, case studies, press releases, social posts, and whitepapers so that they are fun to look at and read, yet stay informative. Despite that, writer’s block has followed me my entire career, and no matter what, it is hard to fend off.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. In the process of improving my writing skills, I have discovered tactics that have helped me add clarity and conciseness to my writing, resulting in compelling marketing content.

These are my go-to writing tips that have helped me improve my writing skills and become a better writer.

1. Create an Outline

This is the most important thing to do when you write anything, let alone a piece of content. The idea of writing something without a basic outline is terrifying to me and yet, I have seen people do it.

Not only does this help you determine what you want to write and the points you want to make, but it can be the first line of defense for fending off writer’s block. I do this with everything I write outside of social media posts since they are much shorter.

2. Change Repetitive Words

Have you ever noticed you use the same words often? Or maybe you didn’t notice that until this moment? Whoops.

In my journalism classes in college, I learned to avoid using the same words repeatedly. Yes, for certain stories or other pieces of writing, you may not have a choice, but most of the time, you can find an alternative. Google and Thesaurus.com have become my best friends when I’m looking for synonyms and sometimes, I find better words than the ones I originally intended to use.

If you notice you’re using a specific word too often, or there are words you know you’re guilty of using frequently, use the search tool on Word or Google Docs to find them in your writing. From there, it’s easy to make tweaks.

3. Move Sections Around

I am a firm believer in moving sections of writing around, like a paragraph or sentence. I’ll start writing something and realize it makes no sense for the spot it’s in, but it would work great earlier or later in the content. I may change my mind and realize it was better where it was, but I would say at least half the time I made the right call. Don’t be afraid to change something if it works.

4. Start Where You Want To

Whenever I’m writing a longer content piece, like a blog or whitepaper, I tend to jump around. Sometimes, I start by writing the beginning, and other times, I start on a section in the middle of it. In fact, this section was the first one I started on for this blog.

Why do I do this? Because writer’s block is the worst and if I’m going to defeat it, I should start the writing process by writing something that’s immediately on my mind. By doing this, I know I won’t lose my train of thought on what I want to write, get into a good writing groove, and I’m more likely to get the writing done faster.

5. Add Data

Does your article seem like it’s lacking weight? Try adding some data from credible sources that are relevant to your topic. If you already have some data points, it doesn’t hurt to include charts, graphs, or data tables, if applicable.

Depending on the type of content you’re making, like a whitepaper or an ebook, you might also want to include an appendix with links to your sources. This will strengthen the points you make in your copy and add a compelling layer to your message.

6. Change the Layout

When your content needs a boost, try adding some pizazz with bullet points, photos, infographics, charts, and videos. Be sure to spread out these additions to add interest throughout the writing sample. This alone can turn a boring composition into something that’s flattering and fascinating.

7. Pull Feedback

We have the tendency to believe our writing doesn’t need tons of edits, but the truth is we could stand to make some improvements. A good way to find this out is by having someone else look over your work with a fresh set of eyes. They see it from a perspective you can’t replicate and can suggest changes you wouldn’t have noticed.

While a friend, mentor, or spouse are great options for looking over your work, I also suggest finding someone who’s gifted at copy editing for the most revealing results.

8. Read Out Loud

This is my best approach when making writing changes. I find so many more issues just by reading out loud. When we read the text in our head, it’s easy to miss refinements, but when we read it out loud, modifications become blatantly obvious.

9. Shorten Sentences and Paragraphs

Everyone’s attention span is getting worse. It’s so bad that our attention span of 8.25 seconds is less than that of a goldfish. It’s downright sad and slightly depressing.

That’s why a lot of content is changing with how it’s presented. It’s not uncommon to see short paragraphs and sentences in the most popular social media posts. That’s because it’s necessary to get the attention of readers. I’ll admit it looks more appealing too, but it’s a sign of the times.

One of the worst writing mistakes I see is big and bulky paragraphs from (*cough cough* university professors). Trust me, no one will read it. You may not even reread it when you need to edit it. This is the type of writing they did over 100 years ago in advertising because they didn’t have websites to direct people to, and it was still too long then. Don’t do it now.

10. Tweak Sentence Length

Sentence length can make or break your writing. I mean it. For example, look at the sentences I’ve just written. The sentence before it is at least five words longer or shorter than the following sentence. My high school English teacher taught me this trick and it has worked exceedingly well for me over the years, even if I don’t do it everywhere in my writing. It adds a rhythm that creates intrigue and interest. Who doesn’t want that?

11. Write Like You Talk

I have found that people like reading content that sounds like a real person is talking to them. So lately, I have started to write blogs by saying what I want to write out loud.

This goes without saying that I work from home in a space where I don’t disturb anyone, but when I do this, I can work through my thoughts and sound less like AI and more like myself. My writing tends to be better too, making editing a breeze.

12. Use Online Writing Tools

I have found a lot of fantastic online writing tools over the years. The Google Chrome Grammarly plug-in is my favorite, but there’s also the plagiarism checker, HubSpot’s character count guide, and HubSpot’s blog topic generator. For writing ideas, I love using Quora and Answer the Public to give me insight into what people are searching for, plus keyword search tools like Keywords Everywhere.

But now with AI bursting into the scene, there are even more options out there, like the popular ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.

Bonus: Many of these tools are also fantastic SEO resources.

13. Take a Break

If you’re feeling drained and stuck, try taking a break. I normally walk around my neighborhood, clean the house, or run a quick errand if I need to clear my head. For others, it might be doodling, solving a logic puzzle, or a high-intensity workout. Find what works for you.

14. Write Often

Whatever you do, don’t stop writing because it is the only way you’ll improve. I write letters to friends and family, write in my journal, write posts on social media, and of course, write for my clients. When that wasn’t enough, I decided to write a blog once a month to continually brush up on my skills and it’s working. While I may not be perfect, I’m improving and that’s what matters.

15. Look at Content for Ideas

When I’m not writing, I’m reading anything from all kinds of sources: books, newspapers, magazines, social media, newsletters, and anything else I can get my hands on. I like to read, but exposing myself to a variety of reading materials helps me generate ideas.

16. Write Something

You read that right. And yes, it sounds stupid, but for some reason, it works.

My friend and I were talking about writer’s block and her co-worker gave her a weird piece of advice about how to get writing on paper. Write “Mary had a little lamb” on multiple, separate lines, like this:

Mary had a little lamb.

For some reason, your brain thinks you’ve written more, even though the text has nothing to do with what you’re writing, and somehow jumpstarts your brain to write what you want to write.

I know it sounds crazy, but I have done this a few times with success. Who knew?

17. Update it Later On

When writing this blog, I took my own advice and rewrote an old blog with a nearly identical topic. I could’ve written something new, but many content marketers have found that rewriting old content can improve search rankings and web traffic, especially in the short term. Plus, if your content already gets great traffic, you can improve it even more by adding additional keywords, updating links, and adding new internal ones that could be relevant to the blog.

If this is something you’d like to do for your blog content, look at updating it every 12-18 months.

18. Remember the Goal

What is the goal of writing? Many people make the mistake that whatever they write has to be the best it can be. The problem is that the first thing you write probably won’t be the best. Actually, it might be really terrible.

Instead, focus on finishing. Then, go back to it and see what you can do to improve your writing by following some of the tips in this piece. I guarantee that this approach will allow you to write something that’s concise, organized, insightful, and compelling.

But, do you find yourself still needing help with content?

Most of the time when I work with people, they’re looking for more support because they’re managing organizational needs and they can’t keep up with business demand. Other times, business is slow and they realized they didn’t do enough to boost their visibility through content.

Whatever the reason is, I’d love to help. Let’s work together and see how I can help you with your content marketing efforts.