How to Perfect Your Writing Style
As you improve your writing style, it is going to carry over into your life. From business communications and emails to reports and presentations, you’ll likely use writing even after you graduate. Fortunately, with the right tips, you’ll be writing like an expert on Pimp My Paper in no time. Keep reading to learn more.
Be Familiar with Different Writing Styles
Even though things like spelling, grammar, and punctuation stay consistent through your writing, the technique changes depending on what you are writing and who your intended audience is. The different writing styles include:
- Expository- Expository pieces of writing explain the subject. It is not uncommon for them to be presented in a logical sequence and contain facts and figures.
- Descriptive- These writings describe something in great detail, be it a place, person, character, or event. Poetry is often descriptive in nature, describing nature, emotions, or some other subject.
- Persuasive- Writers who persuade are trying to convince the reader of an idea or argument. They take a strong viewpoint and then build an argument.
- Narrative- This type of writing tells a story. It features actions, events, conflicts, resolutions, characters, and dialogue. Narrative writing also has a logical and definitive beginning, middle, and end.
Practice What You Love
Even though there are many styles of writing, many contain the same elements. While you’ll find you need to adjust your tone and word choice depending on the intended audience, the reality is that any type of writing practice will improve your skills. You can write a letter to a friend, journal daily, write poetry or short stories, or even write a summary of the research you do on an interesting topic. As long as you are writing, you are improving your overall skills.
Know Your Audience
It might seem like it is always a good idea to use big words and show what you have learned. Unless you are writing for an audience that knows your subject, however, you should avoid the use of big words. They do not make you sound smart and come across as if you are better than the reader. This is especially detrimental to persuasive pieces, as the reader may not want to side with someone they see as snobbish or stuck up.
Write Ideas, Then Edit
Writing is a creative, right-brain activity, while editing is a logical left-brain activity. The two hemispheres cannot work at the same time if you want to be efficient and effective. Instead of getting hung up on doing it right, just write your ideas. There will be plenty of time for polishing and perfecting these ideas later on. However, unless you let them flow, you’ll find you don’t have anything to perfect or polish.
Create Your Own Writing Process
Everyone knows the basic writing process; doing preliminary research, choosing a topic, doing research, creating an outline, writing the first draft, then editing and rewriting. While this format works well for some, some people find themselves restricted by following a template. If you feel restricted, let your writing flow instead. Everyone writes differently. Embracing your differences and learning how you write best will help you find the perfect writing process for your style. You may also find your process changes depending on the type of writing you are doing.
In conclusion, you can develop writing skills at any age and they will benefit you through the rest of your life. They are useful in school and in your career. Fortunately, it is easy to develop writing skills. These ideas aside, all you need to do is practice. All writing is fundamentally the same, so practicing the fundamentals can greatly improve your overall skill.
