6 things you can do to improve your writing

Trying to become a better writer is a task that never stops. There are always improvements that can be made and things that we can do to try and get better. With this in mind, here are a few things that you can do to improve your writing.

Find a writing partner. Find someone who loves writing just as much as you do and with whom you click – someone who won’t be afraid to tell you what’s wrong with your writing but who will also offer support and ideas when it comes to improving and developing your work. Critiquing their work will also improve your skills; as you learn how to be constructively critical of someone else’s work, it helps to open your eyes to how you can also improve your own.
Write a story in 100 words. Having so few words in which to tell your tale forces you to think about the key points; nothing can be wasted, and precisely the right words have to be chosen in order to convey what you want to convey. And, if you’re feeling really up for a challenge, write a story in the length of a tweet (140 characters).
Blog regularly. Blogging is a different style of writing to a novel, but it also helps to improve your writing by encouraging you to do it regularly and making you think about how to keep things interesting over a sustained period.
Increase your knowledge about the world. This doesn’t necessarily mean becoming an expert in everything, but rather seeking out new ideas, learning what other people think, and finding out what’s going on around you. Having a greater bank of knowledge – both factual and about what makes people tick – to draw on will help to add depth and interest to your writing.
Take your time. It can be so tempting to rush through your writing, to get to the end as quickly as possible so you can move on to the business of publishing. However, sometimes taking your time can make a huge difference – thinking carefully about which word to use instead of using the first one that comes to mind, and being careful to get the story just right, will make you a better writer in the long run.
Get straight to the point. While taking your time to get your writing perfect is useful, it also helps to get straight to the point, to the heart of what you are doing; don’t waste time on stuff that doesn’t add anything to the story you are trying to tell – think about what you are trying to say in a scene, and make sure say it.

What are your tips for becoming a better writer?