If you’ve ever asked yourself ”how do I get better at writing???” you’re in the right place.

We all have to face off with writing, no matter how much we like it. From work memos and all sorts of emails to thank you notes, everyday life is filled with written communication. What we should say and how we should say it can be difficult to figure out, but I’ll help you with that.

While it usually takes practice to get better at writing, there are ways to get better at writing faster, and I’ll teach you how in this blog. These tips will help you get better at writing faster, but you’ll still need to practice.

Why should you listen to my tips on writing?

I know, I know. There’s a lot of out-there advice about writing. Famous quotes from authors rarely work for anyone besides other authors whose personal styles and preferences are similar.

This is where I come in! I have a MA in English. I am qualified to teach composition and writing on a college level. I also minored in communication and went through a radio broadcasting program where I learned how to better communicate on both a large and personal scale.

But here’s the thing–I’m also a writer. Knowing the philosophy behind a concept is great, but having the real-world practice is better. Combine both and you’ve got a teacher!

While I will eventually have writing courses available, I want to offer quick tips now for anyone who has been frustrated with their writing. It takes a lot of time and practice to completely transform your writing, but these tips will help you decide what you should write, how to write it, and build confidence in your writing.

Why don’t we learn how to write for everyday life in school?!

We learn about grammar and composition in school, but we don’t actually learn how to write in a way that will help in everyday life. College/university is a little more helpful, but a) not everyone wants to go and b) the general education writing taught in academics tends to be formal and stiff. This last point especially tends to leave us wondering how we should approach everything from DMs to emails.

When you try to figure out how to word things in emotional or professional situations, the stress compounds. You start to question your tone and word choice. Connotation and denotation chase every word you put down. You end up back spacing and deleting everything you write a million times.

I have good news for you

There’s great news: You can do this. Take a deep breath. Let it out. Now listen:

If you know how to speak, you know how to write.

Kara at thestoriedlives.com

It’s that simple, and that difficult. But we’ll get through the difficult together.

Speaking and writing are two very different processes, but they rely on the same, obvious principle: language. That’s all you have to know. And if you’re reading this, or had a conversation in English today, you’ve got it down! The reason writing is more difficult for most people than speaking is because there are fewer ways to convey what we mean. In spoken conversation, we have our words, our volume level, our tone, our body language, and our facial expressions. In writing, we have word choice and grammar. That leaves a lot of room for something to go wrong.

One of the things I learned while studying English is that everyone is self-conscious about their writing skills. It doesn’t matter if it’s an English major or an engineer. The smartest people you know are self-conscious about their writing. Even those who have been published! You’re not alone in this.

How to get better at writing: a checklist

Here’s the tips I promised that will help you level up your writing. These are basics, and while you may have learned them broadly in school, I’ll be reminding and elaborating while giving you practical tips for everyday writing as an adult.

Writing, at its most basic, is about asking a series of questions and getting the answers down in a way that makes sense for what you’re writing. This is true whether you’re writing a novel or a text. Here are the questions that you can ask yourself every time you sit down to write something:

• Who will be reading this? The answer to this will decide on the tone and word choice. Your friends or family will understand you better than your boss. Your word choice and tone will be very different, as well. This is the basis of how you’ll write, as well as what you’ll write.

• What am I trying to say? You’ll probably know this when you start out, but you don’t always. This is a good time to outline what you want to say. You don’t have to make a detailed outline or write it down; you can make this in your head. This also lets you decide what priorities are in this piece of writing.

• How am I trying to say this? This is the crux of the writing. Are you trying to sound professional in a memo at work? Are you trying to deliver emotional news? Or are you trying to barter on a FB marketplace item? After you decide this, think of words to avoid and what words are the best for you to stick with. This includes the connotation, or the emotional concept that comes with certain words.

• Now write. It should be easier to write now that you’ve asked and answered the questions above.

• Read what you wrote. Are there any typos? How’s the grammar and punctuation?

• Does this feel acceptable? Does the writing match the answers you decided for the first 3 questions? If so, you’re good to go! Hit send or put it in an envelope. If not, re-write and continue these last two steps until you’re good with it!

Congratulations! You wrote that thing you were stressed about. Give yourself a high five! Go get some coffee!

I’m including a free printable with these steps and questions condensed. If this is something you have difficulty with on a regular basis, you can print it out and have it at your desk.

Did this help you? Did I leave anything out? Let me know in the comments. If you found this helpful, please consider sharing on Pinterest or Facebook.

Talk to you soon,

Kara