How to improve your writing skills in English in 5 simple ways

During the process of learning English, you can’t omit writing practice. It’s one of the key aspects of learning a language, next to reading, speaking, and listening. There is a reason for that – writing is a way to demonstrate how well you use all the vocabulary and grammar patterns you have learned so far. With your writing, you can prove how proficient you are. It creates fantastic job and study opportunities – after all, a perfect candidate is someone who can write e-mails, reports, essays, or articles, depending on the job or study field.

If you wonder how to improve your writing skills in English, don’t worry! The more you write and the more feedback you receive, the better. This way, you know what you should work on and how you can further improve. On the other hand, you might be already satisfied with your writing, but looking for tips to polish your skills even further. Whatever your situation is, hopefully, you will find the tips below helpful!

How to improve your English writing in 5 simple ways?

Here are 5 simple ways to help you improve your English writing and make your English writing shine:

1. Write an outline

Writing an outline of your e-mail, article, and so on, might seem like a waste of time for some people. It’s actually the other way around – noting the main points you want to include might save you a lot of time. If you know what to write prior to doing that, the process of writing itself is much quicker. It’s because you can focus solely on writing: finding the right words, metaphors, or nice grammar patterns. There is no need to simultaneously think of those AND think of what to include in your writing.

How should you write an outline?

First, decide on a topic for your writing. Why are you writing it? What’s the message you want to express? How long should it be? You need to answer those questions.

Then, decide how many paragraphs you need. There should be at least 3 of them – the introduction, the main body, and the conclusion.

Reflect on the points you want to make – which ones will be best to illustrate the message of your writing? Remember that it’s all about the readers – you need to make your points clear and straightforward so that they can understand your message.

All these rules can be applied to any form of writing, even to short forms such as an e-mail to your colleague.

Read it twice before handing it in

You might write beautifully and make good points, but if there are typos, misspelled words, and a lack of question marks, your reader might find it very uncomfortable to read your writing. They can instantly see whether you proofread your work prior to handing it in or not.

There is an easy way to solve it – simply read your writing once you’ve completed it. The best way is to do the proofreading a few minutes or even hours after finishing the last sentence. This way, you let your brain rest and the proofreading might be much more effective than if you did it straight after finishing your writing.

Read a lot

Reading is not only an enjoyable activity you can do in your free time. Books and articles provide you with valuable content – they enrich your vocabulary and let you familiarize yourself with common (or uncommon) grammar patterns. They teach you how to organize your writing and how to state your arguments. Moreover, fiction books stimulate your imagination, thus improving your creativity and leading to out-of-the-box solutions you can apply to your own pieces of writing. To sum things up, if you have time on your hands – read!

Adjust your writing to your level of English

Writing is already a brain-racking activity, so why make it harder by using words you are not quite sure about?

Sometimes you want to take your writing to the next level by adding advanced words or grammar. However, it’s not a good idea to do so if you aren’t 100% sure how to use these particular words or patterns. You might end up making a mistake, which undermines the credibility of your writing.

How can you deal with that? Simply write in a way that’s comfortable for you and your level of English. Don’t force yourself to sound like a native speaker (writer?). Use the vocabulary and the grammar you feel confident with. It’s better to be simple and have no mistakes than to use advanced content with mistakes all over.

Focus on expanding your vocabulary and grammar patterns

While keeping your writing simple is the best way to achieve results, don’t be afraid to slowly go out of your comfort zone. Focus on expanding your vocabulary and grammar. Just do it wisely – practice a lot, and make sure you understand the stuff you learn and how to use it. If you start applying this new knowledge to your writing, you and your readers will feel the difference.

It will make your writing more compelling and unconventional, and you will also be able to convey your thoughts in a more expressive way. In addition, the ideas you present might be much more convincing to your readers if you phrase them just right. There is a reason for saying that a word is a tool or even a weapon.

 If you need any specific help to improve your English writing, it is best to directly ask a professional English teacher for it! An English teacher will be able to check your writing and point out the mistakes.

In addition to that, they will help you to correct them and advise you on how to improve your writing skills in English. All this can be done at your home, as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection. If you choose to learn English online, you can study English and seek your teacher’s advice anytime you prefer, from any place you like. No waste of time, just focusing on improving your English skills!