Want to become a good writer?

Follow these few suggestions and — write, write and write.

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Have you ever heard the saying, “How do I get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.”

This holds true for just about any activity. Whether you are playing soccer, singing, dancing, and of course, writing.

Malcolm Gladwell is a well-known author and speaker who identifies and explains complex ideas. He is known for saying, “unexpected implications of social science research. He suggests that mastering any skill takes 10,000 hours of practice.”

“The 10,000-hour rule popularized by Malcolm Gladwell roughly says if you practice one skill for 10,000 hours, you’ll have a good chance at becoming an expert at it. Some say that new research indicates the 10,000-hour rule alone doesn’t account for mastery in a given skill, like playing the violin.”

Many have challenged this notion, but learning anything new takes time and practice, whether you fully agree with 10,000 hours or not. And so it is with writing.

Like any new skill, practice alone will not get you to perfection. You need teachers and leaders to help you navigate the unknown waters to get close to perfection.

I have researched a list of suggestions to help you improve your writing. Like any skill, as you get better, you start having more fun and confidence.

Try these options below:

· Sign up for a free writing course online. Nothing helps more than taking a writing course. You wouldn’t try to teach yourself violin successfully? There are many techniques to learn.

· Use writing templates. Templates are a good way to learn how to write a specific style.

· Grammar: I know, ugh. However, good grammar is essential. The good news is that there are several applications that you plug in to check your grammar on your project. It isn’t perfect, but it’s far and away better than going it alone.

· Develop a daily writing habit. I can’t emphasize this enough. Even if it is only 15 minutes a day, the more you get to and stick to a daily routine, the more you will like it and improve your style.

· Read, read, read. Reading is an excellent way to learn good writing skills. Especially reading the genre, you are perfecting for yourself. What better way than to see how well-known experts express their talents.

· Watch your punctuation. Don’t overuse exclamation points or any grammar punctuation expressions. Use your language skills to get the situation across.

· Who is your audience. A lot depends on your genre. If you are writing young adult novels, that is a different audience than mystery, SciFi, or historical fiction.

· Be as succinct as possible. Watch out for dull, filler phrases.

I hope these brief tips will encourage you to take the time to improve your writing. Learning never ends, of course. Like any skill, there is always more to learn.