10 Tips To Improve Your Writing

Many people desire to earn money writing, but it can seem like such a daunting task. How does one pay the bills merely by using our creative talents? The starting point is understanding the craft, but in order to move into the realm of actually making money from our writing efforts, we must understand that the quality of writing matters. Here are 10 tips to improve how people respond to your writing.

1. Write what you know. Sure, it is possibly the most common rule ever espoused about writing, but so many writers still trip up on it. Maybe it's our desire to explore other boundaries, but more likely, writers choose to write about topics they know very little about because it seems "easy". Don't fall for the trap. Maybe, in time, you'll be able to research new topics and write about them coherently, but until then, stick with writing about areas where you have firsthand knowledge, especially if you intend to earn money writing.

2. Focus on writing to completion, editing after the fact. So many writers focus on getting every sentence just right, agonizing over every detail and syllable. Unfortunately, this usually means never completing a single writing project. Although churning out drivel is never the goal of any writer, production is something that eludes many would-be scribes. Practice getting ideas out quickly, then cleaning them up. Jack Kerouac once concluded, "first thought, best thought", meaning that he felt the first structure of an idea would almost always end up, in the end, being the best.

3. Research, regardless of genre. It goes without saying that nonfiction writers owe it to their readers to be as accurate as possible, but fiction writers often skip this process. However, fiction writing is not an exercise in fabricating facts and ideas based in nothing. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once described how proud he was after writing Silver Blaze, the Sherlock Holmes short story about a stolen racing horse, and then how chagrined he was as the years passed and he learned how inaccurate his story details actually were.

4. Understand your audience. Any writer who wishes to earn money writing must learn that each assignment or story will be perceived by the intended audience differently.

5. Use the strongest verbs and nouns. Too many writers avoid using flowery language, which is generally a good idea, but then fail to "punch up" their prose with stronger verbs, usually shorter ones, on occasion. Instead of writing, "it was raining very hard", perhaps write "the rain hammered against the gutters".

6. Pepper humor throughout your writing. Writing something funny is not easy, not even when you might have a natural sense of humor. Adding humor to your writing, even in small doses, is a skill that may be hard to master but will almost always effectively draw in a reader. Of course, there are some topics where humor should not be used, but the vast majority are ripe for adding a little wit.

7. Remove some adverbs. Believe it or not, adding adverbs only gets you high marks when writing for your English teacher. Readers prefer simpler sentences with less description to stumble across.

8. Hook the reader right away. Regardless of whether you are penning an article or a novel, the reader must feel immediately drawn to continue reading. Doing this consistently is one of the best tools to earn money writing, because everything you write should be considered interesting.

9. Find a real editor. Being able to self-edit is a necessary skill for all writers, but no writer should consider themselves to be the ultimate authority on their final edits. Even if you don't have an assigned editor looking over your work, you can find one cheaply online to give your work a quick review.

10. Use writing prompts and exercises. Consider that athletes, artists and even software engineers hone their craft through repetition and methodical practice. Writers should, as well, and one such way is to use writing prompts or established writing exercises, even if you've done them before. One such exercise is to write a story featuring two distinctly different characters, writing from one of the characters perspective. Then, write the same story again, from the other character's perspective.