Reading time: About 3 minutes
Does your writing feel “meh” or “blah” to you? Here are five ways to make your writing five times better…
Want to make your writing better? Much better?
If you don’t like how your writing looks or sounds, there are five easy ways to turn it around.
If you do even one of them, you’ll see an immediate improvement.
And while I can’t guarantee you’ll win a Nobel Prize, if you do all five, I know you’ll feel much prouder of your writing.
1-Begin with a captivating hook or lede
Think of your post, article, chapter or dissertation as if it were a store. When people walk in, they form an immediate impression. The sights, the sounds, the lighting — even the smell — tell them whether it’s a store they want to linger in or one they should get out of as quickly as possible. You know the difference between a boutique bakery and a gas station bathroom, right?
The first few paragraphs of your writing will let readers decide whether they want to stay. Entice them with a story. Or a jaw-dropping fact. Or a memorable metaphor or simile. It’s worth spending a good amount of time on the start of your story to find that irresistible hook. Because let’s face it: if your opening is a snooze-fest, nobody is making it to your brilliant conclusion.
2-Use more bridges
Bridges, connectors or transitions are the words, phrases and stylistic devices that help direct readers through our writing. Sometimes I even like to imagine them as cables that pull readers along, or as hidden invisible stitches that help knit writing together. Without them, your writing is just a bunch of ideas having an awkward party where nobody knows how to mingle.
In one of my most popular blog posts, I give five different techniques you can use, including a list of 83 common transitional words or phrases that will help make your writing way easier to read. It’s like a buffet of connective tissue for your prose. Help yourself.
3-Use shorter sentences
Lots of new writers use sentences that are far too long. Likewise, people in certain professions often write long sentences. If you’re an engineer or a lawyer, guard against this habit. Your sentences shouldn’t require a GPS to navigate.
Your average sentence length should be somewhere between 14 and 18 words.
But notice I’ve said “average.” It’s acceptable, even wise, to include some much longer sentences, as well. They’ll be easier to read, however, if they’re balanced by some super short sentences. So go for the occasional 53-word sentence. But make sure you balance it with some three- to five-word sentences. Like this one. See? And make sure your average falls within the 14- to 18-word range.
Software like ProWritingAid can calculate your sentence-length average for you. (I am not a reseller, and you can get a free version for 500 words at a time.) No one wants to count words manually. That’s what computers are for.
4-Put the subject and verb closer together
Readers stumble when they have to wait too long to find the action. Putting subjects and verbs close together makes your writing easier to read and more confident. When readers don’t have to hunt for the action, they understand your meaning faster.
Compare:
The key to improving your writing, which many people overlook, is attention to sentence structure.
With
Attend to sentence structure and you’ll improve your writing.
The second version hits faster, feels stronger and carries authority. It’s the difference between meandering through a museum and taking a direct elevator to the good stuff. This principle works in almost every sentence: reduce distance between subject and verb, cut unnecessary clauses and make the action clear.
5-Replace words ending in -tion
Do you lull your readers to sleep with lots of multi-syllabic words ending in -tion? This is almost always a mistake. These words are the literary equivalent of Ambien.
Words ending in -tion are built with a verb as a base. For example, implement becomes implementation. Consider turns into consideration.
Snappy verbs get smothered under a blanket of syllables and emerge as drowsy abstractions.
If you can return to the original verb, your sentence is going to be a lot sharper and more interesting. For example:
The implementation of the new editing guidelines improved consistency across the manuscript.
Becomes:
We implemented the new editing guidelines and improved consistency across the manuscript.
And
Careful consideration was given to the audience’s needs during the revision process.
Becomes:
We considered the audience’s needs during revision.
Verbs are the espresso shots of writing. Abstractions are the lukewarm decaf.
Your writing transformation starts now (yes, really!)
I know, some of this stuff sounds technical and boring. You might be thinking, “Do I really need to obsess over sentence length and verb placement? I just want to write!”
But here’s the thing: these aren’t arbitrary rules designed to suck the joy out of writing. They’re tools and techniques that will make other people more enthusiastic about reading your work. They’ll also make you feel a whole lot more confident about hitting “publish” or “send.”
So, pick one — just one — and try it in your next piece of writing. Notice the difference. Then add another.
Before you know it, you’ll be writing with a clarity that makes readers think, “Here’s a writer I want to read.”
BONUS
The post you’ve just read also arrives in inboxes every Tuesday — and subscribers get something extra. Each week, I include a brief, subscriber-only bonus: a short paragraph featuring a practical tip about a tool, book, video, app or resource I’ve tested and loved. This bonus is never published on my website — only in the email. No fluff. No sales pitch. Just one smart recommendation to make your writing life easier. Subscribe to my newsletter to get next Tuesday’s bonus.
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My video podcast last week described how to write a college application. You can watch the video or read the transcript, and you can also subscribe to my YouTube channel.
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How do you make your writing five times better? We can all learn from each other, so please, share your thoughts with my readers and me in the comments section, below. And congratulations to Susan Vincent, the winner of this month’s book prize, for a comment on my Feb. 10/26 blog post about writers’ critique groups. (Please send me your email address, Susan.) If you comment on today’s post (or any others) by March 31/26, I’ll put you in a draw for a digital copy of my first book, 8 1/2 Steps to Writing Faster, Better. To enter, please scroll down to the comments, directly underneath the “related posts” links, below. You don’t have to join Disqus to post! Read my tutorial to learn how to post as a guest. (It’s easy!)
