It’s easy to weave thoughts in one’s head, but when it comes to penning down those thoughts on a piece of paper, we are at a loss. We might be pros at scribbling random posts on social media, but when it comes to actual writing, it scares the living daylights out of our minds. Having treaded the common territory for long, be it by using our own abbreviated forms of writing or our very own “Hinglish” language, we all have fallen for the charm of the “less-sophisticated” form of English.
Nonetheless, “real writing” entails an entirely different kind of thought process and adheres to a certain regimen without which all our efforts will be like a vain uphill journey. It’s the juxtaposition of various elements that produces an excellent piece of writing. There might be innumerable ways of improving our writing and it may vary from person to person. However, there are certain golden rules which must be religiously followed to draw in as much crowd as possible; it does not matter whether your write-up is impromptu or something rehearsed over time.
It might sound too preachy if I enlist certain ways of improving our writing; but these are certain ways which can be universally followed to manage our voices and make your writings stand out.
1. Administer control over your writing – In this high-octane world, nobody has the time to go through long scripts. In today’s time, when we prefer everything short and concrete, be it the T20s or the merely 1.5 hours movies, it is of utmost importance that we have control over what we are going to project and how. We cannot keep blabbering about what’s unnecessary; rather, the writer in us has to be very precise and crispy. We have to choose our words carefully so that in a very limited space, we are successful in delivering whatever is wobbling inside our minds.
2. Read More – The reading habit has died over the years and we usually depend on tweets and other social media for our daily dose of news updates. But if our mental horizon is wide, our output is inevitably going to be wonderful. As we read more, we will have the luxury to write more flawlessly. Giving references to things from which we can draw some common links is also very important. When we refer to things, be it a book, an article, a movie or a song, our writing automatically becomes gracious. It not just shows our knowledge, it also keeps the readers engaged.
3. Avoid obsolete words & phrases – English is a constantly changing language. It constantly embraces new words and phrases and gets rid of words that become obsolete over the years either due to over-use or lack of usage. Phrases like “turn a deaf ear to,” words like “groak” etc. were absolute favorites at one point of time; but they have lost their charm in today’s updated vocabulary.
4. Be an absolute wordsmith- A strong vocabulary is always very helpful and handy. If you are the proud owner of a strong vocabulary, you get the luxury to write more precisely and more effectively. You do not have to fumble for words when you are given an exercise to write something out of the blue.
5. Correct grammar usage, aka the right usage of the English language – Writing grammatically correct sentences with correct use of punctuation marks is absolutely necessary. If you falter in that aspect, your writing will lose all its charm and all your efforts, time and energy will go waste.
Smart phone and social media enthusiasts may not feel the pressure to use the English language correctly. But the language will survive and flourish only if we refuse to be slaves of the “herd mentality” and thereby use the language in its most authentic form.