3 Ways To Improve Your Writing Today

1. Invest in grammar-checking software, such as Grammarly, Ginger, or ProWritingAid. Although this doesn’t replace having a human editor check your work (no editing software can replace professional editing), Grammarly will help you keep track of your errors and fix them while you write.

2. Decrease the amount of adverbs in your writing—words such as

actually, really, truly, lovely. Too many adverbs make your writing clunky and less succinct. Instead of, “I truly wanted to give him another chance, but actually he really annoyed me. “ Try, “I wanted to give him another chance, but he annoyed me.” The second sentence is much more succinct and easier to read.

3. Stop writing long sentences. Avoid long sentences if you want to keep readers engaged. Readers read to de-stress, to learn, to escape, etc. Don’t make it harder for them to understand you. If you have a long sentence that you just can’t seem to condense, try using em dashes. Em dashes connect explanatory phrases to complete sentences. It breaks up the text so that the reader can move through long sentences without getting confused.

Try these tips today to make your writing clearer and more succinct.