Five Simple Steps To Becoming A Good Writer
1) Read other good writers, authors, journalists. Not only read WHAT they’ve written but HOW they’ve written it and WHY they’ve written it that way.2) Write. Get it all down. Every idea and thought goes on that paper (or computer). You will never write ‘good copy’ on your first draft.3) Read. Read what you’ve written.4) Rewrite. This is when you make it more coherent. Correct smelling pistakes, pull points together, fill in the blanks, make sure it flows. And check the grammar.5) Edit. The best reading is a sentence, paragraph, chapter or whole damn book that has had all the fat or fluff cut out. You might need to repeat steps 3 to 5 over again but the final edit results in a polished piece of writing. That’s when you submit it or use it.
Quote
In my opinion, it is simply common courtesy in communicating to do so as efficiently and correctly as possible. In conversation, for instance, we don't shout, we don't look away, we don't mumble. In writing, we try not to waste people's time with misspellings, poor grammar or rambling on. Every unnecessary word makes communicating more difficult. If we're not sure how to spell a word, it's thoughtful to look it up, and correct it, rather than to put that responsibility on the reader. Everyone makes mistakes, but it's incumbent upon us to make our best effort to be correct. It's thoughtful, it's polite, it's professional. Good writing makes for good reading.
- William F. Torpey
