What tips do you recommend for improving one's writing?
Tips to Improve Writing
It would be difficult to provide specific tips without knowing something about the writer's strengths and weaknesses as a writer. However, one general statement I could make is that writing, like most crafts, is improved upon with lots of practice. Invariably, if you take a break from writing, lessons you have learned in the past will become hazy, and it may take a while to get back on track. In that regard, the best advice I can give is to write often.
I've always been a decent writer, but I became much more proficient when I began reviewing articles written by student journalists when I was pursuing my master's degree in journalism. Once I completed my degree, I found that the quality of my writing improved dramatically. I was known to hammer certain points home, such as not using a spell checker as an editor (not that spell checkers aren't useful), keeping the number of words in a lead paragraph at or below 20, etc. Once I was back out in the "real world," I found myself having to remind myself of these and other points I made over and over again.
If you want more specific tips to your situation, feel free to drop by my inbox. I am a professional editor, and strive to provide high-quality editing services at prices that even starving writers can afford.
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I'm glad it's helpful. The reason why I began by saying that it's difficult to provide tips is because my experience is that every writer has different issues to address. When I taught English Composition, I provided personalized critiques of the essays my students wrote. In that way, they each got what they needed, rather than trying to cover all the bases with a one-size-fits-all approach. I take the same approach as a freelance editor.
That sounds pretty helpful to me.