3 Minutes, That’s All It Takes to Get Better At Writing
I can help you. Just give me three minutes of your time.
What you’ll get here are the most straightforward tips and tricks that’ll make you a better writer.
Get rid of “in order”
Cut to the chase. Remove ‘in order’ from your sentences and you’ll realize how much your sentence will sound stronger.
Example: Instead of “In order to save us both money, we should cook at home rather than eat out,” say “To save us both money, we should cook at home rather than eat out.”
Avoid using ‘-ing’
Using “-ing” weakens your word and has little value. That’s why you’re better off without ‘-ing’.
Example: “I was listening to music as I walked outside” could be “I listened to music as I walked outside.”
Use power words
Blow people’s minds when you use power words in your writing: fear, love, breathtaking, surprising, shameless. There’s more here.
Example: Instead of “The teacher gave assistance to John and he passed the exam,” use “The teacher assisted John, and he passed the exam.”
Craft a shocking title
In a world where your writing is faced with zillions of pieces out there, you need a shocking title to help you stand out.
Example: Replace “A Guide to Living in the Desert” to “How I Survived in the Desert Without Any Water.”
Start with a bang
The main message of your post holds all the power. Keep it short, powerful, but clear — this will make your readers more eager to read your content.
Example: For “Here, you’ll learn how to write posts that’ll make you famous” you can try “I will make you famous.”
Don’t use “in my opinion”
You might think “in my opinion” will save you from the judgment of people, but it won’t. People will know everything is your opinion since you’ve written it. So, evade these three words.
Example: Instead of “In my opinion, hashtags increase the number of retweets,” you can write “Hashtags increase the number of retweets.”
Create more white space
You can always reduce your sentences to a few words. Don’t be afraid to cut them.
Shorter paragraphs mean more white space.
More white space means a less overwhelming reading experience for your readers.
Simplify your words
Not everyone has the time to check the dictionary for your complicated words. Keep it nice and simple.
Example: Replace “Many employees don’t utilize the company’s resources.” with “Many employees don’t use the company’s resources.”
Replace ‘things’ with actual words
Always be specific in your writing, so readers can understand you. Avoid saying ‘things’ and instead, explain exactly what you mean.
Example: Instead of “I like the things you’ve given me” you can do “I like the chocolates and flowers you’ve given me.”
Delete ‘there is/are’
Don’t weaken your sentences with unnecessary words, especially “there is” or “there are.” Most of your readers want conciseness. Give them that.
Example: “There are a lot of ducks waddling in the park” can be “A lot of ducks waddled in the park.”
Editor’s note: Giving credit to Josh Spector for his original piece: The Two Minutes It Takes To Read This Will Improve Your Writing Forever. This is one of the many experiments I’m doing for my 50k traffic journey. If you’d like to discover the latest growth hacks to getting more Medium traffic to your site, signup here.