Ten simple things you can do to instantly improve your writing

Honestly– these are so simple!

It's incredible how much time we can spend staring at a wall trying to think of a way around a problem, or how to improve our prose. But honestly, I've recently learnt that some of these persistent issues that crop up in our writing can be amended so easily with the odd change here and there.

Two lessons to learn:

1. Less is almost always more

2. The devil's in the details

So here I am on a Sunday morning sharing ten ever-so-simple tricks you can try to improve your writing.

1. Kill off the adverbs

Okay, it's an obvious thing for more experienced writers, but adverbs are honestly evil. Sometimes I use them, but I now mostly avoid them. For your information, adverbs almost always end in 'ly' and are words like 'happily' and 'merrily' and 'excruciatingly'. As Stephen King said in his popular book, 'On Writing', the road to hell is 'paved' with these little buggers. Since my tutor made me aware of this, I've been busy exterminating them and replacing them with visual images. Keep it simple, folks!

2. Go on an adjective diet

Adjectives, like adverbs, can easily be overused. This is something I learnt early on in my studies. I love adjectives. Of course, there's probably an adjective (a describing word) for almost anything, but we often pile them up, which results in descriptive congestion on the road to the reader visualising something in their mind. The aged, rusty, worn, slightly dented doorknob, contains much more information to take on than the rusty doorknob. Be selective. And don't feel embarrassed because you got top marks for using lots of adjectives at school– I think we can all safely say that actual writing throws 98% of the rules you learnt at school out of the window.

3. Cut out any filters

Now this one is easy to do without realising. Filter words are words which tell us how a character is processing pieces of sensory detail. Words and phrases like 'I feel', 'I taste', and 'I see' are great examples. So, instead of writing, 'I saw daffodils growing in next door's garden' Say, 'Daffodils are growing in next door's garden.' It's obvious who's telling the story if you've already established this earlier on, and the filters only create a gap between the reader and the world they are 'immersed' in. Cut it out.

4. Vary your sentence lengths

Yes, both long and short– but not too long! I think the key here is to remember that a sentence can never be too short (the shorter the sentence, the easier it is for the reader to digest the information, and – usually – the higher the tension in your writing), but a longer sentence can overstep the line. Not only are super long sentences challenging to follow, but they contain a heavy amount of information without any breaks. Unless, of course, you're writing a stream of consciousness, in which case experimentation is always illuminating, but comes with a risk of bewildering your reader...

5. Harness the power of verbs

I honestly think verbs are my favourite types of words. Is that sad to read? Not sure. But verbs are just brilliant– the more the merrier! Definitely replace adjectives and adverbs with verbs! Verbs aren't just useful for describing action either– you can use them to paint visual images which feel more accurate and zoomed-in.

6. Know that you don't necessarily need to use semicolons

Semicolons are favoured by some writers, but hated by others. You'll often find that if you're writing lots of simple sentences then you won't need to use one of these. Longer sentences, however... well, that's a different kettle of fish altogether. The semicolon bridges two similar clauses in a sentence, but can also be used to lengthen a longer sentence without overusing commas.

Exhibit A:

Daniel pulled on his boots; they were still caked in mud from last week's hike.

Exhibit B:

Daniel walked for hours before realising that he'd once again forgotten his compass, which meant that he found himself lost in the woods only ten minutes after leaving the house; maybe he should have listened to what his mum said about the footpath and followed the river.

Of course, the semicolon can be removed and replaced with a full stop (which is what I would do anyway), but 'technically-accurate' writers may strongly disagree.

Semicolons are like weddings: they have a purpose, but not everyone needs one. It may be the case that you've created a comma splice (this is when you use a comma where there should be a semicolon) and the semicolon is necessary. But then again, sometimes this rule can be thrown out of the window if you're trying something a bit more experimental. Just know that these things can be avoided altogether and good writing (I think) is not judged depending on how many semicolons are used!

7. Don't line up punctuation!!!

Haha, see what I did there with the three exclamation marks? In other words, just don't do this.

Don't do this: ???

Or this: ?!

Or this: !?

And definitely, never – EVER – do this: ?!?!?!

Just no.

8. Show don't tell

Okay, I think we all know this one by now. To put it simply, create an image of something happening in your story as opposed to just telling us it. I get it, the whole 'tell a story' thing is a bit misleading, but this little tip can make such a huge difference when you do it consistently.

So, from now on, don't tell the reader the weather was cold, show them that you stepped outside and the thick ice cracked beneath your winter boots.

9. End with a bang

This is such a super simple trick, and yet it's soooo powerful when used correctly. Place the most important piece of information at the end of the sentence so that it has emphasis. (Because our brains always remember the last word, blah, blah, blah)

There's a reason Shakespeare said 'The king, my lord, is dead' in Macbeth. Dead is the emphasised word! The dramatic moment.

Here are some other examples, invented by yours truly:

He did not mean to kill his father.

Maybe if she hadn't drank the potion then now she wouldn't have two heads.

I couldn't track down the thief, because the thief was me.

10. Avoid cliched openings

Cliches in general need to be hunted down and replaced with originality, but cliched openings are particularly irksome. This is because they're overused and, well, just boring.

Don't open with:

• 'Once upon a time' – this isn't 1436.

  
  

• The character waking up and doing their morning routine – this is just SO boring. Snore!

• Someone looking in a mirror – this is just an excuse to describe a character in more detail. Just stop it.

• 'Dearest reader' or 'dear reader' or 'we begin in' or 'let me tell you about' or 'in the beginning' (No, no, no! Just no)

Anyhow, I hope the things I've learnt are enlightening. Or maybe you already do all these things– in which case, well done! Do you have any writing pet hates or dilemmas that you frequently come across? Let me know in the comment section below.

Thanks for reading!