Nov 26, 2024 Writing

How to become a better writer

I used to hate writing.

Both as a kid and as an adult.

At school, we used to get writing assignments about stuff I didn't care for. Looking at the empty page made me anxious.

Fast-forward three years. I'm 21 and decided to start writing online. The same anxiety came up when I saw the empty page on the screen.

I wasn't forced to write this time but I thought it would be good to share what I learned because it helped me understand the subject better.

But even with that, I closed the tab and switched to watching a YouTube video.

I eventually mustered the courage to write my first sentence

I wrote it in the pseudo style of Uncle T, who is teaching you about solid principles.

The first sentence was:

I get it. You wanna get a job at google but your dumb ass don't know SOLID. Don't worry, Uncle T is here to help

I cringe every time I read this.

Anyway, that first sentence gave me the courage to write a second one, then a third one, and so on. From that day on, there was no stopping me (except my chronic laziness).

Since then, I've published around a hundred or more long-form written articles online. These have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and continue to do so.

The journey was anything but easy. I needed to cultivate new habits, shed old writing tendencies, and fundamentally shift how I think about learning and producing content.

Reflecting on my journey, I learned key lessons that made me a better writer. I want to share these with you today so you can become better writers.

Tip #1: Write more

People underestimate how much they have to do to improve. As I age and get more life experience, I learn it's not about what you do but how often you do it.

There's a tendency to say, "Work smart, not hard," when the correct phrase should be, "Work hard but if possible, work smart." The same goes for writing: the more you write, the better you get.

The more you write, the better you think, the easier the words come and you start to see patterns in your writing that you can improve.

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I would also suggest writing at a consistent pace, it's better to write 100 words every day than to write 10,000 words once a week.

Tip #2: Read more

Read good books, doesn't matter the subject but books that have been written well. The same goes for articles. The more you read good stuff, the more your brain learns the difference between good and bad writing.

I would also suggest reading the books On Writing Well and The Art and Business of Online Writing.

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This is especially true for non-fiction writers: if your work requires research, aim to do ten times as much research as the time you spend writing. You can't write what you don't know.

Tip #3: Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite

Many beginner online writers skip the editing phase, which is bad because it prevents them from rewriting badly written parts.

Rewriting is the only practice I know where you try to improve your writing. You already have an idea or a point, it's just about writing it in the best possible way. The more you do this, the better you get as a writer.

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Be careful to not use this tip as an excuse to not publish. Perfection does not exist, just do your best and hit submit.

Tip #4: Set a Daily Minimum Word Count

Consistency is the backbone of becoming a better writer—it drives improvement. Think of it as 95% of the journey. But how can we maintain consistency without feeling overwhelmed?

Start by setting a daily minimum word count. Begin with a low target, especially if you’re getting back into writing, and gradually increase it each week.

For instance, when I was in a slump, I started with a modest goal of 30 words daily. This helped me build a steady habit, and over time, I found myself writing well beyond the minimum.

The daily goal became my baseline, and now I write even more whenever inspiration strikes.

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This tip is especially important as it helps you avoid writing hiatuses.

Tip #5: Publish more

Getting more feedback is one of the best ways to become a better writer.

That's why I advocate for publishing more. This will accomplish two things:

Publishing more means more people can read your stuff and possibly leave comments.
Publishing more means spending less time writing one "perfect" article and simply writing more.

Tip #6: Write Broadly

I recently read Neil Gaiman's book on Norse mythology. I initially bought it because I was interested in the subject but what truly caught my eye was Neil's incredible writing.

I initially thought he specialised in books like this but I was surprised to find just how versatile he is. He writes all sorts of stuff, primarily fiction, but even within that, he dabbles in many different genres.

I believe this is what made him an amazing writer and something that I started to embrace in my practice. I used to only write about programming but now I explore a variety of topics.

Broadening my scope has made me a better writer in the process.

Tip #7: Let it cook

Some people hit the submit button immediately after they think their piece is done.

But hear me out.

Let it cook. Just leave it alone and come back to it 24 hours later.

This way you can emotionally detach yourself from the feeling of having finished something to actually critiquing your piece of work.

I like to wait at least 24 hours before editing my articles, and then I follow a three-step editing process:

Ask ChatGPT to rewrite my article in a handful of ways – So I can see my work through the lens of different writing styles, goals, tones, and target audiences. This will give me new insights and help me identify areas for improvement.
Read my article aloud – This helps me notice anything that doesn't sound right. As the saying goes, writing that is hard is hard to speak is hard to read.
Read it on my phone – Most people read articles on their phones so I make sure that it looks good on the phone. So basically no extreme walls of text and make my article more "skimmable".

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My editing process was inspired by Nicholas Cole, you can read more about it here.

Tip #8: Always have something for tomorrow

Writing a blank page is scary that's why I always try to have some outline. It makes it 100 times easier to start writing this way because you already have an idea of what to write.

The same thing can be said about new articles. Always make sure to have a backlog of ideas to fall back on if you ever finish all your writing projects. I'd even suggest writing multiple things at once.

So in a nutshell, always have something prepared for tomorrow.

Tip #9: Don't be afraid to use AI

When ChatGPT first came out, everyone thought it would replace writers. But fast forward a few years this didn't happen.

AI can't replace creativity but can help you write better. I'm not saying to straight up copy everything made by AI because you still want your personal flair in your writing but don't be afraid to utilize it.

For writing specifically, I use AI to help me during my editing process. I ask it to write my articles in different ways and to give me pointers on where things might be a bit unclear.

Tip #10: Make Writing Enjoyable

My final tip is to not force things. Life is too short to just rely on "hustle". There's no need to make writing a chore. It will feel like that sometimes but it doesn't need to be.

I can't give you the exact "how to make writing enjoyable" plan for you but here are some stuff that have worked for me:

Be kind to yourself, no need to beat yourself up when you're frustrated.
Write about whatever you have in your mind, it can be personal or professional. You don't have to publish it if you don't want to.
Focus on the journey, not the destination. It's not about your final writing piece but how you have changed along the way while writing it.
Add your personal flair to writing. Everyone likes to be unique and your writing should personify you as a person, especially in the days of AI.

I hope these tips will help you write more which in turn will make you a better writer.

Thank you for reading.