Writing Help
Watch this video as an alternative to reading the page.
This writing help section will work well in conjunction with How to Remember Any Word. If you find structuring written work as much fun as shutting your fingers in a car door don’t worry. I have a really simple to follow process which will keep you on track and reduce stress. This whole section is about the mechanics of writing.
Practice is the key to everything:
To master anything including writing you need to do tons of practice. The tricky part is getting into a regular habit. The easy answer to this is find something you’re interested in and write about it.
Think about what you like films, stories, poetry, comedy, song lyrics, internet forums or whatever. There is no reason on earth why you can’t write a film or a book.
Make writing easy by planning everything out:
The main theme of this writing help section is structure. Break everything down into manageable parts then build it back up again.
Planning your writing is the best way to avoid stress. You may already be getting sleepy-bored at the thought of planning everything out. I promise you it will save you so much time and effort. The planning process will allow you to arrange and piece together your ideas clearly and succinctly.
Planning a piece of writing:
- Start with the main idea for the piece.
- Then break the concept down into sections.
- Each section will form one or more paragraphs depending on the length of the piece.
- A paragraph should be focused on a single idea.
- Break each paragraph down into sentences.
- Then think of the most relevant points to make into sentences. For a specific guide for writing a perfect essay click here.
Every sentence must always have a subject (who, or what) and a verb (what they are doing). A sentence is not grammatically correct without both subject and verb.
For example
I’m running.
This is an example of a very basic sentence. It is a complete sentence because it has both the subject ‘me’, with what I am doing, ‘running’.
A more descriptive sentence would be. I’m running to the shops.
In this one you have the same subject and verb again but this time it also states where I'm running to.
When I write each sentence I make sure it has a subject and verb. This helps me keep my sentences concise. A good sentence will be understandable and focused on one point. The idea of subject and verb in each sentence may be the most important point in this writing help section.
Writing that sounds clear and concise:
When I’m checking my work some sentences just don’t sound right. Sometimes a sentence will seem like it has too many words in it. Other times it will just sound wrong.
Rewriting sentences that sound wrong will dramatically increase the quality of your writing. With a bit of practice you’ll be able to do it quickly and easily.
A quick way to restructure a sentence:
Focus on only the essential words (coloured red)
For Example: The essential words are the ones that show the reader the meaning of the sentence.
Use the essential words to quickly reorder a sentence in your head.
If we reorder the essential words in the example above:
Reordered example: The essential words tell the reader what the sentence is about.
Basically if a sentence sounds wrong think of a different way to say the same thing.
Conclusion:
This writing help section was all about the construction of written work. Planning my work has always been a great way to speed up the process. I always keep the idea of subject and verb in mind when writing each sentence. This stops me from rambling on and on and on and on.
Fundamentally writing is about getting a clear message to the reader. Click here for more writing help.