Easy Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Writing

Writing is hard. The possibilities of expressing a single thought in words seem endless and determining the best way to do so is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Even with more than five years of experience under my belt, I still feel like a beginner from time to time. Through feedback from others and self critique, I learned tips and tricks to instantly elevate the quality of my writing, which I still continue to refer to today. Allow me to share them with you!

*Note, that the advice I am about to share should be taken as general rules of thumb and used in combination with your own discretion.

Correct the passive voice by editing out words, such as ‘was/were,’ ‘had,’ and verbs ending with ‘-ing’

Passive voice mitigates the impact and directness of a sentence. Particularly, it is a problem when you are describing a scene that is currently happening (not a flashback or recollection etc.). Examples of passive voice misuse include:

Sir Ralph was struck by lightning

Amrose had entered the forest.

The musicians were strumming the strings of their instruments.

I was thinking about leaving town.

Passive sentences like the ones above are simple to fix with a bit rephrasing and changes to the syntax or even simply removing the passive word:

Lightning struck Sir Ralph.

Amrose entered the forest.

The Musicians strummed the strings of their instruments.

I thought about leaving the town.

Avoid repeating the same word twice within the same sentence or paragraph

Reading the same word at least twice within a short span sometimes comes across as awkward and momentarily breaks the immersion of the story. It is kind of like hitting a pebble all of a sudden while skating on ice. Repetition of the same word is usually a symptom of providing the reader with redundant information (i.e., information they have already been told).

Here is the opening sentence from one of the first short stories I ever wrote:

Deep within an old forest, there lived a man and his wife, who dwell in a wooden house on top of an old grey hill, at the heart of the forest.

The repetition of the word ‘forest’ (more specifically, the phrase ‘at the heart of the forest’) at the end of the sentence is unnecessary and awkward because the first part of the sentence (‘Deep within an old forest’) already conveys the exact same thing. Likewise, the argument can be made vice versa.

Here is my correction:

A man and his wife lived deep within an old forest in a wooden house on top of an old grey hill. 

Along with removing the redundant words, I also made the tense consistent (past tense, i.e. dwell versus dwelled)

From the same story, here is another instance (or instances) of repetition misuse:

With old eyes, he gazed upon the room. The door led to a small, and rather cramped yet cozy room, with two small beds shoulder to shoulder to one another, with a rocking chair next to the one closest to the door. There was another door which led to the bathroom, and just next to that door was a mirror.

In this short paragraph, a lot of words are being repeated, namely ‘room,’ ‘door,’ and ‘small.’ Moreover, ‘cramped yet cozy’ which is synonymous with ‘small’ are both being used to describe the room.

Here are a two ways to improve this paragraph:

1. He gazed upon the cramped yet cozy room which had two small beds right next to each other, a rocking chair by the entrance, and a mirror next to the door that led to the bathroom.

2. The door led to a cramped yet cozy room with two small beds, a rocking chair, and a mirror.

Both corrections condense the first three sentences into one while removing repetition of the words ‘room,’ ‘door,’ and ‘small.’ In the first clause of the second sentence of the original paragraph, ‘small’ had been removed to describe the room, as ‘cramped yet cozy’ is sufficient on its own.

The second correction goes a step further and reduces the amount of words used at the expense of describing the relative positions of each of the notable objects in the room. The choice between either comes down to stylistic preference.

Vary sentence length and structure

Varying the length and structure of sentences helps you dictate rhythm and tone. A string of both long and short sentences with diverse structures is key to engaging readers. Sentences with the same length and structure tend to be boring to read in succession.

They descended deeper into the Earth. They found a tomb. The tomb presumably housed the deceased bloodline of Raul Gador. He was the founder of the city. His descendants succeeded his reign. Their mummified corpses slept in caskets.

The sentences here, while short and snappy, are quite boring and tedious to read together. Here is the revised version:

They descended deeper into the earth and came onto a tomb presumably housing the deceased bloodline of Raul Gador, who was the founder of the city and whose descendants succeeded his reign; within caskets, the mummified corpses slept. 

Combining the trivial pieces of information from the six sentences into two makes them easier for readers to digest. The revisions also help strike the right tone of mystery and intrigue as fitting for the story.

In general, medium-long sentences are ideal for descriptions and expository information, whereas short-medium sentences are ideal for scenes involving action or drama.

Another horsemen rode in from behind and hacked at him. Oscric swayed, but the blade’s tip grazed his forehead, and he tripped and fell on his back, the hilt of his sword held loosely in the palm of his hand. Blood and tears obscured his vision while he panted and stared dreary-eyed into oblivion, ready to accept his fate.

Omitting a few unnecessary transition words (‘and,’ ‘but,’ and ‘while’) helps tighten the scene and create more tension.

Another horseman rode in from behind and hacked at him. Osric swayed. The blade’s tip grazed his forehead. He tripped and sprawled on his back, the hilt of his sword held loosely in the palm of his hand. Blood and tears obscured his vision. He panted and stared dreary-eyed into oblivion, ready to accept his fate.

The difference between the two paragraphs is quite astounding even though we only omitted three words while keeping the rest of sentences intact!

Watch out for dangling modifiers

Dangling modifiers are one of most common grammatical mistakes I find when critiquing the works of others. Here is an example of a sentence with a dangling modifier:

Waiting anxiously inside, the sun approached the horizon.

The issue with the above sentence is that it unintentionally implies that the sun is waiting anxiously inside (while also approaching the horizon…?).

The fix involves adding the noun for which the phrase ‘Waiting anxiously inside’ would logically apply along with a bit of rephrasing.

He waited anxiously inside while the sun approached the horizon.

Here are few more examples of sentences with dangling modifiers:

Gasping, the sword rammed through his chest.

Hooves drummed against the ground, galloping across the field.

Floundering in the waters, they hoisted him up onto the boat

To fix these sentences, first identify the modifying phrase. Once you have done so, specify the noun that the modifying phrase is logically meant to apply. Rewrite the sentence to include the noun with other adjustments as necessary.

He gasped as the sword rammed through his chest.

The horse galloped across the field, its hooves drumming against the ground.

He floundered in the waters until they hoisted him up onto the boat.

Omit needless words

Sentences should be clear and concise while still conveying the necessary details to the reader. Look out for words that serve no purpose and phrases that can be replaced by smaller ones.

He saw the light of torches burning beneath the outer walls of the city.

Filler words can be difficult to catch. In the above sentence, for example, nothing appears to be glaringly wrong. However, removing or replacing a few words improves the readability of the sentence. ‘He saw’ for instance is a common filler phrase that is unnecessary to include in most cases.

Torches burned bright beneath the outer walls of the city.

The revised version uses less and stronger words to create the same imagery.

Beginner writers might be tempted to cram ornate and fancy-sounding words into a sentence to make themselves come across as professional, when a few simple and easy-to-understand words are more than sufficient.

During the arduous war, he succeeded in demonstrating himself to be a warrior with immense fortitude.

‘Arduous’ sounds awkward and unnecessary, especially since most readers would assume a war to be arduous without needing to say so aloud. As for the rest of the sentence, ‘succeeding in demonstrating’ and ‘with immense fortitude’ make the sentence a little too wordy. Here is the revised sentence:

During the war, he proved himself to be a steadfast warrior.

A lot shorter and simpler while conveying, more of less, the same idea.

Practice Makes Perfect

Writing is a craft improved through consistent practice. Keep these tips and tricks in mind during your next writing/editing sessions. With enough time and effort, you will be able to easily spot and rectify writing mistakes, even those not covered in this article.

Got any advice? Feel free to share it below!