Today I received an email from Alan Gardyne an affiliate marketer and he had an excellent article and ten tips for making writing easier. Following is an excerpt from his article which I plan to take to heart to improve my own writing skills.

Here are 10 things I’ve learned that will improve your writing, help you communicate more clearly…

1. Get rid of distractions. Find a quiet spot to do your writing. Turn off the radio, TV and music. You may think you can do two things at once, but what you’re actually doing is switching from one to the other.
2. Don’t stop. Bash it out, no matter how rough it is. Keep going all the way until it’s finished. Only then is it time to go back and tidy it up. Resist the urge to edit as you go. Editing as you go interrupts the creative flow. Your article is likely to take 10 times as long to do if you edit as you go.
3. Write simply. Your readers are in a hurry. They don’t want to waste time trying to figure out what you mean.
4. Tell a story. Stories get your readers involved. (For heaven’s sake, make them TRUE stories. I’m delighted to hear the FTC is cracking down on some of the fake stuff out there. If you don’t have a good story to tell, interview someone who has.)
5. See things from your reader’s point of view. Keep asking yourself, “What do they want to know?”
6. Read it aloud. This makes it easier to spot awkward patches where the words don’t flow smoothly.
7. Edit later. Put your writing aside and re-read it hours or, better still, days later. It’s amazing how you see your article with fresh eyes and spot ways to improve it.
8. Read more. To improve your writing, turn off the TV and read books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters – anything. The more you read, the more you’ll recognize good writing when you see it.
9. Practice. One of the best ways to learn to write is to WRITE. When you learn a skill, you create new neurons and new pathways in your brain. The section of your brain used for writing will expand. If you don’t believe me, read “The Brain That Changes Itself” by Norman Doidge. Good libraries should have it.
10. Write something every day.

I hope that if your interest is writing and you want to improve it, that these tips will help you along the way as well. Have a great day!