How to improve writing skills in English

Learning how to improve writing skills in English doesn’t mean it has to be your native language. The English language is my second language! You should expect to see many errors in my tenses and diction, as I am more familiar with my native language. However, expressing myself through literature involves harnessing reading and writing skills. Additionally, I must learn English and read several articles, such as “5 Ways to Improve Writing Skills.” While I was growing up as a writer, I faced so many critics. Some readers would read my articles and laugh. Some would laugh at me, saying I cannot write the international standard. Some would discourage me from writing by asking sarcastically if they would pay me to write. Many of my friends would say that my attempt at writing is a waste of time.

How I started writing as a beginner

With so many voices in and out, there are so many distractions. I write about them because I have nothing to worry about, especially because I am writing for fun. I feel good when I write, and someday I will be called to the Hall of Fame of Writing. What makes some of us write is that we love art and creativity. If you are passionate about something in life, you will always want to give it everything to excel at it. What inspires some of us to write is our passion for art and creativity. Once you are passionate about something in life, you will always want to give it what it takes to excel at it, including effectively using prewriting skills.

I write every night, even when I am hungry. I don’t mind writing when I am experiencing pain or heartbreak. I write when I see something going wrong in society. I write when I see the butterflies. I also write whenever I hear the birds singing sweet songs. I write when I see a potential date, and by so doing, I share a love note! I write when I see office politics at my place of work. I write for publications looking for money. I write for the website to gain recognition. I write to make others feel good using my compelling storytelling.

Some of my guys that we started writing back in the day have given up on writing. Why? They listened to people who said they were not good enough. Then we don’t even have Chatgpt and other internet tools that enhance writing. We just write with our pens and paper. If need be, we check our Oxford or Longman dictionary. We struggled to buy candles at night just to read and find something to write. The word content never occurred. What we knew back then was that he was a writer. It was a publication we had then, not monetization.

How I attained my goals as a writer in Nigeria

Why should anyone stop you from reaching your goal? As a writer, you grow through what you go through. This includes engaging in activities to improve writing skills. When someone says your work is not good enough. They are challenging you to bring out the best or more of you. You need these people more in your talent or career. For everything they said about your work. Think about it and write about it. Do not take their comments or opinions too personally. They are your audience. They are also your clients. Feedback is very necessary and useful in business.

Like, seriously, writing is hard. Making use of the right English when it is not your native language is hard. I checked some of my past write-ups recently on MS Word. I saw so many words underlined in red. I smile at myself. But I still see many people engaging with my post. Which means I have sent my message across. I told myself you need to be worse for you to be good at writing. By the time you are good at writing and your content goes viral, people will call you a bad writer! A bad writer is the best of writers. He or she is good at the craft. To be good is to keep writing. Good writing does not happen overnight. It would require infinite sleepless nights, work, persistence, revisions, and criticism. How well you can handle or manage surprises.

How to handle rejection as a writer and how it worked for me

In the process of writing or transitioning to become a good writer. Rejection would come. Some other times, you would not see even a single like or comment for your articles. Other writers would intimidate you with a bunch of likes and comments. This is another thing that has made some of my guys quit writing. They use the comparison gap to benchmark themselves. I have something to say about this. Do not measure your content by likes, comments, and shares. Some people read, and they just go. Anytime you post content they read, they go. They are following your work, and you never can tell when they will reach out to you. There are many analytics tools that you can use online to know audiences’ and readers’ engagement. Just write. Be intentional. Be purposeful.

Do not get discouraged. Write the bestseller of the things that happen around you. Listen to your voice. Know when to use online tools to write and when not to use them to write. Those tools are good, but you need to speak to your audience like a dear friend. Even when you feel, or people feel, that your English is not perfect. Let them know where you are coming from. Let them know that in the end, English is a language and not a measure of your human intelligence. You want to write to impact humanity and to make a living.

Best of luck as you write freely!