No matter how talented a writer is, they will still produce crap that editors will scoff at and readers will ignore if they don’t hone that inborn ability into a polished skill. That’s just the truth of it. While you can mask a lot of inadequacies with a competent writing software, those who put in the time will still put out better stuff on a consistent basis.

Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers set a base level for anyone who wants to be a “professional” at anything. His theory is that people will need to put in at least 10,000 hours of practice before being at a level where they have a shot at becoming great. If you complain about your lack of writing ability, it may be time to ask yourself, how much practice time have you really put in?

Want to improve your writing?

1. Set aside some time to write everyday. This can be informal entries on a practice sheet of paper or a novel you’re looking to finish. The principle is the same: find time to write on a regular basis and the gains will pile up.

2. Pinpoint your learning style and find resources that can help you improve in that preferred manner.

3. If you’re writing for practice, choose different subjects, forms and writing styles. The more accustomed you become to writing in a varied manner, the better your overall skills develop.

Ok, since I was able to tackle the most basic steps in the first article with the same name above, we will now proceed with the more advanced steps in writing like a professional. The next few things that we will discuss have something to with mental and physical preparation before you start writing. These things are very important in order for you to unleash your full potential as a pro writer.

Without further ado, let’s begin learning the advanced steps:

Mental Preparation – First of all, the mental preparation of a writer should not be taken for granted. Make sure you’ve had a well earned rest and have eaten before you start writing; nothing distracts a writer more than sleepiness or a hungry stomach. When you feel tired of writing and thinking of ideas, give yourself a break. If you need to finish the article as soon as possible, take a deep breath and relax just for about 20 to 30 minutes. If you feel comfortable writing in the wee hours of the night, then take a nap an hour before you start writing. A nap can energize your senses, enabling you to work more efficiently. Drink a warm glass of milk to soothe your nerves.

Before writing, release all negative thoughts from your head. A person who has so many things to think about cannot write because of so many mental distractions. It is true; angry people tend to make horrible and heartbreaking stories due to the many feelings of anger hidden inside their minds. So the next time, try releasing any negative thoughts while and before writing an article.

Physical Preparation – This is very important as well. Before you start writing, you need to check the room and the table that you will be working on. Make sure that it is comfortable and well—ventilated. The chair should be comfortable as well. Sit straight with your feet flat on the floor while writing. I know your mom or your bossy teachers have told you of this a thousand times, but believe me, they do help while you are writing. It enables proper circulation inside your body, making you more relaxed and more focused in writing.

Most writers experience a pain in their wrist while they have been writing for many hours already. When you experience this pain as well, it is important that you stop for awhile and then stand up and stretch your arms. Remember that your health is also a priority and should never be secondary. Take this into your mind the next time you write a long article or story.

Well, this is just one part of the Advance series. Watch out for the next one, where we will focus on the many techniques and tools, such as grammar checkers and spinning systems, you can use in writing like a professional. Happy writing!

]]> http://www.grammarsoftware.com/blog/write-pro-advanced-steps/feed/ 0 http://www.grammarsoftware.com/blog/teach-good-english-easy/ http://www.grammarsoftware.com/blog/teach-good-english-easy/#comments Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:48:30 +0000 admin http://www.grammarsoftware.com/blog/?p=105

When you read the title of this article, it must have shocked you or maybe even felt insulted when you start reading the first few lines of this article. Now I am not an expert in English myself and I don’t meant to preach others of how important this language is, but with the way most businesses are handled right now, it’s only a matter of time before we start reading the dictionary or visit the nearest computer for a crash course with English software. The most common method of communication in most places around the world is English so you must realize how important to learn good English, right?

We all have been taught how to speak and write English back in our elementary and high school days, but it is unfortunate how a small fraction of today’s youth realize the importance of good communication and writing skills. In college, we already focus ourselves with our chosen profession and the language skills are set aside. Everyone should realize that learning how to speak and write good English is the foundation for having a very successful career. I should know that when applying for a job, one can show how professional he or she is with a good written resume. Or even in school, when your teacher asks you to write a written report, you get good grades if you have a well-made assignment.

If you are interested in improving your own English skills, then don’t worry! It is not yet too late. What you can do is start by practicing your English writing skills. You can start by writing a few simple paragraphs in a notebook and then you can consult a dictionary to check if you have used the correct words and spelled them out without any mistakes. If you have a computer, you can type using the computer and then use grammar checkers to check for mistakes. You can study about correct sentence construction, spelling and verb agreements just by reading the dictionary or going to language websites. Read lots of English books and if you encounter difficult words, then check the dictionary for the meaning.  You can do all these in order for you to have fun too! There are some PC games that are designed to enrich your vocabulary. You can try downloading them and then start playing with these games in order for you to improve your own grammar and vocabulary. As most people would say, learning good English should also be fun.

First thing that you need to do is to check what type of literature you are good in. Do you like writing short stories over long ones? Or maybe you like writing poetry than writing a monologue. In either case, you need to choose which of them you want to study and be an expert with. Don’t rush into studying all of them in the same time; you will only end up confusing yourself and wasting your valuable time.

Sure, you might say: “Some professional writers can do poetry and novels at the same time “. That is only because those guys have spent so many years practicing each literary art and becoming a pro doesn’t have any shortcuts, period. Even if you use all the English software and grammar checkers available today, there isn’t a single tool that will make you a good writer in a matter of seconds. Determination is the key.

Second thing you need to remember is to gauge your English mastery. This means to check your proficiency with the English language. You certainly don’t want to be criticized because of your faulty grammar so you should definitely prepare yourself before deciding to write something. If you want to use jargons or words that are too difficult for normal people, then you might as well check the dictionary to see if there are any other alternate words you can use. People don’t like the idea of having to decipher what you have written; most of them would like to read materials which are straight to the point and easy to understand. Using difficult words makes your writing more difficult to read.

Next is selecting a topic that is interesting to everyone. Again, you may have to do some research about this so that you can decide which topic is interesting to people. But then again, what is interesting to you may not be interesting at all to other people. Wise writers know about this so they spend months thinking and deciding before their pens start working. If it’s summer time, you certainly don’t want to write something that is related to winter so use your common sense.