Two Easy Steps To Becoming A Better Writer
In all honesty, I have really only been immersed in this blogging thing for the last year. Now I currently write four different blogs (mine technically counts as two since it's for two different categories) and am looking to add more to the table. Blogging is usually only successful if you do it consistently.
How do I come up with stuff to write about? Many will tell you that writing down any idea that pops in your head on a scrap piece of paper and hanging onto that paper is a good idea. This is definitely true, since those spontaneous thought spasms tend to leave you as quickly as they come. However, for a good foundation of writing skills, it really only requires you to do two things:
Read more. Write more.
I have found reading is an extremely good source of inspiration. Reading anything and everything. One of my current bosses always stresses a "consumption of information." I have started to take him seriously in this regard and can definitely see a difference in how I write. Not that I'm the best writer in the world but the ease of thought going into creating a post has improved significantly. For example, I write a blog for our company (Hinda Inc) about employee engagement/recognition/incentives etc. I read USA Today one morning and ran across an article about the interaction between Peyton Manning and his coach.
BOOM. New blog idea. It's that easy. Most of the time anyway.
The other key is to just write more. I never got good at running just going out there and hitting the road once a week. This concept applies to almost anything. The more you do something, the better you tend to get at it. It takes constantly giving it a go to really build a comfort level in writing and work into a habit of doing it. I realize that coming from me it's a "pot calling the kettle black" type of statement. However I know this does work and have seen improvements from myself.
How do you all become better writers?