So, you want to be a writer and make a living out of this.
I write for small businesses and I also am a blogger. So, I consider myself a professional writer since I make a living as a writer now!
If you’re interested in doing online writing, then it’s important that your writing skills are great…amazing..brilliant!
It’s true though – that you can get started as a freelance writer with no experience. But, you are wondering, how to improve your writing skills.
Anyone from anywhere in the world can do this, but they need to be able to effectively write in English and be able to write coherently and for an online audience as well.
I’m not the greatest writer out there; but I do know how to write effective copy that my clients love. To help you as a new writer, here are strong writing tips you can adopt in your writing process to help you become a better writer.
How to Improve Writing Skills As a Beginner
1. Write Every Day
One of the best writing tips I can give you is to write every day. You need to practice writing to become a better writer. Can you write about anything? Well, yes, you can.
I own several blogs and write about various topics from parenting tips to pregnancy tips to freelancing tips to budgeting tips.
The fact that I’m writing online content in various topics helps me maintain my writing skill and helps me gain more experience writing for an online audience. As a new writer or freelance writer, it’s probably best to kill two birds with one stone by writing every day in your niche.
This can help you build your writer portfolio and improve your overall writing skill.
Other ways to incorporate writing every day is to write social media posts. If you have a Twitter profile or a Facebook profile, start creating a post a day and write two or three sentences on what you’re promoting or doing.
This can help you with copywriting techniques and paring down your words to fit a social media post.
2. Create an Outline
When you start writing, you need to outline what you’ll write about. This is especially true if you land a freelance writing job.
Clients want a coherent and complete post, so having an outline can help make sure you include everything your client wants.
For me, I think about what I want to write about and create subtopics and then other ideas I want to write about. For more help, you can see how other freelance writers and bloggers develop their writing process.
3. Read What You Want to Write About
Okay. Reading can also help with improving your writing skills as many of you know. This is the same for freelance writers. If you read what you want to write about – your writing niche – then you’ll effectively become a better writer overall.
Why?
Well, you’ll understand your niche better. You’ll also read from other bloggers and writers and marketers on their take on your writing niche. How do they talk about the popular health food called Keto bombs, for example?
You also get to read how these writers use their words and write sentences for an online audience. All of this can help you develop your writing skills.
When I began as a freelance writer, I read a WHOLE LOT about freelance writing and blogging.
I absorbed HOW each blog post was written, how they structured their sentences and the type of language they used into my own writing.
4. Choose Simple Words
Keep it simple, sam (K.I.S.S)!
You may think you sound smarter if you use complex words – but that’s not true.
In the online world, you want your writing to be at a 4th-8th grade reading level.
That’s right!
There’s no need to write a blog post like your thesis paper for college. In fact, that probably won’t help you gain blog traffic or clients.
What’s better is to ditch those big fancy words and use simple, yet effective words when you write. It’s almost like you’re writing as you would be talking – just without much slang and ums.
5. Convey Your Message Easily
Clients want smart writing that’s engaging and will capture their message perfectly.
As a writing tip, you need to learn how to convey that message from your client easily in your writing. This means not being too wordy when describing things.
Now, don’t get me wrong – I’ve been known to be a tad wordy at times in my writing, but I think I make up for it with my ease of writing.
That’s why it’s important to have that first draft. Write and then let it sit.
You have to take the time to transform that first draft into the article you’ll submit to your client. This may mean cutting entire paragraphs, or changing ideas around.
6. Avoid Filler Words
Filler words like: that, very, just, really, etc.. are just that..filler.
There is no need to add those extra words in your sentences, unless it’s there for intention. I work hard not to have those extra filler words and I often do, but I’m still editing my work and trying to catch all those extra words before I hit publish!
I know I’m not the best writer. I don’t have an English degree. But, that hasn’t stopped me from making a living as a writer! If I can do it, you can too!
There’s a balance of using enough words to convey your message. This will take time to develop and help you improve your skills as a new writer.
7. Keep Sentences and Paragraphs Short
If you’ve noticed in this blog post, I’m generally writing one sentence paragraphs.
This makes it easy for you – the reader – to read my content. If you want to become a freelance writer and write online, then write shorter paragraphs and shorter sentences.
Online users don’t have the best attention spans, so make your writing easy on the eyes!
8. Invest in an Editing Tool
I personally use Grammarly for all my edits online. From blog writing to client pieces to social media posts and more.
It’s my go-to editing tool and has helped me fine-tune my writing. As a freelance writer, one of the tools you need is an editing tool. You may think you just need a proofreader like your partner or friend, but I also urge you to have an edit tool first.
For me, I edit my writing with Grammarly, proofread it myself and then have my husband read it as final read through.
9. Just Write
The first step in all of this is to just write and keep on writing. Try not to edit while you work (I still do this) and let your creative juices flow. After I create my outline, it’s much easier to just write it all out.
Since I blog every day, I am used to writing a lot and it’s getting easier and easier to… just write!
Become a Writer Today!
Now is the time to become a freelance writer and get paid for your writing! How great is that?
Let me know your best writing tip to help other freelance writers become better writers!
Become a Highly-Paid Writer Today!
Great post as usual! I find number 3 super important and helpful 🙂
Thank you Elna.
I tend to read more. I should also make a point of writing more often, not just on demand.
Hi Andia!
You’re welcome! So glad you found these writing tips to help you become a better writer! For me, writing more often has definitely made me a better writer!
Consistency is key! Thanks for the reminder Elna!
Hey Kailey!
Yup! You’re right! Being consistent with your writing will make you a stronger writer for sure!
Hi Elna,
Thank you for another actionable post! Right now number 9 speaks to me loud and clear.
Getting into writing every day, even just a little bit, helps me to know that making a living with my writing *is* possible. And like you indicated, the more we write the easier it becomes to write more!
In his book The Slight Edge, Jeff Olson makes the point that small actions we do on a consistent basis make all the difference.
His point is that small actions are just as easy *not* to do, and so we often skip them. This also makes all the difference but in the wrong direction.
Your tip to just write is a small step in the right direction. Thank you for the post!
Hey Erika!
Thanks for stopping over! Great insight about taking small actions! It really does help in getting you to do the BIG actions!
Great article! I am sure that it is really useful and interesting for many writers.
English is not my native language, but I do my best to learn it. I’ve been wanting to be a freelance writer for a long time, but I feel a lack of skills and experience in writing. What advice would you give me? How can I achieve a sufficient level of knowledge of English so I can work as a freelancer or blogging? I would really love to hear your answer. Thank you in advance.
Hi Elisa!
It just takes practice writing in English as well as taking classes to learn English 🙂 Good luck!
Thanks for the straight talk guidance you give with these tips Elna. 😊My greatest takeaway is how much discipline is needed to make my writing better. There is a promise of good results for consitent efforts.
Hi Jacqueline!
Thanks for coming over to my new post! Glad you enjoyed the writing tips to help you become a better writer! Practicing does make you a better writer so try to incorporate writing every day!