Writing is one of the key skills that every student needs to master if they want to be successful in interpersonal communication. Now, writing isn’t just about professional growth or having a well-paid job in the future; writing is about clearly conveying thoughts and communicating ideas to other people to explain, request something, describe situations, events, or ideas, persuade, and come to an agreement.

For many of you, all of this is easy in oral communication. Writing, however, is a more demanding activity. Here it matters where you put commas, how well you structure sentences and paragraphs, what kind of vocabulary you use, how formal you sound, etc. Writing in colleges is more related to the academic sphere where the end result is publishing; still, if you gain excellent writing skills, you will get more benefits and use them every day in your life. Writing a blog, working as a journalist or contributor, teaching, being a part of a customer support group – this is just a small part of where you can use good writing skills.

Prompts to Lead You to Improvement of Your Writing: How Not to Miss the Point

The goal of this guide is not to make you a purely academic writer who can create dissertations in quantum mechanics but finds it a shock when asked to describe simple things. Generally, to improve your writing skill, you need to spend a great deal of time practicing. Reputable research claims that it takes 10, 000 hours to master a skill; other sources say it takes not less than 6 months. Anyway, in writing, it’s unlikely to see serious changes overnight but if you make an effort, time will show it!

Practice makes perfect. As you write more and more essays, confidence will come. To support you on the way to becoming a great writer, we have prepared a small list of prompts that are powerful to help you grow.

1. Go in for basics.

Before you start to write mind-blowing content, you will need to gain a solid understanding of the key principles writing is based on. Polish your spelling, grammar, and punctuation in the lessons of English at college or seek reliable sources online. To check yourself with quick digital dictionaries, we recommend sticking to Merriam Webster and Cambridge dictionaries, as well as reading the blog dedicated to particular learners’ mistakes, groups of words, grammatical patterns, and history of words.

2. Be a reader before you’re a writer.

Do you know where the desire to write well takes the beginning? When you read excellent writers. Now, we want you to get this right: reading must be more versatile than posts on Instagram and Facebook. Expand your spheres of interest, delve into relevant topics by choosing books in science, modern art, technology, self-development, psychology, etc. Never think that you’re aware of all the novelties. Keep moving ahead.

But except for reading good authors, you need to pay attention to the structure of sentences, tone of voice, and the general flow of the text. While many of you can say remembering things like this happens subconsciously, it is still a burning necessity to notice them while you are a beginner.

3. Enroll in a writing course.

We know, speaking about writing is like dancing about architecture – it makes no sense until you actually try it out. Learning to write well can be boring but there are several ways to bring the spices and emotions to your learning. If we rely on experts’ advice, it would also be wise to find a writing partner with whom you have got approximately equal levels. However, study groups appear to bring better results and, what is more, they are more fun. You can play writing games, listen to other people’s feedback, gain experience, and widen your own horizons.

As a busy student, you might be wondering where to get the time to take up a course like that. With the opportunities that the Internet gives us and the wide choice of programs by popular universities such as Leeds, SOAS University of London, The University of Glasgow, you will be able to sign up for a remote course, interact with other students, and make impressive progress in your writing.

4. Edit, edit, and… edit.

Focusing on writing essays, editing a vital process that is invaluable at a final stage. As you write your first draft, it’s okay to leave grammar behind just noting all the ideas down. But later, as you are preparing to present the essay to whoever it is – a teacher, professor, group mate, or a jury – every detail matters so don’t be lazy to check the text for mistakes in content, forms of words, punctuation, and sentence structure. Do not forget also about the style – formal style requires no use of contractions and slang words.

Beginning to write essays from zero isn’t easy. But if you motivate yourself and find good help, it’s as good as done. To kick start your essay writing, you might also consult experts. Using their advice and unique essay samples, you will be able to take something from their style and shape your own. Besides, if you use them as models for autonomous writing, your first essays will come out more polished.

Keep to the prompts we have given, do not neglect to receive professional help – and your essays will be on top!