You’ve been there, right? You want to know how to become a better writer.
You read something immersive on a popular website like HBR or New Yorker. And you are fascinated.
As a writer, too, you want that ability. You desire it. To write in a way that makes the reader sit with your pieces, drinking from the literary wine you’ve brewed.
Good writing is partly a combination of many things: practice, hard knocks, patience, talent…
Good news. You can learn it — how to become a better writer.
Learn from others, implement the ideas, and apply your innate talent to the process.
But first, you need to understand the element of great writing.
What’s the nut and bolt? The skeletal systems? The ingredient?
Today’s post features 10 blogs that will teach you how to write well.
It is a collection of useful guides on the art of writing to help people.
With only fifteen minutes, you are about to learn how to write so people enjoy and remember your pieces.
Let’s go.
How to Become a Better Blog Writer
A brief introduction about me: my dream as a writer was to become a fiction author, but that’s a rough path to follow if you want to make money quickly.
So, I started freelance writing as an article writer for whoever wanted the service.
Later, I started writing fiction books for Kindle authors.
Back and forth, I went between fiction and non-fiction. In the process, I’d read a million blog posts and a few books about the craft of writing.
I’ve brought you 10 blog posts from my archive filled with tips for becoming a better content writer. Most of the posts are short. They are impactful and will probably reshape your writing skills for good.
I have attached the link to each of the posts for those who would love to read them. What follows each is a brief important lesson anyone can use to write better and achieve more, especially those who want to become better blog writers.
For anyone younger, say, 18, check the other post on becoming a writer when you know where to start.
Here’s how to become a better writer:
1. An Introduction to Professional Writing —- Keith Koon, Iwriter
Some years back, there were only a few job markets where you could position yourself as a writer.
Iwriter is one of those.
They wrote a beginner’s guide for new freelance writers who want to join the platform.
And that’s how I got my hand on this post: An Introduction to Professional Writing. I like the author’s voice and writing style and the simplicity of conveying his message.
Favorite quote
“You might be wondering, is there an amazing future for you as a writer? I’d love to tell you “yes” right off the bat, but the truth of the matter is that only you can decide that. To be successful at anything in life you have to have a strong commitment towards success. So while I can teach you to write like a seasoned professional, I can’t give you the passion for writing. Either you have it or you don’t.”
Key Takeaways
- After writing a piece of content, ask yourself, how does this help my client? If you can make it more helpful, then do it. This emphasizes the importance of knowing your audience before you start writing.
- You should think like a customer. For instance, customers spend less than 2 seconds checking a blog post to see if it meets their search intent. If it doesn’t, they bounce.
- Tailor your posts to your audience. Write the way they want to be addressed, not the way you love writing.
2. How to Write a Blog Post in 2022: The Ultimate Guide — Liz, Smartblogger
If you are a freelance writer, some of your search queries might have landed you on Smartblogger.
It is one of the popular blogs for bloggers to learn how to freelance and earn a living.
I check it when I need new ideas, when I want to polish my blog posts, or when I want to refresh my knowledge of freelance writing.
I picked this blog post above because it is so detailed. It has been updated, though, and it looks different from what I read years ago when it was published. But it still retains most of its quality tips on how to become a better writer.
Favorite Quote
Okay, you’re doing great.
You got readers to click on your headline, you lured them down the page with your intro, and now it’s time to deliver on all that you’ve promised.
If you want readers to love you and look forward to every good blog post you write, you’ll over-deliver.
If you want them to take a quick look and vanish for good, you’ll under-deliver.
Key Takeaways
- Write powerful headlines. It is your best bet to get the readers to look at your blog post twice—the little power at your disposal to make them click on it.
- Stay consistent till the end of your article. For example, look at this blog post. Each point has three sub-headings: A summary, fav quotes, and key takeaways. It won’t make sense if I have ten subheadings in the next one after this.
- Write a conclusion that impresses your reader. That’s the last thing they will read on the page, so why not make it bang like a volcanic eruption?
3. 10 Essential Tips to Become a Better Writer — Ivan Krammer, ContentFiesta
I’ll recommend this post to anyone who needs exercises to improve their writing skills.
I came across it while reading one of my favorite blogs.
Since that time, I have guarded it like a carpenter holding onto his hammer.
It contains many actionable tips that can improve your writing.
It doesn’t just state the how; the author added a lot of screenshots and quotes to the tips to make you deeply understand the tips.
Favorite Quote
The craft of writing is a never-ending process of continuous refining. There are always new words to use, new expressions to form, and new concepts to explain. A writer can’t allow himself to ever stop learning.
Key Takeaways
- Learn to do Deep Work. Write with the mindset of someone who wants to create a masterpiece.
- Surprise your readers with your ideas by taking another approach to what they’re already used to. (I don’t recommend this if you’re a freelance SEO writer and your client has given specific guidelines.)
- Read books about writing. You are already reading blog posts about how to become a better writer. Next, you need to read what other proficient and world-class authors say.
4. How to Write Phenomenal Blog Posts in a World Full of Average Ones — Lauren Holliday, Medium
I first heard the word “full-stack marketer” through Lauren. It is a term for someone who does all the marketing needs of a business. This person can design websites, write content, perform SEO, handle blog writing, etc.
She is one of my favorite freelance writers out there because her posts are usually long, epic, and detailed. From her, I learned you have to do more than the average guy if you want to grow as a writer.
In the post, you’ll learn how to generate good ideas often, write great blog posts, refine your ideas till all the crust is removed, and learn to enjoy the reading process.
Favorite Quote
If the idea sucks, your post will suck. I promise you this is true.
Key Takeaways
- If you want to write awesome blog posts often, you have to know it’s hard. It isn’t what you churn out every minute, like cooking an omelet.
- Research before writing. It’s an obvious thing to do, right? But if you want to be considered a professional, you need to gather resources like a master of your craft. Consult a lot of places. Discard most of the points.
- Draw inspiration from what you read. Read an author you admire before writing your first draft, and you’ll see how your style improves. It’s like borrowing someone’s perfect typewriter for a while.
5. How to fix bad writing before you type a single word — Lindsay Quinn, The Hustle
The people at the Hustle are so funny.
I remember the welcome email they sent me when I signed up for their article till today. So far it has been five years since then, and I still remember laughing hard.
Lindsay writes about three key things you must do to write like The Hustle in this post.
Favorite Quote
Whether you’re writing a mass email or blogging to a million people every day, write as if you are speaking to one person; preferably someone you know and like.
Why? Because if you don’t, you not only lose intimacy with the reader, you run the risk of pandering to a stereotype — and, as a result, being ruthlessly mocked by the very people you’re attempting to relate to.
Key Takeaway
- Write for a specific audience. Write for one person.
- Focus on one thing you want the readers to feel: one particular emotion. If you focus on two or more feelings, your content will end up saying a lot without being valuable.
- Determine one key takeaway. In other words, summarize your post in one simple sentence.
6. How to Write Medium Stories People Will Actually Read — Quincy Larson, Freecodecamp
So you want to write on Medium.com?
First, you need a guide, especially if you aim to go viral.
I found this blog post some months ago, and it has helped me with how I approach things like creating featured images and writing introductions.
I’ve applied the tips to two of my articles published on Hackernoon.
You can read them here:
Favorite Quote
As a writer, you fight a war against indifference. You have to force people to care enough to click through to your story. You have to convince them to take a chance on you.
You have only two weapons against the relentless scroll of news feeds: a headline and an image.
Key Takeaways
- You have only a few things to get your readers’ attention when they are scrolling through a news feed or social media: an image, your headline, and the first line of your post.
- Why should I trust you? Are you qualified to talk about these topics? Sometimes, you need to answer these questions so that the reader will listen.
- Take your time to understand what you are writing about, or simply write what you know.
#7. 5 Never-Fail Tips To Keep Creating Awesome Blog Content — Heidi Cohen
To improve your writing skills, sometimes, mingle with the right people. For instance, the author of this post, Cohen, said she’d worked with a famous author and ran a column in a popular magazine.
All these things add to how she’d developed her skills as a writer.
If you think you are not making progress, take heart. Read her article and implement the key takeaways.
Favorite Quote
Specifically, brainstorm your ideas and then give your brain time to work on them behind the scenes while you do something else. Then when you return to your work, you’re able to turn your writing into brilliance.
Key Takeaways
- After writing the first draft, wait for some time before you edit
- Practice your craft like a pianist every day.
- Your blog post should have structure, and each part should keep the readers engaged.
#8. Writing Well — Julian Shapiro, Julian
This blog post is a pocket guide, and it is specifically written for non-fiction writers.
It is like reading a short ebook about writing great pieces.
Want to know how to become a better writer? Read it all on the go.
It’s all you need if you’re thinking of writing ebooks, guides, and counterintuitive pieces.
Trust Julian.
Favorite Quote
Novelty is what gives readers dopamine hits. You find novel ideas by pursuing your curiosity and noting what interests and surprises you along the way. If it intrigues you, it’ll likely intrigue your readers too.
Key Takeaways
- If you write well, people will want to meet you in person. So, write well.
- Write something you care a lot about, something that wakes you up in the middle of the night.
- Writing is essentially the art, and you can study it (like this blog post is doing right now, summarizing the lessons from studying all 10 great posts).
9. Eighth Rules of Writing — Teddy Wayne, New Yorker
You might want to skip this one if you don’t intend to write fiction.
But the truth is, fiction writing will teach a lot about creativity, getting under the character’s skin, and revealing their deepest secrets. These are the elements of unputdownable books.
That’s what you will learn when you read this blog post on the New Yorker. It summarizes the most basic things you must understand to write fiction.
Favorite Quote
“Say you’re writing about a hard-charging banker who’s having an extramarital affair. This is a good start, but to avoid turning him into a cliché, you need to fill him out in three dimensions. In every paragraph, tell the reader exactly how high, wide, and long he is. For instance: “Benjamin Waller, a hard-charging banker who stood six feet one, with a size-thirty-two waist and a chest girth of forty inches, was having an extramarital affair.” Also mention that he drives a flashy sports car.”
Key Takeaways
- Don’t be afraid to write about yourself or some vulnerabilities you have experienced honestly. You can write about the negative points about a topic, even if it’s brief.
- Write your heart out at all times. Write like you’re hired to slay demons with words or save a dying loved one.
- Show, don’t tell. You are better at showing something works than just stating the basics.
10. Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully – in Ten Minutes — Stephen King
Try to search for the term “best about the craft of writing.” The first book on the list (if the algorithm doesn’t change things soon) is “On Writing” by Stephen King.
SK is one of the richest authors in history. His net worth is in nine figures. He has published many bestsellers, and many have been adapted into movies.
According to “common sense,” someone who wants to make a lot of money should read what SK has to say about the craft, which is his book, On Writing, A Memoir on the Craft.
But before he wrote that, he wrote something shorter and yet helpful. It was published in 1986. The title says it will take ten minutes of your time.
Although most of the article is targeted at fiction authors, content writers and nonfiction writers can learn from it.
Favorite Quote
“If you write a good story, why send it out in an ignorant fashion? Would you send your kid out in a snowstorm dressed in Bermuda shorts and a tank top? If you like science fiction, read the magazines. If you want to write confession stories, read the magazines. And so on. It isn’t just a matter of knowing what’s right for the present story; you can begin to catch on, after a while, to overall rhythms, editorial likes and dislikes, a magazine’s entire slant. Sometimes your reading can influence the next story and create a sale.”
Key Takeaways
- Before pitching to a magazine, read what they have published. If you don’t do that, you’ll likely add to your list of rejections, or worse, become famous for entering the wrong place uninvited.
- Cut out the bad part. Don’t fill up the post with word count and all those metrics that might make a reader hate you.
- No one ever gets things right the first time. So read your draft again and rewrite it. The second draft is the time to fix the problems.
Becoming The Best Blog Writers
You should know it takes a lot of time, effort, and practice to become a better blog writer. Since Artificial intelligence can do a lot of writing these days, you need the kind of skills the average writers or AI tools don’t have. Learn to make your writing flow, understand how to do research, and learn to be extremely creative. Click on the links in this post and check them out. Apply the wisdom into your arsenal and become one of the greatest ever to exist. Remember these things before closing the tab:
- It takes time to become great.
- What you read will influence what you write.
- Challenge yourself as a writer on what you can do, either something hard or (say, the number of sales generated with your content) or what you can create (say, writing a book in 6 months.)
- Play the long-term game.
Enjoy a Life of Writing Bliss
The lessons in this blog post don’t guarantee that you will get paid millions of billions for what you write.
But it’s a guarantee that you will improve your writing skills.
You will be a lot better than the average writer…
.. If you practice
You’ve learned how to become a better writer.
Start applying the tips to your writing.