Why this topic when so many of my intended readers are NOT writing teachers?
The answer is: because you are writing teachers. At least, you are your own writing teacher.
Let’s face it. In this brave new world of excessive technology use, everybody teaches themselves. You teach yourself how to display yourself to best effect on social media, you teach yourself how to get the highest grade in class for the least amount of effort, you teach yourself how to hack into your sister’s phone so that it will play her least favorite country song every time she gets a call…
Why not teach yourself writing?
Ben Franklin did.
Apparently, the man whose famous mug now graces the front of our $100 bill was once a horrible writer, by his own admission. He improved by collecting issues of the highest quality magazine he could get his hands on, The Spectator, and rewriting articles within it from memory. (For more specifics on how exactly he did this, read this)
Granted, that’s a little more effort than most of us are willing to put in, especially if writing is not the love of your life. But as Michael Levin, New York Times bestselling author and CEO/founder of BusinessGhost says, “if you can’t write you can’t work. Poorly written emails, proposals, resumes, tweets and posts get you ignored, laughed at, or even fired.”
But still, if you want to live in this world, you gotta write right. Or well, that is. And here are some tips on how to teach yourself:
1. Don’t read everything
If you have to choose between a Pulitzer prize-winner or an obscure blog post dredged from the netherworld of the internet, go for the prize-winner. It won a prize for a reason!
I knew a student who immigrated to the US a few years ago. As long as I’ve known him, he’s been a voracious reader, reading through all of the bestsellers and award-winners he could get his hands on, fiction and nonfiction, every spare moment. Four years later, many of his peers who arrived in the country at the same time as he are still stumbling over their words and afraid of talking to native English speakers, while this guy pretty much is a native English speaker.
2. Focus on what you (or they) are doing RIGHT
Yes, you need to know the difference between there, their, and they’re, but really good writing isn’t just writing that lacks mistakes. At some point you have to stop focusing on what you’re doing wrong and look for opportunities to do things write. I mean, right.
Did you use a particularly cool new word correctly? Excellent, now you have that in your arsenal to bring out later.
Was there a particular turn of phrase that some author used brilliantly? Now look out for ways to incorporate that into your own writing.
3. If English is your second language, forget your first one
Please do not write anything in your native language and then translate it into English. For one, translation is harder than you think. And you are bound to translate something—a word, a turn of phrase—that has no good equivalent in English, and then you will sound stupid. Or funny (and not in a good way). I am sorry to have to use such a demeaning word, but unfortunately, it is true.
The best way to write in English is to think in English. The best way to think in English is to read in English (see point #1). So forget that you’re native language is Chinese, or Urdu, or Nepali for awhile. If you really want to write well in English, you have to do your best to think in English. Talk to yourself in English, write notes and journals in English, set your Google homepage and everything in your smart phone to English, and then force yourself to read it back. Do not relent, do not cheat.
What do you think? Do you have any other pointers or bits of advice you have personally come across that you found particularly effective?
References:
http://contently.net/2014/08/21/stories/ben-franklin-taught-write-clever-tricks/
“Trending #1 Saturday on FoxNews.com/Opinion: Here’s how to help students improve their writing” by Michael Levin of BusinessGhost
Sarah Edits ESL 