Guest Post by Lior Levin
Writing is one skill that separates every human being; we all have a different writing style.
Writing is not always easy to master and requires dedicated practice and knowledge. The upside is that good writing skills will be a massive advantage in almost any business model, and can even open up exciting new possibilities for you.
So, where does one go to learn the skills and rules that will make anyone a good writer? The Internet has a treasure trove of writing resources. Here are 10 resources that will improve your writing...
Punctuation and Grammar Tools
The most difficult, but also most important skill that should be improved by most writers no matter their English proficiency level is Grammar and punctuation. The Internet provides many really helpful resources, and here are just two:
1. How to use English punctuation correctly - This is a short concise crash course in punctuation that is quick enough to master, allowing the learner to be almost completely proficient in most punctuation.
2. Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Guide – A comprehensive website containing information about various grammar rules and writing styles that will help any writer increase their skills.
Common English Errors and Mistakes
Often the best way to learn what to do is to learn what not to do, and again there are many sites that show examples of common mistakes that should be avoided.
3. Common English Errors This is a fantastic detailed report of hundreds of common spelling, grammar and punctuation errors that are made every day.
Writing Skills
Once the basics of spelling, punctuation and grammar are learned, it is easy to think that you now have become a great writer. Unfortunately, that was the easy bit, and writing is and always will be an art form which needs to be learned. Here are two great resources to help anyone become a better writer:
4. Writers digest This huge online compilation of various resources that can be accessed by anyone wanting to become a better writer; this includes a blog, forum and other resources.
5. Infoplease: General Writing Skills a list of various articles which attempts, in an interestingly and easy way, to help people become better writers.
Copywriting Blogs and Resources
Copywriting is a writing skill that can be very lucrative, and is a must have in any sales or advertising environment. There are great copywriting Blogs online where the best in the industry give insight into their talents.
6. Men With Pens A fun, well put together online community that has thousands of members and a huge collection of helpful content.
7. Copywriting 101 An online guide to the most important writing skill for anyone hoping to make money by selling or advertising through their writing.
Tools to Make Writing Easier
Dictionaries and thesauruses have for hundreds of years been bulky, thick books that people used to get the answers they need. These days the Internet gives you these and so much more. It is therefore imperative that we include it within our article as one of the 10 resources that will improve your writing for real.
8. Onelook Search dictionary A search engine dictionary that finds spelling, definitions and translates word on one single website.
9. Merriam Webster: Visual Dictionary A unique concept where words are associated with visual explanations which can help gain a better understanding of the words.
10. Advanced Text Analyzer This great online software is free, but does require and online registration. It does the usual word and character number calculations, but also more advanced calculations such as words per sentence, average characters per word etc. On top of all this, it does word and sentence analysis to ascertain what level of writing it is.
Conclusion
Good luck with your continued journey into the wonderful world of writing. The provided 10 resources that will improve your writing for real are great online tools. It will help you become a better writer, and hopefully lead you to a more fulfilled and successful life.
This was a guest post by Lior Levin who works for iAdvize and also advises to a psd to html company that does psd conversions for web design companies.
About Lynn Terry
Thanks for the resources, I'm not a english native speaker and my english is not excelent, that's why resources for correct grammar, punctuation and spelling are helpful to me.
Some of these resources are absolutely great - particularly for non-native speakers.
I'm a bit of a stickler for spelling and grammar and hate to see articles where everything is poorly spelled. Plus, it makes translating a page much harder for non-native speakers when there are spelling and grammar errors and given the fact that your articles could enjoy a global audience, this is hugely important.
Well i believe that there is nothing more important in this business then the way you present your information. It doesn't matter if you have the fanciest graphics and designs on earth if you don't write powerful copy. I emphasize on copy because i think it's more important then the writing skills themselves. I've seen many people who make dozens of grammar and punctuation mistakes but they succeed at securing a spot in their reader's minds. Thank you for the resources
Thank you for the tools. There's this misconception most people have that they don't need improvement and that people will read them anyway. How wrong can they get?!
Since writing is my niche, I couldn't resist commenting. And since today is my birthday and I'm now officially eligible for Social Security (assuming the House and Senate do not totally screw it up), I'm feeling old ... er, MATURE, um ... gutsy. Therefore, I'm not above some shameless self-promotion that just may help a few folks here.
Most serious writers are constantly trying to hone their craft. Scratch a writer and underneath the surface you'll probably find someone at least a bit insecure. More than likely, though, you'll uncover a wealth of insecurities. It goes with the territory.
So here is one more resource for making your writing better. It's a link to a list of articles about the psychology behind our writing, which includes silencing our inner critic and other internal issues that affect our effectiveness as writers.
http://www.debgallardo.com/virtuoso/the-inner-writing-life-for-non-fiction-fiction-writers
This serves as an excellent guide for those in the writing business.
The number 10 "Advanced Text Analyzer" is a real eye opener! wow
Looks like I have plenty to do 🙂
Thank you for the tools, this is what I was looking for from sometimes. I really need to work on my writing skills.
Hi Lynn,
Thanks for your suggestions. I think many of us online are often challenged by the art of writing.
Regards
Catherine
Lynn,
These are great resources for outsourcers too. I'll be having a dig around them but I've already sent your post to my four writers.
Joe
What a helpful article! You can have the best ideas, but unless you know how to clearly write them out, they're next to useless. Writing skills are so important to have... thanks for providing some good guidance!
Yehey! thanks for the reference, this will definitely improve my writing skills. I love writing articles on different niches and I'm also bought some books by Mignon Fogarty just to improve my writing skills.
Hi lynn, great resources you have here. I really like that visual dictionary. I usually visit dictionary.cambridge.org though.