How To Become A Better Writer In Steemit?
This weeks topic for @legendchew's Exclusive Blogging Course Giveaway Contest and one that I am once again participating is:
How To Become A Better Writer In Steemit?
To be honest, I probably am not in a position here to tell you how to be a better writer on this platform. I myself recently just started writing/blogging this year and totally have no experience prior to being in here. On top of that, English is not my main language so the struggle is definitely real on my part.
Steemit was and is the only platform where I did all this things. I learned how to write and express well my thoughts and opinions about random stuffs in here. Stuffs like my personal experiences, things I am interested in and things I am passionate about. And in doing so, I believe I may have improved my writing skills even if it's just a little bit.
EXPERIMENT
One common mistake new writers/bloggers will make on this platform is that they will try to mimic and copy another bloggers writing style. This might work for some but for most it will not. Why you ask? Simple! Because everyone has their own writing style and simply copying others will just come off as unnatural.
I myself have to experiment what writing style suits me most and one that I will be comfortable in. When I first started writing, most of my blogposts where short, straight-forward and direct to the point which is good and highly advisable if you are doing tutorial posts and informative ones but not when you are talking about anime or tv shows. Reading back some of my reviews back then, it was really boring and feels like it lacks something.
Months after that, I try adding some filler sentences (at first mainly to make the post much longer) but I noticed that I have more fun doing that and the post is not so boring anymore so now I add one or two filler sentences every now and then. Do not be afraid to experiment with your blog posts!
Set a Time Limit
This might seem a little unusual to some as this will clearly affect the quality of the post, but in order to improve your writing you must first push and challenge yourself. And the perfect way to do that is by setting a time-limit. Do not overdo it!
Base on my personal experience, the more you try to overdo your post the more disappointed you will be with the outcome which in turn make your self-confidence in your own writing go down. If you can, try to set a time limit when you create a post. I myself always make sure that I do not exceed 90mins when creating one. It was really hard at first not to exceed that time limit, but over time you get used to it. Atm most of my posts are only 15-45mins (except for this one), so if I only got around $1 for it. It isn't really that heartbreaking! :)
Create a Scehdule
In addition to my Time Limit, try to also have a Schedule in which all you do at that moment is just write, write and write. No Distractions if you can! In time, your body and mind will get used to it and the words and ideas will all just flow naturally at that specific time.
Get to the Point
It might be a little hypocritical of me to say this seeing some of my posts lost track of the point I was trying to make, but if you can try to stay on point as much as possible. You can add some filler and a little flowery sentences but make sure that you are still on-point. Make your points stand-out as much as possible.
Say it Out Loud
Before submitting your post, make sure to Say it Out Loud first. It might seem okay at first glance but when you read it out loud you will notice some of your mistakes. It's also the best way to check for grammatical errors. I myself know little about grammars but if it's kinda weird after saying it out loud then most likely the grammar is wrong. XD
Stay with topics you know from heart
Pretty cliche right? No matter how good you are at writing or how good you are with the English language, it's all moot if you don't know by heart what you are writing. As much as possible write only things that you have personally experienced or have great information about.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://jlordc.vornix.blog/2018/08/27/how-to-become-a-better-writer-in-steemit/
It is not so important to be a good writer, in 90% of cases only descendants learn how important it is to be able to "sell" modern texts
Wow I don't think that you struggle in english if you write this in 45 minutes. Indeed I have the same problem, my mother language is the spanish and I wouldn't be able to write something like this post in at least one hour xD.
Congrats, it's a good post for newbies like me and even more experienced steemians can learn of this.
Thanks! And it actually took me over an hour to create this one (but still less than 90mins) XD with all the images and the many points I want to highlight. I honestly was not confident of my written English before but got better over time. :)
You forgot to explain in detail or give example of a filler?
Also I can't blame you if it took you more than an hour? to finish this writing? It's fine coz English is not your primary language.
English is not my primary language as well but honestly this will only take me less than 10 minutes or less without bragging of course.
What's your major my friend?
By the way I'm not neither a writer or a blogger.
I'm a computer programmer
Also you forgot to share the domain name of your blog?
Well filler would be like adding my own personal thoughts on the post like : "450 words to go!" as some of the contests I join in have a minimum word limit, so adding some of my personal thoughts makes it more longer :)
My major is Computer Engineering and I'm also no writer nor blogger. I recently just started writing this year and it's mostly just rants or my personal experiences.
I don't really have a blog blog, but I did buy a subdomain from vornix just to test out steempress, and so far it's actually good.
How I and most of my friends determine if our grammar was right or wrong back when we were college students though I still apply it to date lol.
Probably the best advice in this list. Emotion and passion is clearly visible when one speaks from their own experience rather than trying too hard on a topic that doesn't suit your style.
Ha ha thanks! Even till now I'm still not really sure if my grammar is correct or not. As long as it's somewhat passable, I guess it's okay :)
Hi @jlordc, thank you for your participation in the "Exclusive Blogging Course Giveaway Contest".
Hello!!! @steemjetdiscord just visited you. This is a token for being a member on our discord server.
You can also join the Freewrite Challenge started by @mariannewest. They give a daily topic that you have to freewrite and it really helped me improve my writing when I was just starting out in Steemit.
You can check out the latest prompts in her profile - @mariannewest
Thanks! Yep I did hear about that one and immediately love it. The idea that you are free to write whatever you want without caring that much on grammar and flow of the story is what sold me.
I did kaliju's freewriting challenge first though as that was the first one I saw although it seems to have stopped now. Will definitely look forward to @mariannewest's challenge :)
Will probably participate at least once a week. Thanks!