Read - Nine ways to improve your writing when you’re not writing

100 ways to improve your writing - Gary Provost 2019

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Nine ways to improve your writing when you’re not writing

If you are an architect, you should certainly read architectural literature. If you are in computers, you must keep up with what’s being written about terabytes, hacking, and the latest operating systems. Reading the books and trade magazines as well as checking out the key websites of your particular field will not only keep you informed; it will show you how experienced writers are turning the jargon and the complexities of your vocation into readable prose.

But no matter what your field of expertise, you should also read books, magazines, and newspapers designed for the general reader.

Though the daily paper and online news sites contain much that is swill, they also contain some good writing. From them you can learn to write leanly, to get to the point, and to compress several facts into a single clear sentence.

If you read mysteries and romances, you will discover how writers create curiosity and build tension. You will also learn how to construct an event, a person, or a place with just a few well-chosen words.

Read novels. You will see how words can be used to communicate subtleties and stir emotions, how words can be arranged one way to make you worry, another to make you laugh.

Read magazine articles and you will see how quotes are pared down from lengthy interviews until they contain nothing but the words that matter. Notice how opinions are supported by facts. Watch to see how the writer makes his or her points by calling on outside help such as scientific reports, quotes from books, surveys, etc. Then go to the online version and see whether they have a longer version so you can see what was edited for the print copy.

Read. And listen to what you read. Listen for the sound of the language, the music. Note the punctuation, the spelling, the logical progression of information. And find the things that fail, also. Listen to how two similar sounds close together can cause a disturbing noise in your head. Hear how the use of the wrong word wakes you from your reading spell. Be a critical reader and look upon all that you read as a lesson in good writing.