The best way to improve your weblog is to improve your writing. No amount of search engine optimization and membership in blog rings can make people regularly read your site if the articles are poorly written. A newspaper editor once said: “the easiest thing for the reader to do is to quit reading.”
Some people are born with a gift for writing but for most of us, improving our writing skills is a tedious but rewarding process of continuous learning and rewriting.
Fortunately for us, there are a lot of good websites that offer tips on how to improve our writing skills. Here are some of the sites that I frequent. I hope a few bloggers find the list useful. If you know of other sites, leave the URL in the comments field.
News University. The website was put up by Poynter to help journalists improve their craft. The site offers a lot of free courses. Here are the courses I found very helpful:
* Cleaning your copy
* Get me rewrite: The craft of revision
* The lead lab
* The Writer’s Workbench: 50 Tools You Can Use
Poynter. Poynter is probably the best online resource for journalists. Here are some articles I particularly like:
* The long and winding road
* Performance under pressure
This article convinced me that I should continue blogging. I started blogging in November 2004 but the effort was half-hearted. I started blogging only because I wrote a story on deploying a website using open source content management systems like Nucleus CMS, Blog CMS and Serendipity – all blog engines. But when I read this post, I decided to keep on blogging (in lieu of keeping a work book) as a way to improve my writing.
* Writing Hacks
* Five Easy pieces
* Inside the writing process with Don Murray
* What Lies Beneath: The Iceberg Theory of Writing
* “The Sound on the Page”: An Interview with Ben Yagoda
* Rejecting Our First Draft Culture: Strategies for Revision
* By Way of Advice: Seven Style and Voice Tips
The Slot: A spot for copy editors: This website by Washington Post editor Bill Walsh is also a good site for writing and editing tips. Walsh also keeps a blog.
If you have the time, make sure to read all his tips but if you’re in a rush, here are a few you might want to check:
* Parallel construction
* Caption writing
With most content management systems offering a user-friendly interface to post photos, this tip will prove useful to those who post images in their blogs.
* Is it e-mail or email?
* Reproducing answers sent through e-mail
No Train, No Gain
* 13 ways to become a good writer
* Make your story sing
Basic prose style and mechanics
And of course, Elements of Style
For other tips on improving your blog, read this excellent series by Darren Rowse: 31 days to building a better blog.
11 responses so far ↓
blueskelton // Aug 30, 2005 at 12:40 pm
Or just listen to the voices in your head as i do
31 Days to Building a Better Blog - Day 30: Blog Tips - ProBlogger // Aug 30, 2005 at 10:05 pm
[...] Max submitted Improving Your Writing Skills: Lessons Learned Online [...]
the phoenix // Aug 31, 2005 at 11:41 am
Thanks for your help to us newbies
Jeff // Sep 1, 2005 at 11:02 pm
Thanks for the wise words. I recently saw a tongue-in-cheek (partially, because it has a ring of truth to it, sadly) post on another blog that suggested bloggers who want more visitors put porn on their site or other various bells and whistles. I’d rather get responses because my blog has something really worth looking at, not because it appeals to somebody’s prurient interest or because it looks “cool.”
The Simple Site Money Blog - Internet Money » Improving Writing with online lessons // Jul 11, 2006 at 2:31 am
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youlki22 // Jan 29, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Check this site:
This is a new website that helps writers and non-writers improve their writing skills. It is a free resource: http://www.LousyWriter.com
overnight // Jun 1, 2007 at 5:22 am
Thank you, I just wanted to give a greeting and tell you I enjoyed reading your material.
Jerry G. Gervacio // Jun 4, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Thank you for sharing about these. This truly inspire newbies like us. Learning by inspiration..
Max Limpag // Jun 5, 2007 at 4:39 am
Thanks for the feedback overnight, Jerry
alexa // Jul 2, 2007 at 5:51 am
The “Performance Under Pressure” article was great. It helps to know that obviously accomplished and successful writers are just as freaked-out and plagued by writer’s block as everyone else is.
Juliet Sallette // Jul 31, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Thanks, Gracias, Merci…
This was one of the best posts that I will cherish and refer back to as a refresher. You gave readers, bloggers and writers valuable tips that are necessary in the professional world. Knowledge is key, but it is more fulfilling when one shares the knowledge with others. Thanks for sharing. You have helped a lot of people with this post. In more ways than one.
Juliet Sallette http://www.whistleblowerlawblog.com
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