The average person thinks writing is a gift reserved for the rare few. No, it’s not. You’re reading this right now so you’re able to communicate in writing.
You can write too! Writing is a skill and like any other skill, it needs to be learned. So here are some ways you can learn to write better when you don’t care enough about writing:
Takeaways |
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Embrace the Challenge: Accept that writing about topics you don’t care about is an opportunity to grow and expand your skills. |
Find an Angle: Discover a unique perspective or angle that can make the topic more interesting and relatable to both you and your readers. |
Research and Empathy: Conduct thorough research to understand the subject and empathize with the audience, enabling you to create more engaging content. |
Experiment with Style: Explore different writing styles, tones, and formats to infuse creativity and make the writing process more enjoyable. |
Practice Consistently: Regular practice is key to improving your writing. Dedicate time to write about various topics to enhance versatility. |
Overcoming Resistance: Address any internal resistance or negativity towards the topic by focusing on the value your content brings to readers. |
Stay Authentic: Maintain your authentic voice even when writing about unfamiliar topics. Inject your personality and unique perspective into the content. |
Continuous Growth: Approach each writing challenge as an opportunity for personal and professional growth, helping you become a more versatile writer. |
Find A Reason For Learning To Write
Find a reason for learning to write. I can’t stress this enough. You need to find a reason to care about writing before you’ll be able to actually practice it, and then continue practicing it.
One of my favorite ways of finding my motivation is by looking back at all the times that I’ve written something and feeling proud of myself afterward.
All those moments when I’ve been proud of what I made or said are great motivators because they show me how much better things can get if I just keep trying!
Improving your writing skills is a journey that involves various elements. Explore our article on 10 Things That Will Make You a Better Writer to discover actionable tips that can enhance your writing prowess.
Solve The Readability Problem
You can also solve the readability problem by using a conversational style, not a formal style. The difference is that you use active verbs and short sentences in your writing, instead of passive verbs and longer sentences.
Active verbs are easier to understand than passive verbs because they tell readers what’s happening in the sentence.
Here’s an example: “The car was driven by my father.” This sentence has just one main verb (“was”), but it tells us very little about who did the driving or why it doesn’t give us any information at all about what’s going on in this story!
Compare this to another version of the same idea: “My father drove me home from school.” Now we know exactly who drove whom home, which makes this sentence much easier to understand than its passive counterpart.
Using more active words increases your writing’s readability and you’ll impress people with how easy it seems for you!
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Use Parallel Structure
Parallel structure is a simple but important concept that helps readers understand your writing. It’s when you use a series of words or phrases that have the same grammatical structure. For example:
Her favorite books are Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and The Lord of the Rings.
The reason parallel structure is so crucial? It makes your writing much easier to understand! Instead of having to decipher what each sentence means, your reader can focus on one thing at a time as they read through it.
If you don’t use parallel structure and write something like “My brother plays Xbox One games and he also enjoys playing football.”
It will be confusing for readers who aren’t sure if “he” refers to the person who plays Xbox One games or not (which makes me think you might have some learning disabilities).
Spell It Out
Spell it out. This is the first thing to do when you don’t care about your writing and want to get through it as fast as possible.
The spell checker in Microsoft Office (or whatever program you’re using) will catch most of your spelling errors and mistakes.
But if you’re unsure of something, look up definitions and synonyms in a dictionary or use a thesaurus to find different words that mean the same thing. If you have access to an online dictionary, I recommend [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/).
One way authors can avoid this is by getting rid of their computers altogether it might seem silly for someone who’s trying to learn how to write well enough so that people will want what they have written on paper (and not just on their browser).
But if there’s one thing computers do well enough already without having any sort of creativity involved at all then why not use them?
Avoid Unnecessary Jargon And Terms
Avoid jargon that is not commonly used. If your audience doesn’t understand what “mitochondria” means, you’re going to have a hard time making them care about your article.
Avoid words that are not commonly used. There’s a reason Shakespeare invented so many words; it’s because he needed them!
Your readers don’t need to know how many adjectives the average English speaker uses per day (it’s 11), and they certainly don’t need to learn those new words on their own time.
They have better things to do than learn new vocabulary just because you wrote something with too much of it in it.
Avoid words that are not commonly understood by the audience: I’ve seen some bad writing out there lately.
But this paragraph stands out as being particularly egregious because of its use of wordy phrases like “articulate” and “erudite,” which are long-winded ways of saying someone can speak clearly or has an education both things everyone knows already (I mean…do we need these terms?).
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Use The Active Voice
The active voice is the most direct, interesting, and concise way to write.
The only time you should use the passive voice is if you’re writing about something that has happened to someone or something else, and in that case, you’d say “something was done to me” instead of “I was done.”
The active voice makes your sentences more direct because it focuses on what’s happening rather than who or what is responsible for it. In other words, instead of saying “the dog ate my homework,” we’d say “I ate my homework.”
We know what’s going on and who did it without having to use a bunch of extra words and clauses (e.g., by saying “it was eaten by the dog”).
The active voice also creates action that keeps readers engaged with your story; they want to know how things will turn out to satisfy their curiosity so they’ll keep reading!
Finally, because less information needs to be included in a sentence written using active voice (as opposed to passive), each sentence will usually contain fewer words than those written using passive voice (although there are some exceptions).
Employ Persuasive Language
When you’re passionate about something, it can be easy to fall into a “bad” habit of writing. Why? Because we want to relay our excitement. But sometimes our excitement makes us more informal and less persuasive.
The best way to avoid this pitfall is by being intentional with your word choice and employing persuasive language throughout your writing. Here are some tips for doing so:
Use Words That Have Positive Connotations
The words below have positive connotations because they all relate in some way back to you, the writer. You might use these when talking about yourself or describing something you do well (e.g., “I am an excellent writer!”).
Use Words That Have Negative Connotations
These work great when you want to emphasize how much someone else screwed up (e.g., “Your essay was terrible! It was hard-to-read gibberish!).
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Use Words That Are Neutral But Still Effective
This is where most people go wrong when they’re trying too hard they don’t use any adjectives at all! That’s why it’s important not only to choose ones with impact but also to know when something doesn’t need an adjective at all (e.g., “I’m going hiking tomorrow.”).
Combine Sentences To Make Them Crisper And More Concise
You can combine sentences by using a comma to introduce the second sentence. Here’s an example:
“I have always found that it is better to do things properly than to do them quickly.”
Now, let’s take this combined sentence and add in another one:
“It’s also important not to give up on yourself or your projects.” This can be read as two separate thoughts or one thought with two ideas expressed by using different words, but you can see how this method of writing is more concise than having four sentences where only three are needed!
It will be easier for readers to understand what you’re trying to say because they won’t have so much information thrown at them all at once.
Be Consistent In Style, Spelling, And Punctuation
Consistency is important. It shows that you’re a professional, which is a good thing. It also helps readers understand your message since they can rely on language patterns when reading to make sense of what you’re writing.
A consistent style also helps develop your voice, so you don’t sound like everyone else you sound like yourself! This can give readers a clue as to how they should perceive you: Are they going out with their friends or interviewing for a job?
Do they know this person? Does this person seem trustworthy? Being consistent with spelling and punctuation is a great way to develop the consistency needed for developing a personal brand.
Don’t Confuse Passive Voice With Active Voice
When you’re writing a sentence, you’ll often be able to choose between two ways of expressing the same idea: passive voice or active voice. Both forms have their place in good writing, but they should not be confused with one another.
Passive voice is used when the subject of a sentence is not the focus; it’s rather more of an afterthought.
Think about it this way: When your cat knocks over her water bowl and spills water all over your floor, who do you blame? If your answer was “the cat did it,” then congratulations! You’ve just written a sentence using passive voice!
Active voices are very different they focus on subjects and make them stand out from everything else going on around them (as opposed to putting them farther back in the foreground where nobody can see them).
Active sentences reflect our natural tendency to prioritize people who are doing things over things that are being done (or even worse, just plain old nothing at all).
Use Your Exact Words, Not Approximate Ones
Here’s a helpful tip: Use the exact word, phrase, sentence, and paragraph, not approximate ones.
For example: If you want to write about “this website”, don’t use “this site” or “that site” or “some other site”. The word is “this”, so use it exactly as it is written.
If you want to write an article on this website called “How To Write Properly When You Don’t Care”, don’t use any other article on this website.
Write that specific article out with the correct title exactly as it should be written for it not to seem like an approximate match for what you’re looking for.
But rather an exact match that can easily be found by anyone searching for such content whether they’re looking specifically for that particular piece of writing or just browsing through all available articles on this site hoping something catches their eye…
Writer’s block can be frustrating, but there are ways to break free from it. Explore strategies to overcome this challenge in our piece on How to Let Go of Writer’s Block Once and for All and rediscover the joy of creative expression.
Follow The Rules Of English Grammar And Usage
The first thing you need to do is to know the rules of English grammar and usage. To do this, you need to know the difference between formal and informal English; American, British, Australian, and Canadian; and written vs spoken language (or text).
The best way for me was to read a book about grammar rules that I could understand. For example: “The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Grammar And Style”.
Understand That English Has Only One Present Tense, Not Three As In Some Other Languages
Although the English language only has one present tense, it can be used in multiple ways.
For example, you might use it to describe an action that happened in the past (the construction crew built a bridge), but you could also use it to describe a future action (the construction crew will build a bridge).
This is different from languages like French and German where there are three different present tenses: one for actions happening now, one for actions happening later on today or tomorrow, and one for actions that have already happened but are still relevant right now.
In summary:
- Use the present simple when talking about something that happens regularly or something that happens all the time
- Use the present continuous when talking about an activity that’s happening at this moment in time
Choose Strong Verbs Instead Of Weak Verbs
Strong verbs are more specific, active, direct, and precise. Weak verbs are more general, passive, indirect, and vague.
Strong verbs:
Gather
To assemble in one place; accumulate or collect; accumulate or gather; bring together into a heap/heap up
Begin
Commences with (a letter); enter on (an undertaking) start; inaugurate; begin formally or ceremonially begin acting in a certain manner from the beginning of action until its completion (or vice versa) start with something as a base for something else that grows out of it start with an idea about how something is going to go
Avoid Slang And Colloquialisms
To write without caring, you have to avoid slang and colloquialisms. This includes words like “cool” and “like.” They may seem harmless, but they can be detrimental to your writing skills and they’re also a sign that you don’t care about what you’re writing.
The best way to avoid them is by using formal language instead of informal language. Formal language is always the same word or words in the same order every time it’s used. For example:
- I ran down the street wearing my favorite blue sneakers when I saw my friend walking toward me with his dog on a leash (formal).
- I was running down the street while wearing my favorite blue sneakers when I saw my buddy walking toward me with his pup on a leash (informal).
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many benefits to becoming a better writer. The more you practice and improve your skills, the less likely you will be to fall victim to identity fraud or scams.
One thing that can help with this is reading books about writing. A well-written book will give you tips on how to avoid common mistakes and also provide inspiration when it comes time for your next assignment.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources that delve deeper into the topic of writing and overcoming challenges:
Brilliant Writing Tips
Gain insights from seasoned writers on how to enhance your writing skills and create compelling content that captivates your audience.
Writing About Topics You Don’t Care About
Discover techniques to effectively write about subjects that might not initially interest you, while maintaining your authentic voice.
Writing When You Couldn’t Care Less About the Topic
Learn strategies for finding motivation and inspiration when writing about topics that you may not feel passionate about.
FAQs
How can I improve my writing skills?
Enhancing your writing skills involves consistent practice, studying the craft, and seeking constructive feedback. Explore resources like writing guides, workshops, and online courses to refine your technique.
What should I do when I face writer’s block?
Writer’s block is common but conquerable. Try changing your environment, engaging in creative exercises, or taking a break to recharge. Experiment with different strategies until you find what works for you.
How can I write effectively about topics I’m not interested in?
Writing about less engaging topics requires finding an angle that resonates with your readers. Focus on the impact of the subject, draw connections to relatable experiences, and inject your personal perspective to make it more engaging.
How do I maintain authenticity in my writing?
Authenticity comes from being true to yourself and your voice. Write from your unique perspective, share personal anecdotes, and connect with readers on a genuine level. Avoid imitating others; embrace your originality.
Can I turn my writing into a successful freelance career?
Yes, you can. Building a successful freelance writing career involves creating a strong portfolio, networking with potential clients, and continuously improving your skills. It may take time, but dedication and perseverance pay off.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.