I genuinely enjoy writing, not only for the blog but also just for myself. It has become the best therapy, escape from the world as well as some sort of creative outlet, which helps to express my feelings and emotions. I am in no way trying to blow my own trumpet, but I think I have improved a lot over the past year or so and I thought that maybe these tips would be able to help you, who are struggling in this area!
Before jumping straight into this post I have to point out that I am not nearly an expert in the English language - simply a fan who frequently makes silly grammar and punctual mistakes. Funny enough, it's not even my mother tongue. However, learning it for the most of my life as well as having this blog for almost two years have taught me a couple of things that I would like to share and, hopefully, some of you will find my advice helpful.
Remember that less is more? Surprisingly, this rule can be applied to sentences too! Simple and rather short ones give you fewer chances to get lost in the world of words, grammar and punctuation marks. Instead of trying to fill the information into one long confusing mixture and end it with a period, divide what you want to tell into two or three sentences. This is going to be more pleasing to both eyes and mind of a reader.
Enlarging and building a better vocabulary has never caused someone harm, hasn't it? Mines isn't that great, but I made myself a promise to work on this in the summer time. Personally, I see a huge difference and improvement once I begin to read more. If you are not really into sitting with a book in your hands or don't have enough time for that, then give a try to listening audiobooks. The larger your vocabulary the bigger variety of words that you will be able to use whilst writing. This will definitely make your texts more interesting and appealing! Besides, reading might even help you to understand punctuation or grammar more.
Speaking of these devils, I discovered two websites by myself as well as the recommendations of others which have already made my life a lot easier. They are Grammarly and The Punctuation Guide.
The first one I decided to try out after reading one of older blog posts by a lovely Ellen (going to say hello in case you're reading this haha :D ). Judging by numerous adverts of the site on YouTube, it is slowly but surely becoming a Big Deal. In a nutshell, Grammarly finds more than 250 mistakes in text either grammar, spelling, punctuation, not the correct usage of verbs and nouns, etc. Moreover, it explains how to fix them with additional rules and articles if you fancy finding out more. Technically the service is free. However, if you do the upgrade (monthly plan $37.95/month, quarterly plan $24.98/month), you will get a better version of Grammarly. Can't tell anything about it as I use the 'no money' version, which still works well for me.
When I got quite frustrated with colons and em dashes, I couldn't find any other solution than asking my good ol' friend Google for a piece of advice. That's how I came across The Punctuation Guide. Simply a heaven for peasants like I am, who are confused about punctuation every now and then. The website has a very convenient interface: by clicking on any of the punctuation marks, you will open another page which consists of an article that in simple words explains when and why to use chosen punctuation mark.
Aaaand this is it for the basis, I guess. There are surely more of what you can do to improve your writing, but I think those are the easiest task to start with!
Let me know what you think. Also, if you have any tips on this subject, please, share them in the comments X
Thank you very much for visiting my blog ♡
