How to Improve Writing and Vocabulary
While a proper education can provide a person with a good vocabulary, it doesn't hurt to improve it at home. Not only will a better vocabulary aid in understanding more literary works and conversations, it also improves writing skills. Good writing skills help not only writers, but anyone who has to create any type of document. Simply knowing the rules of grammar doesn't make a person a skilled writer. Like any other skill, writing well takes hours of practice.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Vocabulary
-
1
Create a list of words from the dictionary or from vocabulary books. As you read books, magazines, articles and other documents, or watch movies and television, write down words you do not recognize or are unsure of the definition. You can even pull a word you heard in conversation. Another method is to pick one word from the dictionary or elsewhere and look up its synonyms in a thesaurus. Because those words have a similar definition, it can make memorization easier. Write each word and its definition on a piece of paper. Choose between 10 and 15 words a week.
-
2
Write each word on one side of an index card, and the definition on the other side. Quiz yourself by going through the flash cards. Say the definition when you see the word.
-
-
3
Write down the words 20 or more times at one daily sitting for a week to learn to spell the words.
-
4
Have someone read off the words to you; then you write down the definition from memory. At another time, have someone read off the definition, and then you write down the correct word.
-
5
Make a new list each week. At the end of each month, mix up all the flash cards and quiz yourself.
Writing
-
6
Use writing prompts, like a word or phrase. Write a paragraph or two based on the prompt. Find prompts from random items around the house or outside, or ask someone to give you a random word. Make a list of prompts on scraps of paper and pull one from a jar. For example, if the prompt is "darkness," write a descriptive paragraph about the night. After you finish writing, reread what you wrote. Circle any words (aside from articles, pronouns, nouns and conjunctions) that you used more than once in the span of three sentences. Write a new word in place of the word you circled. For example, if you used the word frozen to describe both a landscape and a lake, change the word to something else, like "the ice-covered lake." This helps you avoid repetition and encourages you to write more descriptively.
-
7
Have someone with strong grammar skills go over your writing and point out the mistakes. If you don't have access to a person, paste your writing in a word processing program like Microsoft Word or Microsoft Works that has a grammar- checking program. Determine mistakes and how to correct them by doing research online or in a grammar book. For example, if you split infinitives often, correct that tendency by rearranging your sentences. Instead of saying "to poorly choose," change it to "to choose poorly." This helps build your grammar skills, which helps your writing.
-
8
Write about your day, a meal or an outing. Describe the setting, how people looked, what the people sounded like when they talked, and any other details of the scene. By using plenty of description, you enable the reader to visualize the setting as if he had been a part of it, according to "Success Secrets from Great Authors." For example, if you say that after a book smashed a man's toe, "His face turned red as he howled in pain. He lifted his injured foot and clutched it in his large hands," the reader can visual the action. "How to Improve Writing Skills" suggests using words that tell the reader specifically what an object is. For example, if you are talking about a dog in a picture, say what breed the dog is.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Practice writing activities daily.
References
- Photo Credit hand holding blank visiting card image by Pavel Zaytsev from Fotolia.com
