Hone Your Writing Skills

‘Intellectual’ is a label we all long for and crave for. Who doesn’t want to be called an intellectual? One of the best ways of becoming an intellectual is by becoming a writer—by publishing books. You will be treated as an intellectual when you make a name for yourself in any of the fields of knowledge or make significant contributions to contemporary literature.

What does it take to become a good writer? Plenty of reading, understanding, and writing skills. Many writers who are serious about making writing their career, take professional courses in writing. The training they undergo in the process stands them in good stead.

But what about those who have not taken any formal course in writing and have still managed to emerge as good writers? Well, this is quite a possibility. And, this works the same way as we learn some language.

For instance, I had to go in for formal education to learn the English language. That’s because English is not my mother-tongue. It is a foreign language for me. Yet, people in England don’t need to take a formal course in English to speak or write English. That’s because it is their mother-tongue.

One picks up one’s mother-tongue instinctively and naturally. The children hear words and descriptions again and again and they pick up the language by-and-by. They don’t need to study grammar to speak or write correct English. It comes to them as a natural process. In fact, I think I have mastered a language when I am fluent enough in that language like my mother-tongue.

Similarly, some writers pick up writing skills quite naturally—through extensive reading, understanding, and imbibing writing skills. Yet, you may not be able to pick holes in their writing. Their writing may turn out to be absolutely impeccable and flawless. How does this happen?

The fact is that they may not have undergone any formal training in writing. But from their extensive reading of good writing, the parameters of good writing get embedded in their subconscious mind. So, they learn the attributes of good writing without realizing that. When they sit down to write something, they are guided by the parameters that are firmly embedded in their mind or subconscious mind.

There are a few things you could do to hone your writing skills if you do not intend to take a course in writing. The most important thing is to ensure that your content is not incomplete in any way. For that, you have to learn the rule of 5 ‘Ws’ and 1 ‘H.’ Whenever you write a story, make sure that you cover the five ‘Ws’ i.e., who, what, where, when, and why. The one ‘H,’ I was talking about was: ‘How.’ So, if you have all these details lined up in your story, your story may be considered to be complete in terms of content. All you need to do after that is to embellish your writing with your unique language and style.

This is one of the first lessons we learn in journalism. It comes in handy when we double-check our stories for content to ensure that we do not miss out on anything. More about this in my next blog on writing…Happy writing!