15 Productive Writing Tips for Beginners

Contrary to a popular belief, writing isn’t a talent that you receive when you are born; there isn’t a gene that is responsible for your ability to write. But some people are born in an environment that helps them find and formulate thoughts better; for example, it’s more likely that if you were taught to write by two teachers from an early age, you have more skills than a person who has never practiced writing. Maybe you want to become a writer, inspired by your favorite books, or maybe you’re a student who has to write lots of papers this semester. Either way, some things can really help you become a better writer in a short time while others require practice. 

Tips to get you started 

These things can help you quite fast. While they aren’t aimed at helping you to transform your paper, they can assist many students in making the piece more polished. 

1. Always make the second draft. Write your first draft, put it aside, and go for a walk. Think a little about something else, then return and review your essay again. You’ll see some mistakes you’ve made and have a chance to edit it.
2. Ask a friend or peer to read what you’ve done. If you have time, always find someone to keep you company once you’ve written your work. A side glance will always give you a better idea of some aspects you could have missed. 
3. Have a backup. Imagine this: you’ve almost done your assignment, but you need some time from work. So you close your laptop, meet your friends, and return just to realize that your device doesn’t work. Scary, right? That’s why once you’ve written your work, send it to yourself via email or have it saved on one of the cloud services. 
4. Look through the samples of other students. Many colleges have samples for the review, especially if you’re only starting on it. For situations when you have zero ideas of where to start, seeing a sample in front of you will calm you down and give very illustrative guidelines. 
5. Use a program or edit your paper yourself. Grammar and spelling always do wonders. If English isn’t your first language, find free or cheap software online to check the basic grammar until you can do it without external help. If you feel like you can’t do it, ask for assistance. Sometimes, finding online custom paper writing services like Custom Writings can help you learn the main principles of writing. Become a customer of one of such companies and learn more about improving your next essays.

Tips for academic writing

Most academic writers know these starting tips, and you can find them useful as well. They suit your professional writing as well. 

1. The structure makes your work 100 times more reliable. The basic essay structure is introduction, body, and conclusion, but some works require you to custom this format or make an entirely different order. Ask your professor to elaborate on what is demanded from you and what structure you should follow first.
2. Avoid informal language. Don’t use contractions such as “isn’t” or “can’t” in academic writing because college-level language is different from conversational. Similarly, try to think if the words you use are formal. Would you rather use “cool” or “excellent” in your essay? Also, don’t forget that English has many forms. If you’re in the USA, use American English, if you’re studying in the UK, choose British English. 
3. Get straight to the topic. There was a time when many people on Tumblr and Pinterest suggested using “because” with “due to the consequences highlighted above,” but this tip is the worst tip you could probably have. Your writing has to be readable and easy to understand. Don’t make it difficult for yourself and don’t use smart words because it can actually sound a little pretentious.
4. Always do your research. In academic writing, the most important thing for you is not to write beautifully but to provide good arguments. So when you start considering the position in a debatable topic, always look for literature reviews, journal articles, and books (at least their synopsis) before making any statements. Your professor will like your paper if it is objective. 
5. Do not plagiarize. It can be tempting to copy and paste someone else’s ideas, but academic writing is very strict about any type of plagiarism. Your paper has to be entirely original and written from scratch. 

Tips for creative writing

For some, it’s the easiest part, but many individuals who have a lifelong dream to become an expert in a fantasy, sci-fi, or any other genre find the first steps challenging. 

1. Write about what you love. If you don’t know where to start, list your top ten favorite topics. It makes no sense to write something that focuses on a topic or a problem that doesn’t interest you, but some writers do it to become popular or prove something to themselves. Don’t do that. 
2. Read a lot. That’s the (sometimes) sad truth. If you don’t read books, you just won’t get the necessary experience and good vocabulary. 
3. Surround yourself with inspiration. Buy a nice large notebook to write your ideas and put your photos and other things that can help you get in a necessary mood. Have a personalized collection of playlists that are related to your writing. 
4. Find a website to start showing your work to others. Even the best writers started by sending their works to anyone who could be interested, so if you’re planning to get published, first find a service or a free platform for beginners to show what you’ve written. Getting feedback is probably the most important part of the writing process. 
5. Bring life to your characters. One of the worst things for writers to do is to imagine all characters as either good or bad and not dive into their personalities. In reality, the quality of the work depends on the characters. 

And now, let’s write!

After reviewing these suggestions, you’re probably more familiar with what makes writing good and how to make it interesting for different audiences. Just like any other skill, it requires training, but if you invest in it, you have all chances to become the next scientist or writer. And you know what they say about timing – just get the ball rolling, and you’re 50% done.