9 Ways to Improve Your Writing Style

• How to establish your own writer’s voice 
Every writer has his own voice. But some writers – especially beginners – sound flat and all too similar. Some would say those writers haven’t found “their” voice yet, and there’s some truth to that. But more likely the problem is they haven’t fully mastered the craft of writing.

• Utilize parallel structure for crisper writing
To make your writing smoother when listing items, consider using parallel structure. This occurs when you follow the same grammatical pattern as providing a list of equal items or ideas within a sentence.

• Avoid committing runaround error in story 
Sometimes novice authors write scenes that are fun and action-packed but simply don’t contribute anything to the story. These parts of the tale are called runarounds and are best avoided.

• Improve writing with ‘What do I mean when I say’ 
When writing fiction, you almost always want to show rather than tell. By showing, you infer through a character’s actions or dialogue what one feels.

• Don’t confuse readers with misplaced modifiers 
A common word order error in writing is a misplaced modifier. This occurs when a word, phrase or clause describing something doesn’t appear next to the word(s) it describes.

• Use active voice
Verbs give sentences and books vibrancy. When too many of them in a story are passive or weak, the writing sounds drab.

• Avoid microwaving the soufflé in your story
In real life, achieving a goal and obtaining a possession usually is more satisfying when a lot of hard work went into it. The delay in gratification as the desire for and anticipation of success grew simply results in a greater release of emotion and tension. Storytellers are wise to utilize this strategy in their fiction.

• Use concrete details to make writing more vivid
When writing descriptions, make them concrete. That is, make them tangible by appealing to the five senses of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch.

• Be a better writer by empowering your reader
When you empower your reader, you become a better writer. To empower your reader means respecting his intelligence.