writing

The Art of Building Vocabulary for Writers

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The Art of Building Vocabulary for Writers

Enhancing your writing skills as a writer significantly hinges on improving your vocabulary. This is because words serve as your sole means to convey emotions. The more extensive your word bank, the better your ability to effectively string together thoughts into a message that delivers the intended impact.  A broad vocabulary allows for clear and precise expression, adds depth to writing, diversifies language use, facilitates selecting the most suitable words, assists in expressing ideas concisely, and prevents confusion or complexity for the reader. One can only write using words one knows; hence, as a writer, it is expedient that you are intentional in building your vocabulary acumen. I have heard people lament in frustration about how they always have a lot to say, but conveying effortlessly always poses a problem. So, they end up not meeting the expectations of the readers in demonstrating mastery of terminology. Now, note that having an extensive vocabulary does not mean using complicated or uncommon words to appear more intelligent. Its essence is not in the complexity of words but in the ability to use the right words effectively and appropriately to convey ideas clearly and precisely.  What is Vocabulary? Vocabulary is a collection of acquainted words or phrases of a person’s language. It is the phrase acknowledged and used by an individual. In the English Language, it is not only integral for reading comprehension, but it is also a necessary tool for verbal and written communication.  Guidelines to develop and expand your vocabulary: Cultivate a Reading Culture: Incorporate reading into your daily life, no matter how short. As you read, take note of new words and write them down. Afterward, look them up in the dictionary. Learn new words in context. Learning new phrases contextually will make it less complicated to consider later. Don’t be satisfied understanding the meaning alone; however, practice the usage of them in sentences and your daily conversation. Learn new words daily: To expand your vocabulary and improve your communication ability, analyze a new word every day. Master the spelling, pronunciation, synonyms, and antonyms. Memorization plays its part. However, it doesn’t guarantee the terrific use of it. It is expedient to put each new vocabulary to use. To achieve recollection, make sure you use the word, or else, you will lose it. Practice them as you converse with people. You can begin by mastering a word daily, as you make progress, you can expand it. Play word games: In this century, technology has made knowledge less complicated, flexible, and fun. In a digitally advanced world, there are now several exclusive vocabulary-building exercises, games, applications, and quizzes designed to achieve admirable vocabulary capabilities. Adopt word games of your preference and be steady with them. Suggested examples are crossword, phrase scrambles, scrabble, and vocabulary pyramid among others. Learn from others: Another way to build your vocabulary is by practicing active listening. Listening to other people talk exposes you to new words and their usage. Use helpful English tools: Dictionaries and thesauruses remain effective examples of tools that help in understanding unfamiliar words. As a hoe is to a farmer, so is a dictionary to an English language learner. Conclusively, the power of consistency cannot be overemphasized. Consistent practice in building your vocabulary is the key to lasting success and growth. Do not cease after a while; stay focused and dedicated to the adopted activities.  

Writing: 7 Tips to Improve Your Writing Skills

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Writing

Writing skill is the capacity to communicate successfully through written language. Effective writing uses language and syntax to express meaning, as well as style and tone to engage and connect with the reader. To be successful in a variety of disciplines, including education, business, and media, you need to be strong and master the art of pen. To do this successfully necessitates practice, a willingness to review, develop, and an understanding of language rules. Some Essential Writing Skills  Some essential skills include: Grammar and syntax: Correct grammar and sentence structure are used to communicate meaning.  Clarity is the ability to explain ideas in a clear and succinct manner. Tone and style: Using the right tone and style to interest the reader and convey the intended message. Coherence: The capacity to organize ideas and information logically. Creativity: Using one’s imagination and creativity to express ideas in a unique and captivating manner. Writing skills are critical for effective communication and professional success in today’s digital world. Strong writing abilities can help you stand out and communicate your ideas successfully, whether you’re writing an email, a blog post, or a business proposal. 7 Tips to Improve Your Writing Skills Some practical ways to improve your writing skills includes Read Widely: The more you read, the more you’ll be exposed to different writing styles and different types of writing this can help you develop your writing style and improve your vocabulary and grammar. Practice Writing: Writing is a skill that requires practice. Set aside a few minutes each day to write something, whether it’s a journal entry, a blog post, or a short story. Edit your Work: After you’ve written something, go back and edit it. Look for grammar and spelling errors, and see if there are any sentences or paragraphs you can reword to make them clearer. Get Feedback: Share your writing with others and ask for their feedback. This could be a teacher, a friend, or an online writing group. Listen to their feedback and use it to improve your writing. Take Writing Courses: There are many online courses and workshops that can help you learn new writing techniques and improve your skills. Write for Different Audiences: Practice writing for different audiences, such as children, adults, or academics. This can help you develop your writing voice and improve your ability to tailor your writing to different audiences. Learn from Writing Experts: Read books and articles written by experts in the field of writing. You can learn a lot from their advice and tips. While writing skill is innate in some, others have to learn how to write. However, it is important to note that even an innate skill fades without practice, hence, the article provides us with some practical ways and tips on how to Improve our writing skill so as to remain on top of our game. Note that this article did not exhaust all the tips that will aid in writing skill development, however, the few noted here are essential.

6 Steps to Start Your Content Writing Career

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Content Writing Career

Building a career in content writing is possible if you just decide that you want it and you’re willing to work hard to get there. While having great writing skills is a very good way to become a good content writer, it is not enough.                                                                                                                                                            You can become a good content writer and master it without knowing how to write well if you’re ready to stay dedicated and work hard for it.                                                                                                                      Content writing is the use of writing to pass information to inform, educate, and entertain your readers. It is done in varying formats from E-books, blogs, White paper, Product description, and also used as an important tool for social media marketing. Starting your content writing career may be confusing for you because you think you can write, and are curious as to what more there is to it. With content writing, whatever you write needs to have a purpose, and meaning to it.    The following steps will guide you on how to start your content writing career with ease:  Choose a Niche: Decide the specific space you want to write for and the things you want to write about. You can pick your niche based on: your interests, industry trend, and lucrative niche into consideration before deciding. The types of niches you can work on as a content writer include: Technical writing, Lifestyle content, Web content writer, Ghost writer, amongst many others.                        Hone your writing skills: To build your content writing career you have to learn how to write, and how to write with purpose. Most of your writings will be used to build authority for brands by informing, and educating their audience. This is why you cannot just write for writing’s sake; you have to learn the ropes and know how to structure your writing and the purpose the writing is for. You can polish your writing skills by writing continuously for a certain business, and testing how their audience reacts to it— then keep doing it over again.                                                                                                                                Know your Audience: Who are you writing for?  What do they want to hear? What type of tone do you have to use when writing for them? These are important questions that you need to answer. Your target audience are the people your writing will speak to, and those that will make use of your writings.        For example: If you’re writing for a women’s fashion blog, you know that most of its readers will be women, and your content should surround things that will appeal to them such as: the newest fashion trends, how to care for their nails, hair and female hacks that will help them in general. This will attract the specific people that you want, build your brand’s authority and reputation on that industry knowledge over time.                                                                                                                                                              Publish your Work: You need to let other people read what you have written, if you don’t do this, you won’t feel like you’ve started at all. It is easy to feel like you’re not good enough, publishing is what will boost your confidence in your work and make you want to do better as you go. When you publish your work, it positions you as an authority in that niche, and opens you to constructive criticisms; it also makes you better in the long haul.                                                                                                                  Build your Portfolio: Keep a record of every article, blog post, white paper you’ve done in your niche, and put them on platforms like; clippings, where you can share the link to your work with prospective clients. You can also do this by joining writing platforms that help you build a portfolio like The Ready Writers.                                                                                                  … Read more

Which is Easier; Writing or Speaking?

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WHICH IS EASIER, WRITING OR SPEAKING? Just like I mentioned in my last article, different people have different opinions as regards speaking and writing and different people have different preferences as to which is easier. Today, we would look at it together, and then you would be allowed to comment on which you think is easier from your own end. Before I start, I need to tell you that despite the differences between writing and speaking, they still have some similarities and the same rules guiding them. They run by the rules of semantics and syntax, and they both use languages to express their feelings. Skipping introductions, I will go straight to tell you that writing simply involves putting words down. And these words can be for different purposes, but the end result is so they can be read. Writing involves putting nice words together to give a good read, but that is not all. It is not enough to put words together or write down your thoughts. You have to make those thoughts make sense because they are your thoughts and you have the back story behind them. Anyone picking your writing should be able to read it with the same or almost the same intentions you had when you were writing. Meaning, appropriate pauses, right emotions, right tone of voice and the other things that are communicated while writing. This is where writing becomes a bit difficult. You may not be the one doing all the talking, but your writing must make it possible for the person talking to deliver it properly. When it comes to speaking, it is a different ball game entirely, and you are allowed to be as dramatic as you want, to vary your words and the tone of your voice, to use your whole body to communicate. But you still have the responsibility of doing a good job because people are watching you. You don’t have the luxury of hiding behind the letters in a paper like a writer. For some people, working up the right emotions to speak is not easy. All they want to do is speak and go. But speaking blandly causes the real intent of a book or a speech to be lost as the people cannot follow through. I will give the example of reading a story to children. One thing that keeps the children excited to the end is the way the story is being read. Some of the people that read to children are usually very dramatic, and they make different hand and facial gestures so the children can follow and be properly involved. But in order for the reader to be that dramatic, the writer must have done a very good job of putting the appropriate punctuation and all other necessary things in place. Another advantage that a speaker enjoys is being able to make eye contact with his audience which is impossible for a writer. The only way it can be possible for the speaker to have eye contact is if the writer has done a fantastic job of writing that the audience could not help but follow till the end. A speaker also has the advantage of talking in a multidimensional manner rather than a writer who just writes in one direction. And a speaker enjoys the privilege of getting responses and reaction from his listeners. In as much as speaking has its own advantages, it also has some disadvantages like stage fright, bad pronunciation on the part of the reader, speaking colloquially in a formal setting, too much mannerism and excessive repetition. These differences can go on and on, but some people are still better suited for one of the two while some are comfortable doing the two. Some people would rather work hard at writing to make it make sense rather than being at the forefront of speaking or working up emotions as they speak. Same goes in the other direction, some would rather be out there speaking, gesticulating, making people keep their eyes on them rather than being the brains behind the written text and struggling with putting words together for it to make sense. I must also add that mistakes can be permitted when speaking. You can always apologize and rephrase your statement. But when writing, it is almost impossible to correct your mistake once your work has gone out. Hence the extra work of rereading and proofreading to produce the best. These are not all the different things to note about writing and speaking. There are more things to consider but I believe that you have the basic idea from this write up. Therefore, I would love to know your opinion and what you think about these two subjects. Feel free to comment in the comment section on which you prefer. Speaking or writing. And state your reason for your choice. Thank you!   “Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writings”      

Some Hard Truths About Writing

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Writing is not hard, especially if you have a good command of the English language, or whatever language you are writing in. And many people have always said that writing is way easier than speaking because all you have to do is write, and not bother about the pitch, the tone or the emotions your voice is trying to portray. This may or may not be true, depending on the perspective you are looking at it from, but it will be a discussion for another day. Whether writing is simple or not, there are some truths that are very important for you to know. Whether you are a long-time writer or just a prospect, you still need to know these truths because they will guide you and help you become a better author. Some Hard Truths You Need to Know About Writing 1. You will always have critics. When it comes to writing, you can never please everybody. Someone would always have a different opinion or a negative thing to say about your writing no matter how hard you work on it. Not everyone would agree with what you have written or the method you use to write. Be okay with that. Just do your part and write without errors. Write with correct and well-researched facts. Then leave the rest to the critics. 2. There are times when you will have to rewrite your work multiple times. This might sound hard, but it is the truth. When writing, sometimes you might think that you are on the right track, then along the line you will find out that you have gone away from your line of thoughts, or that what you are writing does not seem to make sense. Then you will have to start all over again. When you are at this point, it is better to start all over again than to patch things up and just edit. It might not turn out well in the long run. 3. Your writing can always be better. No matter how many years you have been writing or the kind of experience you think you might have gained, your writing can always be better. You have to keep learning different ways to make your writing better. Even if you have a bestseller or you have won numerous awards, you still have to keep learning and keep getting better. There is always something new to learn. 4. Not all your ideas would see the light of day. You need to know that not all the ideas you have about your book would see the light of day. Your manuscript might be entirely rejected, or you might have to edit and rework some parts of it. You have to be okay with that and work around it rather than feeling bad and perhaps thinking you are not good enough. 5. Writing is not just about you. This might sound strange because you are the one doing the writing. The book was your idea. The title was your idea. And your name was written on it. But it is not all about you. It is about your readers, the people you are writing for. They have to be able to enjoy the book, learn from it and love it. This means that you must consider your audience when you are writing. Final note One thing that can help you deal with these hard truths is imagining that you are writing a book to people outside your region, outside your culture, people entirely different from you. When you have this at the back of your mind, you will be able to work around your ideas and books to make them suitable for everyone and anyone to read. Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writing.