“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

–Stephen King

Writing as with any type of skill can be difficult. Most people dread the thought of writing something.

What makes writing strenuous?

Like Stephen King has said, if you do not have the time to read, you do not have the time to write. This is really true. A fact. For you to write something, you should have a good vocabulary. To get a good vocabulary, you must have read many reading materials.

Here are some of the few things that might help you with your writing.

Read.

Most people do not realize how important reading is for good writing. Just like listening is important to become better at speaking, reading is vital to become better at writing. When learning a new language you must OBSERVE and REPEAT. Observe and repeat. Again and again. This is at the heart of learning any language. So, master this – get really, really good at it and you will be one amazing language learner.

When you read you observe someone else’s style—how their language flows from sentence to sentence, how they articulate their thoughts with different vocabulary, how they can paint a picture with their words. The more you read, the better you’ll be able to mirror this.

Be confident.

Have the skill of building your writing around what you already know.

Your vocabulary might not be that special for now, but soon enough you will have a good vocabulary. You can start off small and build it as you go. Be encouraged in class, whether it be note taking, dictation of a few sentences or a short paragraph about your weekend. Try it out. You may be surprised at what you create.

Try to keep a journal.

If you don’t feel like sharing your writing with anyone just yet, then a journal is a great way to make writing a daily habit.

You can write about your dreams first thing in the morning. You can write about your goals, or you can write about what you did that day.

It doesn’t matter what you write, just that you’re making a habit of writing every day.

This will probably be hard at first. Don’t worry, I know you will be better at it.

Go old school. Get a pen pal.

A pen pal is basically someone with whom you exchange letters. There are some websites that you find online.  You can either exchange letters online, or via snail mail (regular postal service; called snail because it’s slow).

Snail mail can be fun because it allows you to hold a letter in your hand. It’s more old-fashioned. And it’s always exciting to get something in the mail from a far away place.

Try:

https://www.interpals.net/

http://www.penpalworld.com/

Just do it.

If you want to improve your writing, start now!

Whatever you choose, just write. A lot. If you can. In a few weeks you’ll be amazed by how much better your writing flows and your style has improved. By becoming more confident about your writing, you can become more open to feedback, which is going to help you improve your structure and grammar (and this will show when you speak, too.)