7 Best Writing Hacks Every Writer Must Know

Anyone who claims to be an easy writer is most likely using ChatGPT.

Writing well is a difficult skill to acquire. It requires self-control, imagination, discipline, and a readiness to try new things and make mistakes.

However, you can employ several tried-and-true hacks to write more efficiently and effectively. Whether you’re terrible at writing or have writer’s block, try putting these ideas into practice to get the words flowing freely.

Here are 7 Best Writing Hacks Every Writer Must Know:

1. Write every day

Writing requires practice. Writing every day, even for a short while—ten or fifteen minutes. This will undoubtedly help you become a better writer. Consider it similar to working out. Training increases your strength.

Establish for yourself what you hope to achieve in your allotted ten minutes of writing time before you begin. This could be a love letter, an essay, a work of fiction, or an email to a critical client. It takes you more or less time to sit down and write something; it doesn’t matter what it is or, on the other hand, on the off chance that it’s great.

2. Write for Extended Periods of Focused Time

Writers highly recommend the Pomodoro Technique. This entails dividing your writing time into little rests between concentrated bursts, or “pomodoros,” which last roughly 25 minutes each.

Why does this work so well? The Pomodoro Technique, which can be scary at first, helps prevent procrastination by making you work on tasks for brief bursts of time instead of long ones. Planning your writing time and breaks also improves your time management.

As an added piece of advice, turn off any web browsers, email, phones, and social media accounts during your pomodoros to prevent distractions. You’ve got 25 minutes left so that you can succeed!

3. Read More

To put it mildly and avoid coming off as Captain Obvious, reading excellent writing is a must for becoming a good writer. That would be like attempting to play tennis and never getting out on the court.

Reading can be trying in reality as we know it, where TikTok videos and Instagram postings seek our consideration. According to a Gallup Poll conducted last year, American individuals read around a few fewer books yearly than they did from 2001 to 2016.

Reading elegantly composed books and articles will open your eyes to different writing styles and procedures and help you expand your vocabulary. You will absorb much knowledge from reading well-written works, much like osmosis. You’ll have a greater appreciation for writing in general, better ideas, smarter word choice, and better grammar.

4. Focus on completion, not perfection

The search for perfection in writing can be an ongoing and frequently unreachable goal. Instead, authors should put finishing first because they understand that a completed work, no matter how flawed, is worth more than an unfinished masterpiece. By concentrating on finishing their work, writers can break free from the paralysis of perfectionism and proceed with their creative activities.

Writing can advance and become more skilled when one embraces the idea of completion over perfection. Every finished piece provides a stepping stone towards development and mastery, encouraging confidence in one’s skills and accomplishments.

5. Write first, edit later

Editing oneself while you write is a novice error. Expert writers understand that the ideal approach is to allow the thoughts to come to you naturally in the first draft without worrying about being perfect. You can make changes later.

You let your creative side take over and come up with ideas you might not have otherwise thought of when you write without pausing to edit. You also avoid becoming mired in the specifics, like pausing to conduct a “quick” internet search that takes two hours and leads nowhere useful.

6. Avoid overused or filler words

Good, sensory details that let the reader experience the story rather than just be told what’s occurring is one hack to differentiate your writing from the competition. Telling a tale is less effective than showing what is happening.

For example, you could write something more descriptive like, “Dirty clothes were strewn across the floor and papers and books were scattered across the desk,” instead of, “The room was a mess.”

7. Show don’t tell

Concise writing is good. Steer clear of unnecessary phrases that could mislead readers. Once your work is complete, a useful tip is to go through it and remove any terms that don’t support your position. These are a few typical offenders:

“Very”: This term is frequently employed to emphasize a point, yet it can be imprecise and ambiguous. Try expressing the same idea with a more precise adjective instead.

“Just”: This term is frequently employed to minimize something’s significance, yet it’s frequently merely superfluous.

“Really”: This word, like “very,” is frequently used to emphasize a point but can also be vague. Try eliminating it or using a more precise adjective or verb to achieve the same effect.

“Moreover; Furthermore; Hence; Therefore” is an example of a puffed-up word that will make your writing stiff and monotonous, unless you’re writing a thesis that demands formal, academic language. Write more as though you were speaking with a buddy.

Final Thoughts

Even the most accomplished authors acknowledge the difficulties of writing. As Ernest Hemingway once observed, “Writing is nothing.” You sit there and bleed while using a typewriter.

Try your hardest and accept lessons from your errors.

Additionally, avoid letting ChatGPT handle everything for you.