For many of us, writing is more than just a profession - it is a form of expression and entertainment. Therefore, to better express and articulate ourselves, it's essential that we master various writing styles and tones in order to maximize our writing skills.
There are many different types and styles of writing that you can pick and choose. Ultimately, we tend to veer towards one or two styles that suit us best and make us feel the most natural and comfortable to write in. The various styles include conversational, informal (slang), informational, poetic, research-based and literary/fictional. Of course, there are many other types, but I've chosen to outline the ones that I personally have dabbled in over the years.
If you haven't already noticed the tone of this post, this post has been written conversationally. As a writer, I'm most familiar and comfortable writing in the conversational tone that is easy to read and feels more relaxed. However, you should always try to go beyond your comfort zone and experiment with different styles. This is especially true if like me, you write professionally and need to be willing to go the extra mile for clients depending on their unique requirements.
For example, at any given time, I could be writing a webinar script on cryptocurrencies, a research article on the benefits of homeopathy and a short story about an endangered talking tiger bemoaning the loss of his habitat. As is evident, if you want to excel in the professional writing arena (specifically copywriting), you need to improve your writing arsenal and improve your flexibility.
Here are 5 tips that will hopefully guide you in your quest to write more flexibly without sounding robotic doing so:
1. Practice makes perfect. The easiest way to improve your writing flexibility is to go out and practice! Though easier said than done, you should push yourself out of your comfort zone and either write in different styles for recreation or on the request of others. You can ask friends or family to come up with ideas. Or if you're fortunate enough, clients will pay you to do their writing work!
2. Read different sources of media and literature. Instead of just reading and taking in the same types of literature and media like your typical nonfiction or daily newspaper ad nauseam, try reading different media sources like fiction (also from different authors), tabloids and research journals to give you an understanding of how writing can be transformed depending on the particular context.
3. Improve your vocabulary. This means, not just looking up and memorizing 'big words' like myocardial infarction (science speak for hear attack) for example, but also getting a feel of local vernacular and slang which is trending in your particular city, region and country. Improving your vocabulary will simultaneously strengthen your writing skills and also vocabulary skills - not to mention help you more to 'fit in' with your neighboring homies. No longer will you have to resign yourself to writing and speaking in monosyllables.
4. Learn new languages. Learning new languages not only improves your brain power and creativity, but it also bolsters your writing prowess. For example, if you start learning French in addition to your understanding of English, you'll find that the two languages share a lot of things in common. In fact, it's customary for many academics to sprinkle French words and sayings in their writings to add more flair and elegance, c'est la vie (French for that's life) as they say.
5. Just have fun. Don't make writing feel like a chore and instead embrace it will passion. Treat it more like a hobby than a job and you'll surely see improvements in your writing flexibility and creativity. On top of the first tip, you should write just to have fun and channel your creative energies.
By following the above 5 tips, I'm sure you will improve your writing flexibility and also impress your friends and family and also clients who will appreciate the extra effort you put in into your writing.
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