I need to improve my writing

I aced all my courses during my undergrad years and published a paper with the help of others, but my writing and vocabulary still suck. I was born and raised in the US, but my writing has gone downhill after taking a break from school after I graduated. Now I am looking at grad school. I may actually get accepted, but I am terrified that I regressed into a poor writer. I love reading peer-reviewed articles, but they intimidate me whenever I see many words I do not know.

Admittedly, I still have no clue when it is appropriate to use "a priori," "de facto," and "a posteriori" in a paper or a sentence. Even after having read the definitions.

Is there something wrong with me?

I think some people have more writing talent than others but everyone can improve by reading a lot, writing a lot and giving yourself time to edit/improve what you write. My POV is that there probably isn't anything wrong with you. You can do this!

@TunedOut thank you!

I believe the best way to improve writing is through reading. Read everything you can, starting from the classics to more modern literature.

I've never used "a priori," "de facto," and "a posteriori" in a sentence or paper. Ever. And I consider myself a highly skilled writer.

@LiteraryLark

I've seen those Latin phrases in peer-reviewed papers on occasion. I am just curious why the author(s) chose to use those words, as opposed to alternative words/phrases. I also wondered if those words are warranted, given the statistical analyses they were describing.

My goal is to learn how to be a better writer for peer-reviewed papers (scientific papers). This is why I thought of those words. Plus, I like cool words like that. --I know that sounds silly, but, like a child, I want to learn how to use them and when to use them and why I'd be using them.

I also want to learn how to be more economical with my writing, and to be more parsimonious. I'm verbose, and that's a horrible character flaw of mine. I explain too much, and it's probably due to a combo of things, including my anxiety, my low confidence at times, my fears, etc.

Do you have access to a writing tool like Grammarly or Prowriting Aid? I use Prowritingaid and I absolutely love it! I learn every time I use it. I write a piece out and plug it in and the program lets me know where I need to tweak or change something to better it. There is a free version you can use or you can purchase the web editor for 40 bucks a year.

I agree that reading a lot is the best way to become a better writer.

When I first wanted to write, I had no idea how much was involved in writing.

And with all due respect to my friends here, if you want to be better at something, you need to actually practice.

If you want to start jogging, where do you start? Or better your cooking skills? Reliable recipes, yes, but you need to do the recipes live in your kitchen. So, yes, reading quality writing is important, but so is actually writing.

Also, you'll need feedback from experienced writers and there are OODLES of writing communities online.

Here's a link for you to see:
Top Websites for Writers: 10 Online Writing Communities | Writer's Digest

Have fun!!

@HappyCrafter - Thank you for the link! You're right! I need to practice. The problem is, when I practice, I'm way too verbose. So, I need to practice and get feedback.

I get writer's block or maybe writer's anxiety so easily. I don't procrastinate, but I tend to throw every idea I can think of out there so that I don't forget it (or so that I don't dissociate and forget it), but then it becomes so much that I need to tighten, condense, omit, and reword. It takes a lot out of me to write an essay, but I really love to do it. I just don't have all the skills yet to do it faster. My energy also gets depleted easily.

I'll check out the website referral.

@lillib

I hear you; I have to write ideas down and when I sit down to write, it starts out jumbled and sometimes I leave it for a day or so and go back to it. That's part of the process and getting thoughts organized. And I write every day! I have to! It is wonderful for getting the toxic waste I inherited off of my chest and out of my head.

Another thing, babes, you are learning about your writing, your style and what works for you, in your uniqueness! Experiment and have fun!! xoxox

I went to school forever and have written a lot. Don't even worry about that Latin stuff--it will virtually never come up and when it does, you can just google it.

Hey @lillib

How to Be a Good Writer
I am an English Lit graduate and if you need an opinion or something and you want to pm me feel free. I often help people with their school work and papers. I am not an official tutor but I should be. I googled something and found this link but I havent read it yet because I am on my way to the shower. I hope it helps I just wanted to write a quick reply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lillib I aced all my courses during my undergrad years and published a paper with the help of others, but my writing and vocabulary still suck. I was born and raised in the US, but my writing has gone downhill after taking a break from school after I graduated. Now I am looking at grad school. I may actually get accepted, but I am terrified that I regressed into a poor writer. I love reading peer-reviewed articles, but they intimidate me whenever I see many words I do not know. Admittedly, I still have no clue when it is appropriate to use "a priori," "de facto," and "a posteriori" in a paper or a sentence. Even after having read the definitions. Is there something wrong with me?

@sarahsweets - Thank you! I have not yet figured out how to use this PsychCentral site, but I can use all the help I can get! I like to edit my own papers, so I save the editing of grammar as the very last step. That said, I forgot a lot of the rules of grammar, and I need to build my vocabulary. I also want to study for the GRE (though it isn't needed for my Master's of Science program I am applying to, but it will be needed in about 4 years when I apply to PhD programs in criminal justice or interdisciplinary studies - that is, if my health doesn't take a toll). Either way, I want to enrich my life with learning how to write better. I've read so many peer-review journals but very few fiction books. The writing styles are all different, but the ways in which the authors utilize words are impressive. Even when I read posts on PsychCentral, I'm impressed by the writing of professionals. I write so basic. I don't know how I got straight-A's as an undergrad, or how I got to publish a peer-reviewed paper from my honor's thesis, but I can only assume that it was the help of others, not my writing alone. I've read so many of my peers' papers, and they wrote way better than me (even though some didn't earn the high grades I had earned, which baffled me).

My words are so simple, with the exception of the jargon I know. I want to learn more strong verbs, better transitions, better nouns, and how to write more succinctly. I'm so verbose, and that is not good. I like details so much that I forget that people only want to see the forest - the big picture.

Anyway, I'll PM you - probably next month because my energy levels are being used up this month with my my new VA appointments, my interview on Thursday with a criminal justice professor, and with really wanting to get used to being in this online support group - which has helped me adjust better to my new living arrangements.

I probably won't need help with my papers, since I want to really master those on my own and show my own work without any influences other than the professors I'd be working with (hopefully next year - Fall 2020, or no later than Spring 2021). But, what I do need help with is practice exercises such as: Write a sentence with X, Y, and Z. Then you'd correct it and suggest changing it, or suggest that I write it in a different way to see the difference in styles, etc.

Also, I don't mind constructive criticism. If I babble on, you can always "out me" and suggest an alternative way of writing more succinctly, or omitting things that I really didn't need to say, or showing me where my wordiness is. Those are critical flaws I have, and I'm okay with criticism and correction.

Thank you so much for offering!

I hope you have a very relaxing and fun day today! I will definitely PM you by next month, if not sooner if I can.

Grammarly although supposed to be 'free' in its basic form is otherwise costly per month. For example, their Premium monthly subscription is $29.95 per month, but becomes cheaper if you 'sub quarterly


A much better one I found is British Council.org which I think will be very useful. It has rules to make 'LearnEnglish a fun and safe place to improve your English' by following their board's guidelines.

I hope this can be helpful to you.

Grammarly, in my opinion, is cool. But $29.95 a month exceeds my budget. It still interests me how they come up with their algorithms for correcting writing.


A better way is trial and error.

Revision helps improve writing as well.


I think writing every day would help anyone interested to become a better writer. But then read what you've written sometime with a red pen (or its computer-driven counterpart) and revise!


Writing is a big part of my life. Perhaps I'm biased towards thinking that everyone should learn how to write. However, I still think there's some truth to the sentiment.


Happy writing!

There's no way I'll pay $29.95 or even the equivalent in Pounds Sterling. But that British Council.org is a mighty good place to start, and, it's free.

Since you asked, if you've been trained to use Calculus, then you would know it's used for building algorithms. Though I'm not a mathematician, one application I can think of is its use in optimization, which leads to applications in Machine Learning. If you're interested, you can see it in action in this basic Machine Learning lecture from Stanford: pdf http://cs229.stanford.edu/notes/cs229-notes1.pdf

Every morning I sprinkle matrix derivatives on my cornflakes.

Enjoy your writing.

Half an hour ago my daughter found this interesting writing site, called 750 Words.

750 Words - Write every day.

It's more about writing ('getting into your brain') than actual learning. But you should have fun putting to practise a regular writing regime, and being most encouraged for it by other writers. It's a husband and wife team who are also on Twitter and Facebook. I think it's worth trying, and if you have a bash at it, please let us know how well you did.

@sarahsweets

You actually can be an official tutor and get paid for it. I'm not sure if there are companies out there. I once volunteered for an Immigration-based Company to help Asian Immigrants learn the English language, though I only got trained for a few hours (received a certificate) and tutored (for free) at the 0 to 1 level of English (I taught adult immigrants the ABC's and writing simple sentences, without knowing their language at all).

Anyway, you're more advanced than that, but there are organizations that would pay you, or there are ways for you to start your own tutoring business, I think. I have no idea how that would work, but if you know English really well, I'm sure you'd make a great tutor!

Maybe community colleges might consider hiring you part-time for their English/Communications departments. Maybe your former professors can make suggestions as well - at the University level.

--These are just thoughts for consideration.

As you know, some of your posts on the Psychotherapy thread caught my attention. So I decided to see what other sorts of things you post here. (FYI, it would not be easy to trace my history on PC in a similar way as I closed my account with years of posting a while ago, and the current one is... well, more current and limited.)

I just wanted to respond to this and say that, IMO, you are already a terrific writer! One reason I was drawn to your posts on the other forum: they are not only very rich in interesting and valuable information but are also heartfelt and expressed very well - very clear, thoughtful, logical and graphic in ways that do not disturb but have an effect to draw in someone who loves depth and quality

I tend to be super conscious and sometimes paranoid about my writing as well. What adds to it is that English is not my first language, and I never feel confident enough that I can master it well enough in the ways I would like to. It is my language of preference now, both spoken and written (over my mother tongue), but I always carry a certain level of insecurity and self-doubt that I could ever use it in a way that aligns with my internal standards. I know that I have a good affinity for this language (studied a few other languages as well before)... also for appropriate grammar and using words and descriptions meaningfully in any language. I won competitions in essay writing and grammar in my childhood, in my first language. In other words, I know I am naturally articulate and am often praised for it. Native English speakers now often use me as an editor or to write essays from scratch. Still, there is always self-doubt. I am not sure about you - for me, it stems from some very high standards regarding quality, accuracy and precision. Part of me loves to have these standards because it calls for continuous improvement, but part of me does not like it so much because I often procrastinate due it, I withhold my input, expressions and publications due to feeling it is not good and complete enough yet. Also, I have lived in the US now for many years, and previously in the UK, and I often hate that I have an accent to my speech that I just cannot shred.

What I've found the most (mentally) helpful is to get external feedback on my writing. >90% of the time it is abundantly positive and encouraging, which counters my sometimes delusional and overly self-critical feelings that cause stagnation and creative blocks. Practically, I really don't think I need much help and can improve my vocabulary, grammar, style etc via quality reading books and articles, which is already my first favorite activity anyway.

As you can see, I also tend to be quite verbose... but I have many opportunities that actually force me to be succinct and make better, focused, more linear and easier summaries. Maybe exercise writing limited-word abstracts or tailoring your thought to different kinds of audiences. In any case, I mostly just wanted to say (after this ramble) that I like what I have seen of your writing style a lot. Depth and examining issues from many different angles just cannot come in 5-10 sentences usually! And being so sensitive to quality won't make it easier to accept the flaws. It opens up our complex abilities and strengths though to coming up with really unique, innovative analyses and discussions! A continued desire to improve is great as well, IMO al least

@Xynesthesia2

Thank you so much for your reply. Your writing is superb! I would never have guessed that English is your second language, at least for the U.S. But the UK uses English, correct? Forgive me if I'm wrong, since I don't know much about the UK. From what I've read or seen in movies/shows/films, the UK has such a sophisticated language that I'm in awe sometimes when I hear their language and use certain words in their vocabulary. You definitely reveal such strengths in your writing.

I was born here, but I was also poor growing up. Studies have shown that youth in more affluent homes learn more words than their less affluent counterparts. I'm a statistic in that regard; I was raised primarily around slang instead of proper English. I grew up in various 'hoods, as they would say in slang. I may be half-Japanese and half-White, but my mixed race with Asian does not mean that I'm smarter, well versed, or well poised. I'm one of the few races with this mix who have been seen among homeless populations, veteran populations, or in clinical settings. Like one of my mentors said to me, I'm an "outlier."

I need improvements in my writing in these areas: 1. tightening sentences, and 2. learning stronger verbs and nouns. I also need a refresher on grammar.

It sounds like you are doing really well with your acclimating to the U.S.! I would have never guessed from your writing that you were from another country. That's amazing!