Hi everyone, OP here. Writing has always been a struggle for me. I just started to post consistently on this blog two weeks ago. Didn't expect this to get to the front page of HN. I hope you guys find it helpful. I'd appreciate any feedback or comment on the post!
P.S: Fixed all the grammatical errors in the post.
Hey Adam, the content itself is great and the tips are bang on. However, I think you should proof read the article again. An article on 'Improving Your Writing' loses a lot of credibility when it has sentences like:
> The character, 'hotel' has does an action 'wanted'.
which should be:
> The character, 'hotel', has an action, 'wanted'.
It also seems like you rely on a single source, Williams and Colomb (1990). Is this your personal summary of that book? Do you recommend reading it, or do you believe your post captures the most important points?
1. Fixed the mistake :)
2. Yes, totally recommend it. I've read a few books on writing and I think this is the best so far. The way the authors discuss the mechanics of writing is refreshing. It'll give you a good framework not just to write, but also to think.
3. This post encapsulates what I learned from the book and my experience to improve my writing skill.
Thanks for making the post. Focusing on creating a clear thesis at the start of your blog will help your readers understand the purpose of your post.
The first paragraph communicates you've struggled with writing in the past, the second para says writing advice is often low quality, and the third paragraph explains the characteristics of good writing (hints at the thesis).
You could make a single thesis like this: "This post explains the characteristics of good writing and how I was able to improve my writing skills."
You could continue with "learning to write well was a great personal struggle, especially because writing training materials didn't help". That could also be considered a separate thesis for a different post.
Paragraphs like these can be made more concise:
> Most writers struggle to write well when the subjects use technical terms. Technical terms are confusing when they are not introduced properly. This technique is helpful when communicating complex information that requires technical terms. When you introduce complex information, design the sentence that it appears in, so that you can locate that term at the end.
Here's how you could reword it:
Technical writing is difficult, especially when the terminology is not properly introduced. It's best to introduce technical terms at the end of sentences.
P.S: Fixed all the grammatical errors in the post.