What Makes a Good Writer? 8 Tips to Help You Write Better

Discover the key qualities that separate good writers from average ones and gain 8 valuable tips to elevate your own writing.

Writing is more than just a profession—it’s an art. Exceptional writers master their craft and effectively use language to ensure their readers fully understand. With an overwhelming amount of content being created each day, the pressure is on for content marketers, bloggers, creators, and advertisers to produce clear, valuable, and effective writing.

Luckily, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll break down what it takes to be a good writer and provide practical advice to help you improve your skills. And if you need some assistance along the way, we’ve got just the tool to simplify and structure your writing process.

Top 8 Qualities for Becoming a Better Writer

If you want to enhance your writing skills, these eight tips are a must for all good writers, regardless of the genre:

1. Master Discipline

Discipline is vital for success as a writer. From dedicating time each day to write, to organizing your thoughts to ensure clarity, discipline is a key skill to develop as a writer. Great ideas require time to develop and refine, and the practice of revising your work is crucial.

TL;DR: Developing discipline through a consistent writing routine is essential to create exceptional content.

2. Pay Attention to Details

Accurate details are what make writing powerful and enables writers to effectively convey emotions. Attention to detail extends beyond content—it includes formatting, readability, and self-editing. Great structure and formatting can transform a mundane article into an engaging one. A good writer pays attention to headers, consistent formatting, grammar, content length, and the language used to connect with their audience.

TL;DR: Attention to detail enhances the clarity, strength, and accuracy of your writing. Be specific in your ideas and consider formatting and readability choices.

3. Embrace the Power of Storytelling

Humans are naturally drawn to storytelling. Stories create emotional connections, inspire, and leave a lasting impact. By incorporating storytelling into your writing, you can explain complex ideas, engage readers, and convey your values. A good story has relatable characters, speaks to its audience, evokes emotions, and shares a core message.

Infuse storytelling into your writing by connecting your concept to relatable feelings, presenting a problem and its solution, and showing how your solution fits into the reader’s life.

TL;DR: Storytelling connects with readers on an emotional level and aids in memory retention. Utilize storytelling techniques to make your writing more relatable and impactful.

4. Connect the Dots

Successful writers understand the importance of creating cohesive and flowing writing. Seamless transitions between paragraphs and a clear structure with a beginning, middle, and end are crucial. Connecting the dots in your writing allows readers to easily follow your thoughts and ideas.

To achieve this, writers should have a clear understanding of their overall goal, break it down into steps, and seamlessly connect each part of their piece.

TL;DR: Connecting the dots in your writing ensures a smooth flow and allows readers to easily follow your ideas.

5. Get to Know Your Readers

When it comes to writing, it’s all about connecting with your audience. To ensure that your writing resonates, you need to write with your readers in mind.

To do this effectively, it’s important for good writers to understand their audience on a deeper level. This includes knowing their demographics, their interests, the terms they use, and the style of writing they prefer. By understanding who your readers are as people, you can tailor your writing to meet their needs and establish strong emotional connections.

Knowing your audience also helps you determine the appropriate tone, vocabulary, and how to address any questions or concerns they may have.

Want to learn more about your audience? Engage with them, conduct research, or even run a survey.

TL;DR: A good writer understands their audience and writes to meet their specific needs. Conduct in-depth research to gain a better understanding of your readers.

6. Offer Fresh Perspectives

The best writing opens up new perspectives for readers, positioning the writer as a thought leader.

Take Van Gogh’s iconic painting, “Starry Night,” for example. While everyone may have seen the same night sky with the same stars, it was Van Gogh’s unique perspective, with its swirls of color and new shapes, that brought the artwork to life.

Good writers have a similar ability with words – they can transform a familiar story into something entirely new and captivating.

To offer fresh perspectives, you must be willing to dive deep into your reflections on a topic. Clarify what you want to explore and find different ways to expand your thoughts. If you’re struggling to come up with new content ideas, try Amanda Natividad’s top three tips for content generation.

Readers love encountering new ideas, and clear writing that effectively explains your thoughts will make you a star in your own right.

You can even take it a step further by interviewing industry experts. By sharing their insights, you’ll enhance your credibility as a writer and provide a broader perspective on the topic.

TL;DR: Presenting new perspectives in your writing will make it shine. Focus on sharing fresh ideas or offering a different viewpoint to provide readers with new insights and keep them engaged.

7. Embrace a Rich Vocabulary

These last two points go hand in hand. Having an extensive vocabulary comes with reading widely. And the more you read, the larger your vocabulary becomes.

With a robust vocabulary, you have a wide array of words at your disposal to express concepts clearly. By using words with specific meanings, you can avoid confusion or ambiguity in your writing. Consider how you might describe a sunny day. You could simply say, “It was sunny and hot outside.” Or you could choose words like, “The sun beat down mercilessly from a cloudless sky.” Certain words paint a more vivid picture for your readers.

Selecting the right words for each occasion sets your writing apart. A broad vocabulary also allows you to incorporate interesting and unique words that keep readers engaged.

However, it’s important to remember that the primary goal of good writing is effective communication, not showcasing fancy words. Your readers need to grasp your concepts clearly, and your vocabulary should support that objective, not hinder it.

One tip for expanding your vocabulary is to try your hand at creative writing. When there are no boundaries or rules, you’re more likely to discover new words that resonate with you.

TL;DR: Clear writing relies on utilizing the best possible vocabulary to convey ideas without confusing readers. Strengthen your writing skills by reading more and practicing creative writing.

8. Cultivate a Love for Reading

You can’t be a good writer unless you’re a good reader. A love for reading often translates into a passion for stories, storytelling, and crafting ideas. And this goes beyond reading on social media – it’s about diving into articles, books, and other long-form writing.

Reading stimulates your imagination and exposes you to new ways of thinking, keeping your creativity fresh and inspired. Those who read and write are more likely to excel in their creative endeavors.

Reading widely allows all writers to refine their thoughts, discover new perspectives, and develop their expertise. By immersing yourself in specific subjects through reading, you’ll gain a thorough understanding that will enhance your writing.

To further enhance your skills through reading, good writers engage in active reading. They study the techniques of great writers, both on and off the page. By dissecting articles and reverse-engineering the writing process, they learn how to conduct research, craft better sentences, and improve their overall writing style.

TL;DR: Reading is essential for becoming a good writer. A love for reading nurtures a passion for storytelling and ideas. Dive into a variety of reading materials to refine your thoughts, gain new perspectives, and develop your expertise as a writer.

Discover How Jasper Can Revolutionize Your Writing

Struggling to become a great writer? Don’t worry, we understand. As a content marketer, coming up with compelling and engaging content can be a time-consuming task, especially if you’re aiming to grow your business. But fear not, because Jasper is here to save the day.

Jasper is not your ordinary writing assistant. It’s an AI-powered marvel that can turbocharge your writing speed by up to five times! Equipped with the ability to analyze a whopping 10% of the internet, it has been trained by expert writers and comes armed with over 52+ writing templates.

Here’s how Jasper can take your writing to the next level:

1. Generate high-ranking topic ideas with our Blog Post Topic Ideas templates.
2. Craft captivating introductory and concluding paragraphs using our Blog Post Intro Paragraph and Blog Post Conclusion Paragraph templates.
3. Create search engine optimized product descriptions with our handy Product Description template.
4. Enhance the quality of your sentences with our Content Improver template.
5. Tap into the potential of publishing a book on Amazon with our Long-Form Assistant template.

Still not convinced? Witness the power of Jasper firsthand by checking out examples of books that have been successfully written with Jasper. Or better yet, hear from the hundreds of writers who already rely on writing tools like Jasper to improve their craft and save time.

But wait, there’s more! Our Facebook group, now under the name Jasper.ai, is a great place to connect with fellow writers and get valuable insights. Feel free to ask them what they think about writing and how Jasper has transformed their work.

Ready to take your writing to new heights? With Jasper, you can generate top-notch ideas and paragraphs that instantly resonate with your readers. It’s as easy as a few clicks. For a smooth start, be sure to explore our Jasper Bootcamp, offering step-by-step training to harness the full potential of Jasper.

Are you ready to scale your writing and reach your goals? Say hello to Jasper.ai and say goodbye to writer’s block and time-consuming content creation.