Becoming a better writer takes time, and a lot of practice. I've been writing fairly seriously for a decade now and I know there's still plenty of room for improvement.

And, of course, however good you are at writing, you'll need to spend at least some time editing: weeding out weak words and phrases, and making your writing as strong as it can be. Again, this takes time.

I've learnt over the years, though, that there are a few almost-instant ways to improve many pieces of writing:

Many writers (me included) tend to "warm up" at the start of a piece. Next time you write a blog post (or newsletter article, or a scene of your novel), see whether you can cut the first paragraph or even the first sentence. If it's not adding anything to the piece, taking it out will give you a stronger start.

These can be hard to spot in your own writing ... but if you find you've (unintentionally) used the same word several times within a few paragraphs, grab your thesaurus and look for some synonyms. If there's not a good alternative, reworking the sentence or simply cutting it altogether can often work.

For more on repetition, check out my blog post Why Repetition Can Be Powerful ... and How to Get it Right.

When I review blog posts, this is probably the most common mistake I see: the post simply ends, without any sense of conclusion or rounding-off. This can feel oddly abrupt for the reader. If you're writing short stories or novels, it's also crucial to make sure your ending is satisfying. The last impression you leave readers with is the one they'll remember!

As a writer, you're always learning and improving, with every word you write ... but you can use these three tips as a shortcut to better writing, right now.