Part 2 - Dramatically Improve Your Article Writing Almost Immediately Using These Five Easy Ways

When the Preliminaries Are Completed
After the preliminaries had been completed; choosing a topic, narrowing the article focus and outlining the format of the article, we looked at our first two writing improvement target areas. These were using English language spell check and grammar check to aid in avoiding the kinds of errors that tick editors off and send readers scurrying for the delete button – or worse. We’ll continue our how to listing of five easy ways to dramatically improve your article writing with number three.

3. Add Relevant Quotes
There are examples of quotes everywhere. Whenever you watch the news on TV, hear it on the radio or read an article in a newspaper or magazine, they’re all conspicuous for their use of relevant quotes. He said, she said, they said – all lend authority and substance to virtually any prose. So, who’s an “authority”? Anybody can be: your family, your friends, witnesses, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, even your learners. “Am I really an authority?” asked sixth grade teacher, Sonia Ruby Cortez. Absolutely, when it comes to what goes on in her class room she’s an absolute authority, and can express her personal opinions as such as well. Don’t forget, you’re an authority too. Be sure to brush up on the “Reported Speech” elements of English grammar.

4. Add Related Facts and Statistics
Almost nothing else lends an air of authority and depth to a written or spoken piece like the judicious use of relevant facts and statistics. This holds true for oral and written discourse in almost all of the world’s 6912 languages including English. You can easily scoop up relevant facts and statistics from newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs and of course, online from literally camel-loads of websites. You really should maintain a generous set of ready references near your writing place or computer. There are numerous excellent available online references which are free and easy to use as well.

5. Compile Re-Useable References
Whenever you reference an article, statistic, fact, quote or other “fair and best use” of other works, you must always copy and save the source of the information. Not only will this aid you in compiling a list of bibliographical references, but provide you with a starting point for delving into additional work at a later time when researching similar or related topics in the future. This source listing includes images, photos and other graphics too. Some editors will ask for them outright, but whether they do or not, you should be professional enough and organized enough to maintain your references listings as you research, draft and write your article.

So Finally
If you’ll make a concerted effort to have and use the above mentioned references and writing aids, your articles and other writing, whether professional, academic, personal or casual can improve most dramatically by eliminating the most common causes of English errors and mistakes that occur in most forms of writing. The only other problem now is the writing or article content, and that my friend, is still solely up to only “you-know-who”.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 80 countries. Get your FREE E-books,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" or "7 Techniques to Motivate Your English Language Learners and Make Your Classes More Dynamic" by requesting the title you want at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Dramatically Improve Your Article Writing Almost Immediately Using These Five Easy Ways - Part 1

Is Your Writing Ready Yet?
You’ve chosen a topic, narrowed down the focus, perhaps drafted an outline to keep your writing organized and now you’re ready to write. How well the finished piece, whether an article, essay, paper, editorial, composition, report, letter, ad, blog posts or other copy in English “comes out” will depend on a few additional key aspects. If you don’t want editors ticked off, or your reader heading for the hills, you’ll need to consider these improvement aspects to fine tune the “details” of your writing.

How to Dramatically Improve
You can dramatically improve your article and other writing almost immediately in these five easy ways.

1. Use Spell Check
Sometimes, even most of the time, it isn’t your fault. The keys stick on the keyboard, you miss a key strike, you stumble over a frequently misspelled word or you simply make a mistake. We all do it. It’s no big deal, but it ticks off editors and readers alike when a string of misspellings mars our writing. On occasion, my computer software will change a word from what I’ve typed in to another, incorrect, one. Does that ever happen to you?

How to Avoid Bad Spelling
Bad spelling whether from a mistake or uncertainty is avoidable though. How? By using the spell check function in MS Word or other word processing software. Whenever those squiggly little red lines show up under a word, check the spelling option on your computer. Don’t forget, as a writer you should have a good dictionary or two on hand too. Sometimes, the computer will not “know” a perfectly good word like “blog”.

2. Use Grammar Check
Alright, so I’m a university level English language professor and a grammarian, but you don’t have to be. If you have gaps in your English grammar skills or knowledge (don’t we all), then don’t worry. There’s an easy cure. Use the spell check function of MS Word to keep an eye on things for you. Whenever those squiggly little green lines show up under a phrase or sentence, it’s time to look at the suggested correction or whip out your English grammar text reference. If you don’t have a good one then it’s time for a trip to your local bookstore. Capiche?

In part two of this two-part article, we’ll look at the use of relevant facts and quotes, statistics and references to boost the authority of your writing and provide an added measure of improvement to your articles.


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 80 countries. Get your FREE E-books,"If you Want to Teach English Abroad, Here's What You Need to Know" or "7 Techniques to Motivate Your English Language Learners and Make Your Classes More Dynamic" by requesting the title you want at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com