Writing has always been my true passion in life, hence why I decided to do a degree that involves 80% writing and 20% reading. Therefore, I'd like to think that I've become pretty good at it over the years (and I say this, cringing at how pretentious that sentence sounds). I have my own style, flair and I think I'm allow to take a little bit of pride in my ability to craft a sentence. I'm definitely not perfect, and I'm certainly no Oscar Wilde or Bronte sister, but I do enjoy writing and I want to improve to the best of my ability with every passing post. 

Today I thought I would share some of my writing tips that are versatile enough to apply to anyone, be you an experienced blogger, professional author or someone who struggles with a certain area of writing. This is not going to be one of those "I'm an English student therefore my word is gospel and I know better than you" type of posts. In fact, I'm doing my best to keep away from that tone of superiority because that's simply not me. These tips are essentially lessons I've learned along the way that might help anyone who feels disheartened or out of sync with their own style of writing.

DON'T CENSOR YOURSELF
There appears to be this silent belief in the blogging world that in order to be successful, you have to write and conduct yourself in a prim and proper way. No swearing, no controversial opinions and you have the be enthusiastic and positive about everything - even that terrible beauty product that brought you out in a rash. Bonus points for overusing multiple !!! at the end of every sentence. Blog writing seems to be focused around being PR and brand friendly, and having a deliberately fake and positive attitude about everything and anything. Well, I'm here to tell you that censoring yourself and your opinions is one of the worst things you can do. If you think a product is awful, say it. If you think the latest beauty craze is simply fucking awful, say it. Even if you were sent a product for free to review, and it didn't work for you, you didn't like it or the brand turned out to be shitty, say it. I would rather read an honest review of something, with optional curse words and a multitude of opinions any day, over a review or post that comes across as sickeningly sweet and fake. Exclamation points - optional. As a writer, you're blessed with the ability to articulate your opinions in an honest and true to yourself manner, and it saddens me that more and more bloggers seem too afraid to be honest about things they dislike.


LET YOUR THOUGHTS FLOW FREELY
We all get struck with inspiration to write at the strangest of times, and then spend way too much of that time thinking about how to construct sentences, organise and struggling to put pen to paper. One of the best pieces of writing advice I have ever been given, is that writing anything should flow as naturally from you as a river flows into a lake. If you've been bitten by the writing bug, and just cannot wait to put your thoughts into words, start writing the moment you feel that inspiration bubbling away inside. Write until you run out of steam and can write no longer. If the post isn't finished, leave it and come back to it later. That's the wonderful thing about editing, and it takes me days to finish even one post because, when I feel my thoughts completely evaporate from my brain, I have to leave whatever I'm writing and come back to it later. Therefore I have more time to think, distract myself and allow inspiration to return, instead of forcing a post out of my brain in one go, hating it, deleting everything and thinking, "Now what?"


PUNCTUATION IS IMPORTANT
Maybe this is the English student in me rearing her obnoxious little head, but punctuation is really important, and also easy to neglect. Even I forget where to put commas or start a new sentence sometimes, and you should see how appalling my spelling is before I proof-read and spellcheck everything! But from my own point of view, nothing frustrates me more than a post with sentences that go on and on and on - I usually forget how the sentence started and I have to go back and read it all over again. I see so many people commit the most basic of grammatical errors; no capital letters or full stops, not capitalising the letter "I" when you're talking about yourself and of course, the dreaded over-excited exclamation points. Note: this is not my way of saying you have to drop in random bits of punctuation just to prove a point, nor am I saying that I don't enjoy reading posts that may not be focused on the grammar aspect to writing. This is merely a point to consider if you're seriously looking to improve your style of writing. 



A THESAURUS IS UNNECESSARY
Admittedly, I'm guilty of making posts too wordy and I definitely come across as sounding pretentious when I get into the swing of writing. It's really difficult to turn off the "academic essay" part of my brain when I start to write. My boyfriend can't stand being around me when I come out of an exam or a lecture because he says my tone of voice and style of speaking completely changes when I'm in literature mode. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to sound like a walking thesaurus when you write. I love reading posts that are written where I can imagine the poster actually speaking in the same manner they write in, and I equally enjoy posts that sound like a Jane Austen novel. That's just my preference, but you don't have to conform to that style of writing at all. As long as you come across as yourself, and get your words out there, how you say it really doesn't matter at all.

LOVE WHAT YOU DO AND DO WHAT YOU LOVE
Writing should never be a hassle or a chore for anyone. We should do our best to make the process as enjoyable as possible, and I truly believe that every piece of writing I create has a little bit of me wrapped up inside, and hopefully that comes across to readers. As long as you continue to love and enjoy the art of writing and publish posts you are proud of, you're onto a winning combination. "Do what you love and love what you do," has become my personal mantra as of late, and I think it speaks volumes about my own creative thinking process and philosophy about everything I do. If you continue to write about subjects that make YOU happy, and that you feel comfortable with, excited about and proud to share, it will present itself in such a positive and genuine way. Don't feel as though you have to step outside of your comfort zone, because you feel pressured to create jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, revolutionary pieces of writing. Not everyone is like that, and I would rather read a beauty review post that's lovely, genuine and well-written, than any post that is trying too hard to be something it's not.



Hopefully you leave this post today feeling inspired to write, as that's exactly what I hoped to achieve through writing this. Remember, write in a way that's totally true to who you are as a person and as a blogger / writer. 

What is one of your own writing tips? I would love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading, until next time.

Rachel