… I’m looking to increase my vocabulary and improve my writing.
You see, while writing the walkthrough and various shrine pages for my latest “production”, I found myself not knowing what to write or how to convey my ideas clearly. Even here, I am struggling to string a series of words together in an effort to make this post a bit more of a pleasure to read.
I’ve been out of school for 8 months, and I have now returned, but I feel my mind has gotten a bit slow, and it’s really affecting my self-esteem and motivation. Does anyone have any recommendations as to what I could do? I’m certain that reading more would help, as I haven’t actually seriously read anything in a long while (though I was quite the bookworm in grade school). Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Patricipate in debates. I don’t think it comes naturally to too many people to be able to explain things clearly and precisely, its something you learn (and that doesn’t go away).
Something I foudn that helped with my writing a lot was, in fact, a direct result of this site. Writing original or fan fiction can help improve writing skills. My FFnet track record is proof of this. Don’t laugh.
Use a thesaurus (coupled with a dictionary), especially if you find yourself using the same word over and over. The plus side of this is that you can also find words that more explicitely convey the connotation you’re aiming for. Thesauri (and dictionaries) are also useful in making sure the word you’re using is actually the right words for the situation at hand. I always have dictionary.com in a window when I’m writing stuff for shrines.
Just be careful not to get too sesquipedalian when you’re writing. The object is to convey a clear message, not confuse everybody.
