Amanda Roberts

   Hi there. Amanda here, your friendly Shenzhen Daily copy editor. I’m the person who goes through all of the Budding Writers articles and edits them to make sure they are error-free for publishing. If you have ever submitted to Budding Writers, you have probably noticed a big difference between what you submit and what is printed. That is okay! Writing is a process, and editing is a big part of that process. All writers — even me! — need editors. We can all always improve our writing — even me! But here are some tips that can help you improve your writing.

    1) Keep it simple. Too many writers, especially young writers, try to make their writing look sophisticated by using complex sentences, fancy punctuation, and big words. This is often a mistake. If you use grammar or vocabulary that you are unfamiliar with, you are more likely to use it incorrectly, which will hurt your writing. Your writing will be clearer and more powerful if you use the writing skills you have instead of trying to wield skills you don’t have yet.

    2) Read your submission out loud. We always think we know what we have written, but that often isn’t what we actually wrote. Our brains know what we meant to write, so if we make mistakes, our brains compensate for those mistakes, which means we don’t see them. Reading what you wrote out loud forces you to slow down and read what you actually wrote instead of what you think you wrote. Your ears will catch mistakes your eyes missed.

    3) Ask for help. There is no shame in asking for help. You don’t have to ask a professional editor for help, just a friend or parent can offer valuable writing feedback. They don’t have to be grammar experts, but they can at least help you with content. Did what you wrote make sense? What did they like? What didn’t they like? What do they think you should change? You can revise what you wrote based on reader feedback.

    4) Revise, revise, revise! As I said, writing is a process. You never want to submit your first draft for publication (or for a grade in your writing class). Write your first draft, then write it again, then ask for feedback, then write it again, then read it out loud, and then write it again. You want your submission to be the best representative of what you can write, not just something you threw together at the last minute.

    Hopefully these tips will help you be a stronger writer. What are some of your writing tips? Feel free to write to us at the Shenzhen Daily and let your fellow readers know how to be better writers.