No one is bad at anything as always until they found the right way to do it better.
Writing used to be one of my weaknesses. And I have struggled for years to understand and conquer it. I don’t say my writing now is perfect because there’s still a lot to improve.
But I expect my story will inspire you to come on the writing career path.
Source: Oxford House
My “Poor Writing” Story
I was not so good at writing at school. The highest score for my essays was only 5.5 out of 10.
I wrote everything I thought. But unfortunately, my thought was so messed up that my essays became poorly-organized accordingly. Let alone they were full of emotions without much logic.
Even when I was small, my writings were so terrible that my mother had to write some sample essays for me to imitate.
My Literature teachers often deeply sighed when looking at my essays. Some complained about how difficult they were to understand.
I didn’t know how to write structured essays. And I managed to pass the university entrance exam with a very bad score, 5/10.
Everything didn't change when I went on campus.
The school’s media team refused to include my article on the student publication because of "too long" with "too many unnecessary parts".
My individual assignments got bad marks because of “too theoretical” or “lack of paragraphing”.
Until I enrolled for an IELTS course.
How Ielts Writing Helps Me Stay Organized
Ielts is an international exam to test how proficiently non-English speakers use this language.
It tests your four skills, including Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.
Ielts Writing taught me to write everything with a simple formula:
Core idea, then Supporting ideas and Examples
This recipe makes my ideas better-organized, more eligible and easier to read.
Look at this topic as an example:
“Smoking is bad for your health. Agree or not?”
If my answer is YES, so:
Core idea: Smoking is harmful for people health.
Supporting idea: Tobacco contains some substances that generate many poisonous chemicals when being burnt.
Supporting idea: Such chemicals are linked to such deadly disease as cancer.
Example: US researchers indicate that the morality rate for smokers are three times that of those who never smoke.
Making some main points in your writing is not hard. But what should you do next? In other words, how can you produce subsequent ideas to support the main one?
So many students ask me this question when learning Ielts Writing. But this is not only their problems. Many people out there also don't know what to next after saying YES to question.
So just do this exercise: so what?-because.
I think smoking is bad for our health. So what?
Because tobacco contains some substances that generate many poisonous chemicals when being burnt. So what?
Because such chemicals are linked to such deadly disease as cancer. So what?
Because US researchers indicate that the morality rate for smokers are three times that of those who never smoke. So what?
...
Ann Handley mentioned this method in her best-selling book, Everyone Writes. It's a critical exercise to express your ideas clearly. Therefore, it also shows your readers what they will achieve from your content.
“Bad” Doesn’t Mean “Incapable” as Always
I used to be bad at writing at school.
But I received rave reviews from my Ielts teacher for good writing.
I was the only candidate who obtained the highest appreciation for "attractive" content at Wietnam Wiza.
I was assigned higher-level projects a few months after becoming a Content Writer at HPFX Publishing.
And well, as you see, I'm now a writer no matter how bad my writing skills were in the past.
So, BAD doesn't mean INCAPABLE as always.
Final Words
Just remember, to make your writing of all kinds well-organized, you should follow the basic principle:
Core Idea -> Supporting Idea and Examples
However, this is just the first step of becoming a good writer. To know more about how to produce content better, you can register for relevant courses or read relevant materials.
See more:
Everyone Writes - The Best Book Every Content Writer Should Read
If I can become a writer, you can as well.
Practice makes perfect. No matter whether you want to become a writer or something, you still can do it, as long as you never stop studying and practicing.
But before doing so, you should understand yourselves first and discover the right way to develop your desired skills.
See more: Turning Weakness to Strength: A Journey to Better Know Yourself!
That's my story! And you? Is there anything difficult you met when learning something? Please share with me and others in the comment below.