Ways to improve writing skills

[oralcare123]

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I am looking for ways to improve my writing skills. It is not so much grammar or vocabulary deficiency, I just do not know what to write and how to express myself. Recently I had to write eight secondary application essays, it was too difficult. Obviously English is not my first language, my TOEFL is 113
Please advise me where to look for special courses and what they could be called. Is it just creative writing or I should look for something else.
Thank you

 

[Quik]

If you're willing to take a course, excellent. I would suggest a technical writing course; mine was called "technical writing for scientists". I am a native english speaker but before taking this course had a very difficult time expressing my ideas in written form. I wrote in a spoken voice, with plenty of run-on sentences, poor paragraph structure, etc. It wasn't grammar, just a difficulty writing in a manner that was best for the reader.

 

[wholeheartedly]

every university (3) i've been too has a writing center where they can work with you on this sort of thing. i'd say look for one of those.

 

[oralcare123]

I am not in the university yet, but suspect, if I continue writing the way I do currently, they would never accept me.
I think I have the same problems as Quik. Would be great to learn to write and speak "like smart people".
I know the basic structure of an essay, but express myself in a spoken language.
Should I search community colleges for technical writing courses?

 

[Quik]

Should I search community colleges for technical writing courses?

I would. A writing center can and will offer help and support, but I would expect real gains to be made from a course that teaches you a foundation of skills to structure your literature.

The class I took was called "writing for business" (back when I was once a business major). I believe though, that any "writing for profession x" course should teach the same set of technical writing skills. The idea of technical writing in a very quick point is "maximize content with minimal wordage." I still haven't mastered the skill, but its better 😉

 

[FutureDrB]

Should I search community colleges for technical writing courses?

Be sure and research the course in depth if you can, before you enroll.

I only say this, because I took technical writing and it was nothing but a graphic design course...certainly wouldn't be beneficial to someone wanting to learn better grammar, sentence structure, composition, etc.

 

[oralcare123]

Thank you

 

[Dogcat1290]

READ!!!!!!! I'm not kidding, reading is really one of the best ways to improve your writing and I'm not talking about FB or sdn posts. A writing class will only give you so much in terms of grammar, composition, ect... and writing centers also are limited in its advice depending on who you talk to( I might be a bit biased but I've had bad experiences with writing centers :/). One of the most memorable pieces of advice a professor taught me was to open a book and read. Not only do you learn proper grammar and structure, you also learn to develop your own writing style that really stands out for readers. Heck you'll be surprised with how big your own vocabulary will expand! You can try classes but picking up a book will also be very valuable 🙂

 

[wholeheartedly]

This is actually really good advice as well.

Maybe you good suggest some things for the OP to start with?

READ!!!!!!! I'm not kidding, reading is really one of the best ways to improve your writing and I'm not talking about FB or sdn posts. A writing class will only give you so much in terms of grammar, composition, ect... and writing centers also are limited in its advice depending on who you talk to( I might be a bit biased but I've had bad experiences with writing centers :/). One of the most memorable pieces of advice a professor taught me was to open a book and read. Not only do you learn proper grammar and structure, you also learn to develop your own writing style that really stands out for readers. Heck you'll be surprised with how big your own vocabulary will expand! You can try classes but picking up a book will also be very valuable 🙂

 

[ridethecliche]

What do you mean you're not in university yet? Have you not gone to undergrad yet?

 

[oralcare123]

I am an internationally trained dentist. I need another 2 years of training in the university to be able to get licensed to practice

 

[SN12357]

This is actually really good advice as well.

Maybe you good suggest some things for the OP to start with?

I second the reading advice and actually suggestion reading the news (proper newspapers, not junk sites) as well as longform journalism (longreads.com is great). Novels and books are wonderful to read as well, of course, but reading journalism can be particularly helpful because they write nonfiction under tight deadlines and limited space, as you will often have to do professionally for any kind of writing. And it's much more interesting for leisure reading than scientific journals, although those are even more directly relevant.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Excellent suggestion above.

@oralcare123 I bet it would also be helpful if you could follow the suggestions in the above post with a friend, say read the same article or essay and talk about those different questions in career changers post.