New year, new you. Well, we hope not completely new—we liked you the way you were last year. That said, the change in calendar does offer a nice opportunity to recalibrate, and today’s eTip recommends some potential writing resolutions for the new year.
This year, I resolve to . . .
Establish a daily writing routine.
Blocking off a brief period (15–20 minutes) each day for uninterrupted writing will help you keep up with writing tasks and build your writing muscles, which in turn will help you write faster and more clearly.
Read my emails out loud before clicking send.
Reading your writing out loud will help you avoid silly and embarrassing errors.
Write something (proposal, email, letter) that will improve some aspect of my work situation.
Building a persuasive case requires logical claims, convincing support, and strong appeals to your reader.
Become a more confident writer.
Writing isn’t easy for anyone. The old maxim goes, “Easy reading makes darn hard writing.” However, through practice and support, you can become more comfortable and confident with writing.
Brush up on my grammar.
Are you unsure when to use reflexive pronouns? Are you unclear what the term reflexive pronoun even means? That's okay! A common misconception is that you have to know every grammar rule to write well. That’s simply not true. However, it is important to understand and avoid serious errors that inhibit communication and to know where to turn when you have a grammar question.
Find a trusted colleague to review my writing.
Teamwork makes the dream work. Writing always benefits from an extra set of eyes. Asking for feedback from a trusted peer is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Make time for revision.
Revising is possibly the most important step of the writing process but also the most frequently skipped and misunderstood. Your goal when revising is to check and improve your ideas, organization, voice, words, and sentences—but not your grammar. (Save that for a separate editing step).
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