We all know that improving your craft of writing can help you land lucrative gigs, improve your communication with prospects and customers and can even help you do well in jobs where you are not paid to write. So, where do you look online for inspiration to improve your writing skills? Fortunately, there are plenty of resources that we can tap into. As a follow-up to these tools, 25+ must have tools for content writers, here are some great learning resources that will help you write better copy.
Resources to help you write better
1. Copywriting 101 by Copyblogger
Copywriting is one of the most highly paid professions in the writing world. The ability to write good copy depends upon your ability to convince people to take some form of action. Copyblogger has a great beginners guide to copywriting that includes tips on writing good headlines, writing persuasive copy, the difference between good copy and bad copy.
2. Writing Kick-Ass Website Sales Copy by Nick Usborne
Nick Usborne has written several eBooks for freelancers and web content writers. This eBook is a great guide on how to how to write web copy that sells.
3. Plain language course by NIH (National Institutes of Health)
If you’re interested in clear communications as most writers are, you will love plain language. NIH puts out a course on plain language that goes through all the basic rules for getting your message across clearly.
4. Strunk and White’s Elements of Style
In 2011, Time magazine named Stunk & White one of the 100 most influential books written since 1923. Even though this classic book is over 50 years old, (longer if you count the first publication of Strunk in 1920), some of its advice is still relevant today. Use the active voice. Omit needless words…Look it all up on Bartleby.com, a site that publishes thousands of free online classics of reference, literature and nonfiction.
Useful blogs for writers
5. Daily Writing Tips
Get writing tips sent to your inbox, daily. Topics range from grammar to punctuation, from spelling to usage and vocabulary.
6. Grammar Girl
Grammar Girl’s description is “Your friendly guide to the world of grammar, punctuation, usage, and fun developments in the English language.” Her tips are mostly on grammar, punctuation but once you polish these, you will always have a better, clearer document.
Books on writing well
7. The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well by Paula LaRoq
From the importance of clarity to the value of a conversational tone, this book shows you some easy guidelines to good writing,
8. 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost
Don’t let the fact that this book is often used as a textbook intimidate you. Gary Provost maintains a good conversational tone and explains with concrete examples. He even has tips to overcome writer’s block and how to develop your style.
Grammar resources
9. EduFind
Do you have a question about the correct use of a semi-colon or how to place relative adverbs in a sentence? At Edufind, you’ll find examples and a collection of exercises to test your mastery of English grammar. You can even test your current level of English with an in-depth exam.
10. Grammar Handbook
Writers workshop at the University of Illinois addresses common problems in writing such as dangling modifiers, homophones, run-on sentences and sentence fragments. A quick read of the workshop’s everyday grammar will strengthen your grammar and your writing abilities.
12. Purdue University’s OWL (Online Writing Lab)
The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources that help with general writing skills, grammar and punctuation.
13. Common errors in English usage
The concept of language errors is a fuzzy one and this is acknowledged by the author who wants to leave it to the linguists for technical definitions. It’s helpful to use this site to see the differences in words that are common pitfalls for even seasoned writers. Words such as affect and effect, allude and elude.
Style Guides
14. Ap Stylebook online
The AP Stylebook online is one resource that requires a small annual fee of $25 to join but is an indispensable tool and needs to be included in this list.
15. Chicago manual of style
The online edition of the Chicago manual of style Online provides recommendations on editorial style and publishing practices for the digital age.
Online Writing Schools
17. Writers Digest University
Writers Digest University has workshops for fiction, non-fiction, short stories and for freelance copywriting.
18. American Writers & Artists, Inc.
AWAI is a recognized resource for freelance copywriters. As a member you’ll have access to an archive of helpful and original articles. Their most popular and effective program is called The Accelerated Program for Six Figure Copywriting.
Forums
19. English forums
Stumped by a tricky grammar moment? Join these forums to get advice from others who love the language.
Tools to help you write better, clearer copy
20. Techterms.com
The goal of TechTerms.com is to make computer terminology easy to understand. While definitions of computer terms can be helpful, explanations with examples are even better. Most TechTerms.com definitions include examples of how the term is used.
21. Thesaurus.com
Thesaurus.com is easily my favorite tool online. I’m always looking to simplify my message and thesaurus.com helps me find synonyms.
22. Reference.com
I was writing content recently for a highly technical industry and reference.com was a huge help to me. Not only did I learn the meaning of essential terms, I also learned when they were used.
23. Dictionary.com and MerriamWebster.com
Both are essential dictionary resources for all content creators. Synonym.com is a great resource when you’re searching for alternate terms. Using synonyms instead of repeatedly using the same keywords is also recognized as an seo best practice .
24. Content Experiments
Content Experiments is a great conversion testing tool. It’s right inside of Google Analytics which makes it easy to use for everyone that has a Google Analytics account. It allows you to increase the value of your existing websites and traffic, as you can test your site content and design. You can show several versions of a page to different visitors. Google Analytics measures the popularity of each page version. If the user performs the action you want them to perform you know that you have hit upon your winning version of the page. It’s very effective in determining which copy works better.
25. Scrivener
Scrivener is a powerful content-generation tool for writers that allows you to concentrate on composing and structuring long documents such as story scripts, non-fiction eBooks and theses. While it gives you complete control of the formatting, its focus is on helping you get to the end of that awkward first draft.
Your Turn
Do you have other writing resources you’d like to share? I’d love to hear from you.
Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks.
Writing daily for years helped me get my game up Gazella 😉 Nothing replaces writing 1, 2 or 25 posts daily lol….and I’ve done each. Also, churning out 9 ebooks polished my skills, and knowing why I wish to write, drove me to improve my writing skills. Thanks for the resources!
Ryan Biddulph recently posted..How I Eat Lunch for $2.33 Each Day and Why You Should too
I agree, Ryan. Practice makes perfect. Although in writing there’s no such thing as perfection – it’s a work-in-progress. But writing as many posts as you do, increases your ability to know what headlines work, what to include n your lead and how to write calls to action that get results. Of-course knowing why you write brings clarity to your writing. All the best. Happy writing.
I’d like to raise a shout for Feedly (other rss readers are available), and of course offline publications too. The more I read, the better I feel I get at writing. So I devour all sorts of content, from blogs to journals to books and so on. Not only does it provide a heap of great ideas for posts (and educate me more on things), but gives regular lessons in good writing.
I agree. Feedly and Google communities are indispensable resources for me. Offline publications and books, old-fashioned as they may be have also provided me with lots of inspiration. Thanks for highlighting these.
Thanks for providing such a wonderful resources that can potential improve our writing skill. Problogger and Copyblogger have always been my favorite blogs to learn blogging and how to pen down my ideas in a more subtle way.
But this new resource list will definitely help me to improve my writing skills.
Jay Patel recently posted..Watch IPL 7 Final- Live Streaming of IPL 2014 Final
Writing once or twice in a week is the best solution to maintain quality of your content without much ado and hard work. But in this era of stiff competition quantity and quality both are equally required. Otherwise you can’t keep pace with your competitors.
Gazalla thanks for sharing such a wonderful list to improve writing skills that really is awesome for those who want to write more without compromising on quality.
Mi Muba recently posted..Top 7 ideas to boost your blog consultancy business
Thanks for your feedback, Mi. I agree. The best way to improve your writing is to write regularly. This one practice will allow you to see what works and what doesn’t for your audience. Quantity and quality are both important in the digital world.
Brilliant post, Gazalla. Love these list posts, and I must admit I was never too curious about sites for writing, even though I ought to look them up more often – specially since English is my second language (after French). I have bookmarked this one for future reference. Cheers!
Frederic
Frederic Gonzalo recently posted..Social Media Best Practices in Travel: LinkedIn
I would say that you have a native fluency in both English and French, especially after having read your posts in both languages. But yes, I think that regardless it’s nice to look at books that help us improve our craft. And more than grammar and composition, it’s learning more about how to write to create compelling content. Thanks for your feedback as always.
Awesome list Gazalla!
As you know I don’t really follow any rules per se but that’s not to say I don’t need help in some areas. I just went through B-School and Marie provided some great resources as well to help us with copywriting, headlines, marketing, all sorts of goodies that I would be stupid not to dive into. We all have room for improvement right!
Thank you so much for this fabulous list and I will be hanging on to this post so I can check more of these out.
Enjoy what’s left of your week now.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..Thankful Thursday: Facebook, Websites, Aweber, PowerPoint, Blog Post
Thanks, Adrienne. Sounds like a great course. This is the one by Marie Forleo, right? You’re right. We all have room for improvement. I’m constantly searching for resources to improve my craft. Enjoy your weekend:)
It was Gazalla, B-School was created my Marie Forleo. It was worth every penny.
Adrienne recently posted..Content Marketing: Good Versus Bad
Thanks Gazalla for all these useful references. While it’s always a good thing to improve your skills, the hardest part is often finding the best sources. I, for one, will certainly be using these.
I have tried the Hemingway app recently, which I found most useful to simplify form. It basically indicates where your sentences are too long and complex, when you use passive voice or too many avderbs. I found that it help lighten up text very efficiently.
Thanks for your feedback, Sylvie. Looks like the Hemingway app is useful. I’ll try it out. Thanks for adding to these resources.
I am so happy to have stumbled across this post. I want to improve my writing but could only find articles and book recommendations that focused on improving the structure of blog content. I also like the sound of the Hemmingway app mentioned above. Great resources, thanks.
Leanne Lindsey recently posted..SWEET & SIMPLE SUNDAYS: CHOCOLATE
Thanks for your feedback. I know it’s true of all writers. We’re constantly striving to improve our craft. All the best with these resources. I’d like to try Hemingway as well. It sounds like a neat app.
Hey Nazalla,
You shared some great resources here. Although I had to admit it at times, but I can definitely use much improvement on my writing. I like to write naturally as thought I’m talking with you, but yet more engaging and use the “proper” grammar when needed. with that said, I’ll come back and check out a couple of the references you mentioned here!
Thanks for sharing! Have a great week!
sherman smith recently posted..How Important Is Keyword Density To Your Blog?
Speaking of improving my writing, I just noticed I misspelled your name LOL…sorry about that Gazalla 🙁 I guess this is a great indicator that I really need to check those references out as soon as possible!
sherman smith recently posted..How Important Is Keyword Density To Your Blog?
Good for you. You realized and came back to rectify things. Thanks – I appreciate it. All the best with the resources. I hope you find them as helpful as I did.
I think writing can benefit anyone in any profession. We’re constantly writing emails, texting, sending formal letters, etc. I know I like writing good content for my sites, but sometimes I don’t have the time or the experience. Outsourcing is a great option for times like these too. Thanks for sharing!