Question from a writer: How can I improve my writing and make it more fluid?
The first step to improve your writing is to read widely in both fiction and nonfiction. Choose at least one novelist and one essayist whose writing style you admire. Copy down a few paragraphs from each writer. Then analyze the writer’s style:
How long are the sentences?
How varied are the sentences? (Some long, some short, some lyrical, some direct?)
How often are two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction?
How does the author make use of adjectives?
Then look at a paragraph of your own writing and compare it. Examining these four elements of the writer’s style closely will help you to understand why your writing feels less fluid.
Another thing to consider is that you might be too hard on yourself. I have taught writing for many years, and I’ve published six books of fiction. Some of the writers I admire most are those whose sentences are the most direct: Grace Paley, for example.
What feels like choppiness in your own writing may actually have to do with lack of detail and specificity. In general, writing feels choppy if it moves too quickly from one idea to another without using examples to illustrate main points. For example, if your paragraph begins, “Derek was an angry man,” your next few sentences should illustrate his anger. Let us hear him speak. Let us see him acting angry in a specific situation. Remember to favor the concrete (things we can tough, taste, smell, hear, see) over the abstract (general ideas or concepts, like love, anger, intelligence, etc.)
For inspiration, be sure to read Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. This is an essential primer for anyone who wants to be a better writer. You may even find that you’re already doing many of the things that Strunk and White recommend.
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