My writing is absolutely terrible and I'm 16 how can I improve (my grammar, coherence, etc.)?

Answer 1

Other than reading, write SOMETHING every day. It doesn't even matter what. Just keep a journal and write about your day, your thoughts, your conversations, whatever. The more you write, the more you'll figure out what works and what doesn't for you. After a month or two, go back to the beginning and see if you feel your writing has improved. If it has, good. But don't stop there. If you don't feel that it has improved, study your style. If it's choppy, like if you can't predict the contents of the next sentence based on the previous sentence, then you need to work on your organization. If it's just the overall style, pay attention to what you want to change, and next time you write, keep in mind what you consider to be your writing flaws. Watching out for certain mistakes as you go will definitely help.

And as far as for school papers, essays and such, start with an outline. Organize it according to a good, predictable flow. After you finish writing your paper, let a cold set of eyes read it. This means that you need to let someone who hasn't read it before read it. Preferable someone who knows a thing or two about the English language. They will be able to catch coherence errors, and, hopefully, grammar errors as well.

Answer 2

The only thing that can improve it is YOU. You need to pay attention in language arts/english class and take notes and make sure you understand. You have to want it. Also, read a lot of advanced books. Challenge yourself by having to look up words in a novel so you learn something new. Read a lot of different genres also. You don't know which ones you like until you read several books in all the genres. You learn a lot too. Also, practice writing makes perfect! Just don't sit there for months and when its time, think it is going to be better just like if you broke a tea pot, left it in a drawer for months and came back it would still be broken! So practice writing and reading! It's the only way. There is no magic word, way to cheat, or any other way to write better!

Kudos to you for realizing the problem and working to fix it!

Answer 3

Well, I am not the best person for these things since I am from Argentina and I am not very good at english. But I think a good way to improve your grammar is to read. Even by reading a magazine or the news you can learn a lot. You don't have to read long books if you don't want to. I think that another way to learn is by watching some english programs, I have learned a lot from series such as "ER" and "Cold Case". My teacher always gives me exercises on grammar to improve. Maybe you can ask her to help you and to give you extra tasks (Not very long, if you don't want to) with lots of short exercises you can learn as well.
I hope this helps!

Answer 4

The most painless way will be to get mentoring from a teacher who can give you assignments, then check your work and have you correct it.
The more you correct it, the more it will sink in and you will stop making mistakes.
You could try some self-help books, but that will take a lot of discipline, and you may still need some real, live coaching when it gets confusing.
There are lots of people who would be happy to help you. You might find them through your school, library, or community.
There may be a neighbor who is (or was) a teacher. There are lots of really nice people in this world who know how to teach. Find one of them.

Best wishes,
James

Answer 5

Consider getting "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White. It is an invaluable tool for novice and professional writers alike. Keep it near your keyboard.

For starters, your question could have been posed as this:

My writing is absolutely terrible! I'm 16, so how can I improve my grammar, punctuation, context, and writing skills?

Answer 6

One thing would be to take some extra writing classes. Try concentrating on reading good literature, if you're only reading junk like comic books, graphic novels, the terribly mechanised writing I see on the internet, and cheap magazines, then good, pubclished writing, heavy on the classics is a really good thing to be using for input.

Remember the old computer adage: gigo --- garbage in, garbage out. The more good stuff you consume, the more it becomes internatl, and part of your writing.

Answer 7

Read some good literature. Ask a librarian for a great example of the English language. Also, pick up a copy of Garner's _American Usage_--this is a great book about some of the common errors in the language (and how they can be corrected).

Answer 8

Good writing comes from good reading. My #1 suggestion is that you pick up some quality fiction or non-fiction and engross yourself in it. Don't just pay attention to what is written, look at HOW it is written. Then, try to emulate a style you like. After a while, you'll get your own "voice," and you'll be a whiz. It takes time... lots of time. Practicing writing in public forums can also help, like through blogs or whatever. It makes one publicly accountable.

Answer 9

Read, read, read!!! The more you read, the better you write -- you subconsciously internalize correct syntax (sentence structure). Also, practice, practice, practice!! W/ a teacher or through using the "track changes" feature of most Word programs (w/ explanation). But, seriously, read!!!

Answer 10

Check out docstyles.com for anything that has to do with how you format your papers, and check out OWL at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ to work on it.

It just takes practice.

Best of luck!