Writing is an acquired skill. True, some people are born with a congenital predisposition, but no talent will mature unless it's appropriately fed and consistently developed. I believe that most people come to life with the potential ability to be good writers, but such skill won't emerge in an environment lacking essential intellectual stimuli. Could everybody write Dante Alighieri's "Divine Commedy"? Absolutely not. However, in absence of neurological deficits, everybody can learn how to put their thoughts into words, and share on social media their stories with anybody willing to read them. 

As a Senior Editor for the Annex Press at Film Annex, I receive countless messages from our users asking how to improve their writing skills. It's a legit question. Film Annex is a website to post blogs, and bloggers get paid to write blogs. Their revenue is directly related to the quality and quantity of the content they produce, which directly affect their BuzzScore. [You can read how to increase your BuzzScore and revenue on Film Annex in this article I wrote a few weeks ago. It tells your everything you need to know in order to be successful on this site.] The quality of the work Film Annex's users publish is a crucial component of their BuzzScore. Therefore, it's obvious that their first priority is to improve their writing skills. 

I'm not an excellent writer. However, with constant effort and eagerness I was able to to better my skills and progress from Film Annex blogger to Annex Press writer and eventually to Senior Editor in a matter of months. I don't pretend to know what it takes to excel in this activity, but I sure can give you my honest advice on how to improve the quality of your content. This is what worked for me, and still does. 

1) PASSION. You can be the most talented blogger on Earth, but if you're writing about topics you're not passionate about, chances are that you will fail. I used to hate writing. It bored me even to write a grocery list. Now I'm having fun with it, because I enjoy what I'm writing about. If you find a topic you feel passionate about and cherish the challenge, you will be a successful storyteller. The focus of my social media blogs is spreading digital literacy, promoting sustainable education and exposing human rights abuses. What's yours? 

2) SERVICE. I consider every article I write as an opportunity to provide service to others, and I utilize digital literacy to promote social media campaigns aimed at fulfilling that goal. Whether I succeed or not, my main goal is to tell a story that will be helpful, useful or at least entertaining to my readers. This mindset generates a strong motivation to keep going, and motivation means working harder to improve my skills. Writing high-quality blogs can only be achieved if we are willing to raise the bar at every step, never being completely satisfied with our work, and always striving for further improvement. Even though I'm perfectly aware that not everything I publish will be successful, that's ok; what matters is the intention. You could be writing about flowers, shoes, history or politics: as long as you do it with the goal of providing a service to your audience - helping, informing or entertaining them - you will be successful. 

3) COMMUNITY. As soon as you choose topics you're passionate about, and start promoting them to provide your readers with a service, you will be able to create a social media network of individuals who share your passions and interests. This is huge, because you will be constantly inspired to become more and more competent in your sphere of interest, improving the quality of your content. Your new connections will suggest additional strategies for social media that you'll be able to utilize at your on advantage, eventually allowing you to become somebody else's mentor. More efficient social media network strategies will ultimately prove to be crucial for your success.

4) EFFORT. Despite English not being my first language, I chose it as my blogs' preferred medium because I happen to live in New York City. This pushes me to work extra hard to make sure the grammar in my articles is to the very least decent. It's advisable to use your own language for your blogs, but it's true that writing in English will expose you to a more international audience, with additional chances to increase your network of readers. If English is not your first language, there's a lot you can do to improve your writing skills. Reading in English will help your vocabulary. Listening to original-language movies in English will enrich your knowledge with more "street-type" expressions. Studying English grammar online will refine your writing arsenal.

5) PERSONAL. I always suggest connecting your story with something personal about you, so that you can make your blogs more interesting to the readers. It's an important strategy that prevents your content from being too sterile, and allows your audience to relate to what you are saying.

6) PROGRESSION. Good articles have an introduction, a main section, and an ending. Many bloggers don't care about this progression, and just type their thoughts on the keyboard without caring about any logical structure. When I read work so carelessly produced, I can't help giving it a low score, because it shows lack of care from the writer.

There's a lot you can do to improve your writing skills. The above are just a few suggestions and don't mean to be exhaustive. Nevertheless, they worked for me, and represent a big reason why I was promoted to Senior Editor for the Annex Press. I strongly believe they can be useful to you, too. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I'll be happy to do everything I can to help. :-)

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