5 do’s (and a don’t) when writing in English

You’ve psyched yourself up to write that blog post or email in English.

And you want to get it right.

Scary.

Here are 5 do’s that will make sure you get your message across successfully:

Consider your readers – and the main point you want to make to them.
Brainstorm your ideas and plan your structure – to make your writing clearer.
Write your draft without worrying about grammar and vocabulary – so your writing can flow.
Go over your draft several times – check the ideas and organisation, then vocabulary and grammar.
Proofread your writing with fresh eyes twice more quickly rather than once slowly – remember spelling, commas, articles (a, an, the) and prepsitions (at, by, in, of, with, etc).

And finally:

Don’t translate while writing – see my post to find out when using your native language does work well.

Use this checklist to rev up your English writing skills.

What do you find the hardest about writing in English?

Let me know and we’ll talk about that in the next Trunk.