Learn English Translation and Essay Writing

 1: Practice Writing – Regularly

As a child, I had piano lessons. I didn’t much like having to practice – but I knew that if I didn’t, I wouldn’t get any better. It’s the same with writing. Some people love writing, others find it tedious: but either way, you’ll find that the more you practice, the more you’ll improve. That could mean:

·         Spending ten minutes free-writing every morning

·         Working through different writing exercises, so you get experience in several forms

·         Deliberately working on the elements of writing that you find hard (e.g. if you write fiction, practice dialogue or description; if you write for work, practice those difficult emails)

·         Writing a weekly post for your blog – no excuses!

·         Write from a prompt (a word, phrase, question or image that inspires you)

Your writing exercises might be for your eyes only – or you might choose to develop them into something more. Author E.J. Newman’s From Dark Places is a book of short stories that started as pieces written from prompts sent in by her “story of the month club”.

2: Read Widely

You’re probably already reading a lot in your chosen genre or area – but try dipping into a book, magazine or blog that’s very different from what you’d normally choose. You’ll come across authors who are:

·         Journalistic and factual, giving you the details without making any judgements about them

·         Extremely personal and introspective, writing based on their own experiences

·         Unconventional and creative with their use of language, perhaps coining new words
…and so on.

There’s no one “correct” way to write a book, a blog post, or an article – and the more you read, the more you’ll realize that lots of different styles can be effective. You’ll learn new techniques, and you’ll also get a better feel for your own voice and style (look at what resonates with you – and what turns you off completely).

3: Take Time Over Your Writing

If you don’t like writing, or if you find it anxiety-provoking, then you might be tempted to get it over with as quickly as possible. That’s not a great way to build your confidence. No writer – not even Shakespeare! – can produce a perfect piece of work in just one draft. By taking a little extra time to edit your work, you’ll realize that you can:

·         Spot clumsy or ambiguous sentences and correct them

·         Change words that aren’t quite right

·         Fix any typos or spelling mistakes that have crept in

I often advise writers to write a basic plan then produce a quick first draft, without worrying too much about quality: that way, they don’t get bogged down trying to perfect the first paragraph. After that, though, it’s important to edit rigorously. You’ll feel more confident about your work when you know you’ve given it enough time and attention.

4: Learn About Writing

I’ve been writing with serious intent (i.e. hoping to get published!) for thirteen years now – half my lifetime. I’ve read dozens of books and ebooks about writing, I’ve subscribed to a writing magazine, I’ve taken several online courses, and I’ve completed an M.A. in Creative Writing. Obviously, I wouldn’t have progressed very far at all if I didn’t actually write (see #1!) – but I learnt a lot about the theory and practice of writing from all these resources.

Whether you’re a brand-new writer or an old hand, there’s something you can learn. Look out for:

·         Blogs on writing (like this one) – a great place to start learning for free.

·         Books about your specific area or genre – try your library

·         Specialized ebooks and ecourses – you might want to start with 100 Writing Mistakes to Avoid

·         Writing conferences where you can attend lectures and workshops

·         Degree programs – a big investment of time and money, but a great way to study writing in a thorough and rigorous way, alongside other students

5: Ask For Feedback

This one requires a bit of bravery … but it’s a great way to give your writing confidence a real boost. Ask someone for feedback. Ideally, pick a writer or tutor who you know and trust – you want them to be honest but also thoughtful. Get them to tell you what you’re already doing well (because there’ll be plenty of good things in your work!) And ask them what you could improve on. I know it can be quite daunting to have your work critiqued … but once you’ve edited a piece based on feedback, you’ll be able to have real confidence in it.

6: Share Your Work With an Audience

One great way to boost your confidence is to have appreciative readers for your work. But where do you find them?

You might choose to put together an ebook for people to download and read. You can create this using a word processing program (like Open Office or Microsoft Word) and then convert it to a .pdf file, which can be read on any type of computer and on many devices like Tablet computers and ebook readers.

7: Submit Your Work for Publication

One of the best ways to achieve publication is to send a guest post to a big blog. This can be a pretty daunting thing to do … but it’s a huge confidence boost if you get your post accepted. Follow the tips above and make it as good as you can before sending it in – and make sure you follow any submission guidelines. You might think that you have to already be a big “name” in the writing or blogging world in order to get published, but this simply isn’t true: editors care about the quality of your writing and the professionalism of your approach. If you’re a fiction writer, try entering competitions – winning a prize, or even being shortlisted, is a great validation of your work.

And if you’re aiming to write for magazines as a freelancer, try sending in fillers or letters to the editor – a great first step in making contact and seeing your name in print. Keep Moving Forwards – However You Feel

Maybe it seems like other writers have far more confidence than you. You see them chatting away at conferences, or you look at their work on big blogs or you read their prize-winning competition entries … and you think if only I was as confident as them. Perhaps you already are. Maybe they spent a week screwing up their courage to send in that competition entry, or they had to take a deep breath and conquer their nerves before striking up a conversation with a stranger at that conference.

As you write more (regardless of how you feel) and as you put your work out there in the world, you’ll find that you gradually become more confident and comfortable with your writing.

What one step could you take today to help boost your writing confidence? Pick something from the list above – or add your own ideas in the comments!

5 Cases of Mistaken Meaning Cured by a Comma

 A simple lesson about the strength of the mighty little comma can be learned by noting the difference in meaning that results depending on its presence or absence at the end of a parenthetical phrase.

More specifically, in the types of sentences shown below, when an attributive phrase — one that identifies the source of the information provided in the framing sentence — is inserted in the midst of the sentence and a comma precedes the interjection but none follows it, what is said is often not equivalent to what is meant:

1. “Every nine years, it was decreed that the fragment must be conveyed to another place of sanctuary.”
The point of this sentence is that an action is described as having occurred every nine years, and that this action was decreed. That latter detail is the content of the attributive phrase. But without a comma closing the interjection, the implication is that the decree was issued every nine years. However, what the sentence means is that a decree was issued requiring the action to occur every nine years — that’s a much different idea, and this slightly revised sentence correctly expresses it: “Every nine years, it was decreed, the fragment must be conveyed to another place of sanctuary.”

2. “By the end of the century, estimates are that one in three people will be living in poverty.”
This sentence is not as far afield from the intended meaning as the original sentence in the previous example, but it does suggest that such estimates will be released by the end of the century, rather than that current estimates predict the stated outcome. This revision states the point more clearly: “By the end of the century, estimates are, one in three people will be living in poverty.”

3. “Instead of embracing our civil rights future, the commission’s report says the Bush administration has begun backsliding into the past.”
At first glance, this sentence seems to have the same not-quite-right structure of the second example, but it actually introduces a serious miscommunication. The suggestion is that the commission report, not the Bush administration, is failing to embrace our civil rights future, and that the commission is making the statement in place of that responsibility. The mere insertion of a comma sets the sentence right (in this case, an optional that is not included, so no deletion of same is necessary): “Instead of embracing our civil rights future, the commission’s report says, the Bush administration has begun backsliding into the past.”

4. “Up to my junior year at the University of Michigan, I am forced to admit that I had always tried to get A’s.”
The writer, this sentence suggests, was forced to make an admission until reaching their third year of college, at which time the confession was no longer required (but in that case, am should be replaced by was). But the admission is parenthetical to a different thought, which is that the writer strove for the highest letter grade for only their first two years in higher education: “Up to my junior year at the University of Michigan, I am forced to admit, I had always tried to get A’s.”

5. “As far back as his childhood, he told me he had wanted to be a scientist.”
As punctuated, this sentence tells the reader that the would-be scientist had shared his ambition with the writer since the other person had been a child. If this is what the writer means, the beginning of the second part of the sentence should include had (“he had told me”). But if the writer is relating what the other person had shared more recently about his childhood goal, a comma should follow me to set off the attributive phrase “he told me”: “As far back as his childhood, he told me, he had wanted to be a scientist.”