Fluent writing comes with practice. The best way to learn most things is to do them. Some things we can never learn to do well unless we practice doing them. We can't learn to swim until we get in the water. We need to practice driving a car before we are ready to drive on a highway. It's hard to become fluent in a second language unless we have opportunities to converse in that language with native speakers. I've listened to Spanish tapes and read Spanish books for several years. I feel that I'm fluent in Spanish when I'm driving along in my car listening to tapes and repeating sentences and phrases, but I freeze when I am face to face with a Spanish-speaking person. I can't even remember how to say "Como esta usted?"
Like swimming, driving, and learning a foreign language, the best way to become a good writer is to write; a fact that seems obvious, but the truth is that opportunities to practice writing can be hard to find when it's so easy to communicate by sending an email or text message. The challenge is to find opportunities to write, even if it's only sending a letter to the editor, a letter of complaint, or a friendly letter or note to a relative. Keeping a daily journal is a great way to practice putting your thoughts on paper. Write about something that happened at work or school, or explain how to repair a broken chair. Write a persuasive article about why you think the health care system should or should not be reformed.
You can work with friends who are also trying to learn the language and be each other's proofreader and editor. You can also review work from a professional proofreading freelance writer online at my website or others like it.
The process of becoming a writer who communicates effectively involves planning, writing, and rewriting. However, it's not as hard as it seems. It may be helpful to concentrate on fluency at first. Put your thoughts on paper freely, and then arrange them in a logical order. Finally, check your spelling and grammar. Have a dictionary either on your desk or bookmarked on your computer.
Many activities compete with the art of writing in today's world. Work, play, television, computers and many other activities beckon us. If we really want to become good writers, able to develop our ability to record our thoughts in print or online, we have to look for opportunities to practice. Fluent writing, like most other skills, comes with plenty of practice.
