If you do any writing for public consumption e.g. blogging, or plan on doing such, it is important that you put some effort and resources into doing it well.

In an age in which services like SMS and Twitter have resulted in people writing more of shorthand, proper English seems to be going to the dogs.

You must believe it when I say that certain people and organisations will not take you serious if your writing is bad. Personally, I won’t either. As a matter of fact, I avoid bad writing like a plague – whether it is a book, magazine or a blog.

Here are a few quick tips to help your writing:

1. Always write proper English in public or private, and even in SMS and tweets. What you do regularly becomes a habit.

2. Write in short sentences. It is easier to write properly when you keep your sentences short. If your writing skills are advanced enough though, this tip can be discarded.

3. Learn the proper use of punctuation – full stop, comma, hyphens and the sort.

4. Get a dictionary! No-one who writes should be without a dictionary. Get the meaning and spellings of your words right.

5. Stay away from people who write and speak bad English. What you consume affects you. Stay away from bad if you want good.

6. Lastly, get an editor. No-one is perfect. An editor can go a long way in polishing up your writing. You might just read your article or book and wonder who wrote it.

There you go: a few tips for those who want to write for public consumption of any sort.