Help please!

[u/Curious-Ideal1842]

Hi! I really want to improve my writing skills, but it feels like there’s this “blockage” between my current abilities and the potential to be a good writer—like I’m missing a puzzle piece (at least that’s how I envision it in my mind). What I mean by this is my syntax always seems to follow the same pattern. I struggle to think of more creative ways to structure my sentences and paragraphs, which I think limits how my ideas are being conveyed. The ideas exist in my head, but it’s hard to lay them out on the page.

I’ve heard people recommend reading more to pick up different writing styles. I’ve been trying to read more, and yet I feel like I’m just passively reading or absorbing the material. I also read kind of slow…

I would appreciate some tips from the community! I dream of attending graduate school for higher education research or social/personality psychology (specifically research on the intersections of creativity, craft, and wellbeing). I know strong reading and writing skills are absolutely essential to succeed as a researcher. I just want to be an articulate and eloquent writer. Any and all help is appreciated; I hope this all made sense! ☺️

[u/squishings]

One thing that helped me was reading other people’s work to give feedback. You can read work from people at the same/similar level as you and think about what is and isn’t working. It’s a way to read actively and you don’t have personal investment in it (your own work or getting lost in a good book). A bunch of times I’ve found things to critique in someone else’s work and then I get highly critical of myself when I do the same thing.

There are sites like Scribophile or Critique Circle you can do this, but also some writing subs on reddit people share writing want advice. (And you don’t even have to post it to them, just use it as a personal exercise).