Developing strong English writing skills takes both time and practice. The truth is, you shouldn’t be beating yourself too much just because you cannot write good English. Just think of the fact that no one is born to be an excellent writer. Learning how to write in English will take time and practice, especially if English isn’t your first language. But with determination, anyone can become a great English writer.

Regardless of the reason why you want to write good English, you can definitely do so with the help of the tips below:

1. Start a journal.

If you put all your writing in one piece then you will be able to review them. Once you get more comfortable, you will be able to review your work to see how you are improving. Keeping a journal is also good to organize your thoughts. Here’s a tip from WriteToDone:

Take your journal everywhere you go. But if you don’t have it with you, write notes on whatever you can find (a napkin, a sales receipt, etc.) or use your smart phone’s voice recorder and then simply transcribe and paste the notes in your journal whenever you get around. Try to do it at least every week so you don’t forget.

2. Write every day.

Hard work beats talent. So if you really like to write well then you should create a habit out of it. Later on, by writing each day, your words will become natural and it will be easier for you to compose your thoughts. Here’s an inspiring thought from Goinswriter:

When mastery is the goal, spending an exorbitant number of hours in one sitting will likely lead to burnout. We don’t go to the gym expecting to put on 20 pounds of muscle in a single, day-long workout. Instead, we do several short workouts a week, spread out over months.

Our bodies need time to heal; our muscles time to grow. And the same goes for that muscle inside your skull. When trying to develop a new skill, the important thing isn’t how much you do; it’s how often you do it.

3. Choose the topic that you like.

Don’t run yourself in wit’s end just trying to figure out what to write. If you are training yourself to write better in English then you can talk about topics that interest you. Find inspiration around, hear the news, talk to a friend or daydream since these are great topics to write about.

4. Create more than a single draft.

When you create a draft, it means that you are making a preliminary version of the writing piece. This is an important stage because it has been proven that your writing typically gets better on your second or third try. It is likely that you will be able to think of things in your next tries that you were not able to think of before.

5. Look for a good place to write.

It is good to realize that your writing typically varied depending on your location. Try writing at a different time of the day and at a different place and you will realize the difference it could bring.