Apologies to all for my inactivity, but it’s been a hectic few weeks as I settle some career and family matters. I’d like to take this opportunity (and a break from the chaos) to share a useful writing app that I stumbled upon. It’s simply called “Vocabulary” and I believe it’s available on the iOS and Android stores. The app helps to expand your vocabulary with confidence and even notifies you throughout the day according to your learning goals. The app comes with a three-day trial, give it a shot and see if it works for you. I’m loving it so far! I’ll catch you all again real soon once the schedule eases up, please bear with me. 🙏

Lists are effective ways to summarise points. They make content glanceable and are much easier on the eyes than a series of sentences. Here are the general rules for list entries: 1. Add full stops to the end of each entry if they're proper sentences. This means any entry that follows proper sentence structure and contains other punctuation. You see it at work with this list that you're reading right now. 2. Avoid full stops if they're short, fragmented statements or standalone words, as commonly seen in shopping lists.

I’m currently on a short staycation with my two girls. I think it’s entirely necessary. We get so busy sometimes that we forget that life is ultimately about creating precious moments. That reminded me: as writers, we are essentially inviting readers to spend valuable moments with us. As people peruse our words, they’re investing. Give them a reason to invest their time. Make them feel, respond, and react. Give them something worthwhile, something valuable. Here’s how you can improve your writing style to engage: 1. Put yourself in the POV of your audience. How would you react after seeing what you’ve written? Stay objective (don’t give yourself extra points just because you wrote it!). 2. Read. Keep reading. Make reading a habitual thing that’s second nature like blinking. Spend at least 25-30 minutes reading everyday. And try reading various things in diverse written styles. So we’re talking about periodicals, lifestyle magazines, advertisements, and labels even. The more you read, the easier it feels to express yourself. 3. Watch interview videos of authors or read their forewords. These reveal a great deal about the creative process. It’s a great way to discover your uniquely artistic style or refine what you already know. 4. Engage in free flow writing. It’s like executing brushstrokes in auto-pilot mode. During these exercise, you write whatever comes to mind and let them flow. There are no rules for this exercise. Nada. And try to do this twice a day - once after your morning coffee (or any preferred beverage first thing in the day) and another right before bed. Free flow writing encourages thought and creative faculties, and since the mind is like a muscle, the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. Through free flow writing exercises, I’ve noticed more fluid expressions, organised content, and staving away the dreaded lethologica (the failure of retrieving the right word in your mind when you need it)/ writer’s block. That’s all for now fellow writers. I’m heading back to my staycation, and I wish these 4 tips help you shape memorable moments for your readers!

Focusing on increasing vocabulary, developing skills in writing five paragraph essays, and story based marketing.