So you don’t want to be the next Shakespeare or John Grisham. Still, writing is one of the most valuable skills you can have—not only as a student, but for success through the rest of your life.

The ability to express yourself clearly is an invaluable tool in both your school years and any future career. Whether you are typing an e-mail or drafting an essay for a college assignment, it is important to get the right message across in a readable and understandable fashion. Here are a few tips to help improve your writing.

•  This is something you cannot avoid. Learn the rules. Mastering the rules of grammar, spelling and punctuation may be somewhat painful; but the more you are familiar with the foundations of good writing, the easier, less stressful and more fun the actual writing will be.

•  Stick to the main idea. Identify the point you are trying to make. Before you start the project, write down a sentence or two stating exactly what you are trying to say—a specific purpose statement. Everything you include in your paper, essay or other writing should support this statement. Having a clear purpose and writing it down will help you stay on topic and exclude unnecessary clutter in your writing.

•  If you really find writing hard—or even if you think it’s your forté—a good rule to abide by is: Keep it simple. Use plain, clear language whenever possible. Don’t try to “impress” with your vocabulary. Fancy words of themselves will not make you sound smart. 

•  Review and revise. Every piece of writing can benefit from some tweaking and polishing. Edit and proofread your own finished draft with a critical eye. Note, though, that it is hard to catch your own mistakes when editing your writings. One thing that will help is reading what you’ve written out loud. You will be less likely to gloss over errors when you hear the words and sentences spoken. Even better, have a friend review the draft and give you suggestions and comments.

•  Use reference tools. Keep a dictionary and a thesaurus handy—whether hard-copy books or electronic versions—to look up words and check spelling. Make a habit of looking up words you don’t know. It may be helpful to actually write these down and review the list so you will remember them.