: Substitute for however I find myself using however much too often. What's the best way around this? Should I find a list of substitutes? I'm thinking a better approach would be to fix

Vote Up Vote Down

I'm afraid your question, "Any tips for a blogger to improve their writing ability?" will have to remain unanswered, because it is too vague. However, I can address some of your other concerns, or at least point you in the right direction.

Should I find a list of substitutes [for however]?

Similar questions to this have been asked and answered here and here on our sister site English Language and Usage, which is probably the best forum for individual word choices. There is also a discussion, of sorts, of the proper usage of however here. Nevertheless, you should continue to ask Writers any writer-ly sort of questions you have, per the FAQ.

What's the best way around [using however]?

This is a question we might be able to help with. But the answer will most likely be a variant of "use however sparingly" without any real sense of what that means. Just keep in mind that when you are using however you're making a statement that runs counter to the previous thought. Asking that question, "How do I best join two disparate thoughts?" could be a constructive style question to ask here.

I don't have much in terms of official writing training.

Hey, I don't either. Formal training (i.e. college) helps. But as I'm sure you know, practice makes perfect. Having said that, feel free to ask for a critique by asking specific question about a specific excerpt as per this discussion on our meta side.

In any case, welcome to Writers. But for your next question, you might want to consider asking one question about a specific topic.

(0)