8 Bad Writing Habits to Stop and How to Fix Them

At the beginning of a new year, many of us are making resolutions in the hopes of making our lives a little better in 2025. Many resolutions revolve around the addition of something (more exercise, more self-care, more travel), but the removal of something (like a bad writing habit) from our routines can be just as impactful.

It’s easy to get comfortable in the content creation process, but doing so makes it easy to overlook poor writing habits that can negatively affect your work.

Here are a few practices that can prevent you from doing your best work, along with advice for turning it around.

1. Disorganization

Getting organized is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions and for good reason. Chaos regularly leads to more chaos. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or burned out, getting organized can have benefits for your day-to-day workflow and overall mental health.

How to fix it:

• Sign up for PR Newswire for Journalists. Set up a custom newsfeed with PR Newswire for Journalists to ensure you’re notified of the latest news announcements in your target industry. Users can customize their feed by industry, keywords, geography and more. Want to cut back on the number of emails? We can send you a daily list of headlines to keep your inbox clean.
• Write an outline. Suffering from writer’s block or unsure where to start? Staring at the blank page when you begin a new post can be daunting. Start with an outline to organize your thoughts and research before you dig into the more fleshed-out writing.
• Find the perfect app or tool. There are countless sites and apps out there that can help you with every stage of your writing process. Not sure where to start? Tools for Reporters is a great resource with out-of-the-box solutions to problems you didn’t even know you had. Search the archive to see what you’ve missed.
• Make a checklist. I am a checklist person. I make myself a to-do list each morning with tasks I need to complete that day. It helps me prioritize and ensures I don’t forget anything major. For writers, using a checklist for your blog posts and articles can be a helpful way to make sure all the major elements are taken care of before you hit “publish.”

2. Too much jargon

Clear and concise writing is key to keeping readers on the page and encouraging them to come back for more. If they have trouble understanding or following your writing, they might not stick around. Using more natural language can also have SEO benefits; users are more likely to use natural language in their search terms – so write for them and boost the chances that your content will come up in search results.

How to fix it:

• Know the best practices. Read our post with tips for avoiding too much jargon in your writing.
• Get the right tools. Utilize tools like Grammarly and Hemingway to get an idea of where you may need to simplify your writing.
• Read your draft out loud. Reading your own writing aloud is a great way to spot mistakes, confusing phrases, too-long sentences and more. If it doesn’t sound natural out loud it’s also not going to read clearly.

3. Too much passive voice

Passive voice is when a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action. For example, editors despise passive voice is active and passive voice is despised by editors is passive. Writers and editors tend to prefer active voice because it’s clearer and more direct.

You might be tempted to use passive voice because it sounds fancy, but like using too much jargon, using too much passive voice can turn away readers. We aren’t recommending you cut out 100% of the passive voice in your writing — sometimes it just works — but you should learn how to identify it and use it sparingly.

How to fix it:

• Learn more about it. Read our post that covers how you might be using — and abusing — passive voice in your writing.
• Get help from tools. WordPress plugins like Yoast and extensions like Grammarly and Outwrite can help you identify instances of passive voice and offer suggestions for how to rework them.

4. Not considering SEO

Your writing might be great, but if you’re skipping over SEO basics, you’re making it tough for readers to find your content online. If search engines don’t have a clear idea of what your post is about, who the target audience is or what problem your content is solving, chances are low that your article will surface in search results.

How to fix it:

• Start with an optimized headline. Your headline is the first (and sometimes only) thing a reader sees. Follow these headline writing tips the next time you start a new post.
• Understand formatting best practices. The structure of your post plays a role in holding a reader’s attention. Here are some content formatting tips to remember.
• Keep voice search in mind. Content creators can no longer ignore the importance of voice search in SEO and organic search. We have a few strategies to help you optimize your digital content to compete in search and increase organic traffic.
• Get some backup. It can be difficult to keep track of all the changes in SEO and Google algorithms. Tools like Yoast can help flag SEO issues with your pages and provide suggestions on how to get them more in line with best practices. It’s also helpful to subscribe to an SEO newsletter like Search Engine Roundtable to stay caught up on the latest SEO industry news and best practices.

5. Writing clickbait headlines

A sensationalized headline promises more than the article delivers, frustrating readers and damaging your credibility. If a reader determines the headline was misleading and quickly exits the page, it can be a bad signal for SEO and impact your visibility in search results.

How to fix it:

• Focus on clarity. Opt for informative and intriguing headlines that accurately reflect the article’s content. Avoid exaggerated claims like “amazing” and “unbelievable.” Don’t rely on vague language or leave out key details to pique a reader’s interest. Using words that play on a reader’s fear, anger or surprise to get clicks is also a no-no.
• Get a second opinion. Ask a friend or coworker for their opinion. Without reading the full article, does your headline give them a clear picture of what they’re going to be reading?

6. The quick edit

Many writers are pressed for time, short-staffed and asked to do more with fewer resources. You might understandably feel rushed to identify all the mistakes in your article and publish, but taking enough time to thoroughly proofread your writing is critical. It’ll make you and your editor’s lives easier.

How to fix it:

• Boost your self-editing skills. Read these tips for editing your own work so you can feel more confident about your final draft.
• Read your post out loud. Yes, reading out loud is a fix for another bad habit. Trust me: This practice will make all the difference. It will help you catch awkward wording, run-on sentences, repetitiveness and more.

7. Not reading enough

See what other writing is out there to inspire and improve your own projects. Reading more can also help you find what writing styles you don’t like. Make it a mission to find out what others on your beat are writing about. You can also branch out to see how writers for other industries are creating content to connect with their readers.

How to fix it:

• Get all the newsletters. Sign up for industry newsletters to get a feel for what your peers are covering and what stories are trending. These journalism newsletters can be a great place to start.
• Know the best sites. Whether you write about tech, food or finance, you can find trusted news sites in your industry full of impressive writing. Check out our roundups of top news sites and start reading.
• Subscribe to niche blogs. Smaller publications that focus on a more specific topic can be great places to find unique writing with a personal touch. The readers are passionate and so are the writers.
• Listen to podcasts. OK, fine, this isn’t reading but adding podcasts to your routine can help you develop an ear for natural language that will benefit your writing. Remember, you might be in trouble if your writing doesn’t sound natural. And there’s a podcast for everything, whether you want to listen to episodes covering your industry or try something outside your coverage area. Unsure of where to start? We have a few favorite journalism podcasts you should try.

8. Fear of brevity

A higher word count doesn’t always translate to the most effective article. Reader attention spans are short and it’s important that you write as concisely as possible.

How to fix it:

• Learn what to cut: Remove unnecessary words and phrases to improve clarity and readability. Tools like Grammarly can be a great assistant for this. You can also take your learning further with help from Axios, my personal favorite for clear and concise writing.
• Get a second opinion: Having a second or third set of eyes on your draft can be a great way to identify problem areas that could benefit from simplification.
• Break up the text: Look for opportunities to break up long paragraphs, write shorter sentences or utilize formatting tools like bullets to make the article easier to scan and more likely to keep readers moving down the page.

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