Good way to improve writing skills?

Question

It's not as though I'm a complete idiot, I am actually pretty intelligent. I'm an avid reader, so writing should come easy, right? What are some techniques to improve my writing skills? For some reason my writing is always chaotic. I can't seem to formulate anything properly. My writing usually jumps around too much. It's especially hard to stay focused on ONE, main, point. I have a tendency to veer off topic much of the time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Answer 1

Are we talking about essay writing? I'm going to answer as if that is what you are asking about.

When you write an essay, look at your thesis statement. It should be an answer to the question that prompted you to write the essay, or something of that nature. Everything you write has to support this thesis statement, so as you write, ask yourself this: "Will this point/example/example rationalization help me support my thesis statement?". If the answer is no, then scrap whatever it is that you wrote. This will ensure you stay on topic.

And remember, your thesis statement is not set in stone... sometimes when I write I find it necessary to tweak the statement so that I can formulate a better argument. It's OK if you have to do that sometimes.