Practice regularly and non-trivially for a long period of time. Figure on years. (Joe Haldeman recommends writing 1,000 words a day for ten years). Find an hon

Practice regularly and non-trivially for a long period of time. Figure on years. (Joe Haldeman recommends writing 1,000 words a day for ten years). Find an honest editor, someone who will give you objective feedback and correct your mistakes. I wrote a bunch and thought I was pretty good at technical documentation, and hey, I've got this blog I maintain [well, less now]. Then a real editor got hold of an effort of mine and it came back to me with many, many corrections. And you know, it was a LOT better; I couldn't argue with any of it. And I know that Strunk and White is out of style, but I still recommend it.