One Who Is Skilled in the Art of Writing Can Be Extremely
Naught strikes fright into the middle of a marketer quite like beingness asked to write a blog post. Some marketers would rather wrestle with pin tables (or grizzly bears) for days on end than write a blog post – but why?
Writing doesn't accept to be this painful.
With content marketing shaping up as one of the most important marketing skills to have on your resume, getting a handle on writing could actually do good your career as well every bit the obvious benefit of increasing traffic to your company's site.
Writing is intimidating to a lot of people, particularly those who don't write for a living or on a regular basis. The good news is that writing doesn't take to be disturbing, and most everyone tin meliorate their writing skills with a little discipline and a willingness to larn. Want to become a amend author? Hither are 16 means you tin start improving your writing skills right now.
1. Brush Upwardly on the Basics
Earlier y'all tin start writing incredible content, yous'll need at least an intermediate understanding of the basic principles of writing.
This doesn't hateful y'all need to enroll in a prestigious creative writing program at an Ivy league university, but you will demand to know the basics of grammer and spelling. Every author should have a copy of "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White on their bookshelf, as this small but invaluable book is 1 of the most comprehensive resources on the correct utilise of grammar and other helpful topics.
For quick and like shooting fish in a barrel online resources, bookmark Grammar Girl and, of course, Merriam Webster.
2. Write Like It's Your Job
If you lot desire to get ameliorate at something, you have to practice – and writing is no exception!
Unfortunately, there are few shortcuts that can transform yous into an amazing writer overnight, and even the virtually talented writers had to learn their craft over a catamenia of many years. Information technology'south admitedly fifty-fifty harder to write while considering SEO and how to drive traffic to your post.
If you want to improve your writing skills, writing on a regular basis will non only diminish your fear of the blank page (or blinking cursor), it will as well help y'all develop a unique style. So, fifty-fifty if nobody reads it, keep writing. Practice makes perfect.
[ Acquire how to write better advertisement copy with our free guide: 10 Tricks to Get the Click ]
iii. Read Like It's Your Job
The best writers are likewise groovy readers, and reading on a regular ground is an easy style to offset developing your writing skills. I don't just hateful blog posts, either – diversify your reading material. Expand your horizons to more than challenging material than you typically read, and pay attention to judgement structure, word choice, and how the material flows.
The more you read, the more probable y'all are to develop an eye for what makes a piece and so constructive, and which mistakes to avoid.
4. Find a Writing Partner
If you work at a reasonably sized visitor, the chances are pretty good that there is at to the lowest degree one other person who is as well wondering how to go a better writer. Although writing is typically considered a solitary activity, the best writers know when it's time to become much-needed feedback on their work.
Talk to your coworkers (or friends) and ask someone if they'd be willing to cast an middle over your work – they may spot mistakes that you overlooked.
Finding a writing partner is also a smashing way to hold yourself accountable and keep going.
5. Bring together a Workshop or Take a Nighttime Class
Most people balk at the idea of standing in forepart of a room full of strangers and baring their soul to the world, but joining a writing workshop tin be immensely benign – and a lot of fun (if you manage to find a good one).
Yous don't need to take an unfinished novel subconscious away in your desk drawer to bring together a workshop. These days, content marketing run into-ups and professional development groups are becoming wildly popular. Join one of the many content marketing groups on LinkedIn to meet similar-minded writers, or search for writing workshops near you on sites similar Meetup. Option a topic, write something, listen to the feedback of the group, and so revise it. Rinse, echo.
vi. Dissect Writing That You lot Adore
Virtually people read the aforementioned blogs or sites on a regular ground because the material appeals to them – but fewer people understand why their favorite blogs are so highly-seasoned.
Find a handful of recent blog posts you lot really like, then impress them out. Next, just like your high school English instructor did, take a red pen and highlight things you liked: sure sentences, turns of phrase, even entire paragraphs. Examine why y'all like these elements, and see if there are whatever common threads in your favored reading material. See how writers take ane subject field and transition into some other. Apply these techniques to your ain piece of work.
Let'south take a await at a particularly powerful (and memorable slice) from Copyblogger that serves as a great example of this.
Immediately, you're hooked by Morris' opening. You can't not read to see what happens side by side. The pacing is fantabulous, it grabs your attending, and best of all, it keeps you reading. This piece was first published dorsum in June, and I still remember it. Read the full post here, and meet how Morris masterfully tells the story of a band named Death and how this relates to writing content.
7. Imitate Writers You Admire
Before we go any farther, a disclaimer – imitation is non the same every bit plagiarism. Don't rip off anyone's work. Ever.
Simply as yous probably take a list of blogs you lot read often, you'll likely as well read the same writers on a regular ground. Identify what it is you enjoy about their work, and see if yous can utilize it to improve your writing skills. Does a writer you similar use humour to spice up dry topics? Attempt information technology. Do they utilize pop civilization references to make their work entertaining and useful? Endeavour that, too.
When I first started writing, I imitated some of my favorite nonfiction writers and essayists, such as Joan Didion, Truman Capote and Bill Bryson. I also attempted (and failed) to imitate writers such equally Dave Eggers and Dan Kennedy, but presently realized that I wasn't funny enough and gave it up. Over time, I eventually developed my own mode, but reading the works of these writers and seeing how they constructed their essays and books was immensely helpful to me as a writer (encounter tip #3).
8. Recollect That Outlines Are Your Friend
The blinking cursor of a blank folio is a considerable foe, fifty-fifty for the almost experienced writers. Before putting pen to proverbial paper, sketch out an outline of what y'all plan to write. This will be your battle program, and it volition assistance y'all win the war. Very few – and I practise mean very few – writers sit downwardly to write anything without a solid plan in listen.
An outline doesn't have to be complex. A simple framework of which sections should announced in a particular order, forth with a few sentences about what each department contains, may exist enough. If the topic y'all're tackling is a piffling more complex, your outline might have to be, too – but having an outline before you write is like having a roadmap in the glove box of your car before a road trip. If you start to feel lost, refer dorsum to your outline and get back to kicking ass and taking names.
Let's take a look at a real example – one of my own outlines:
Introduction
Cursory summary of the post
Section i – What is Brand Voice?
Paragraph(due south) explaining the key principles behind brand voice (style, tone, and messaging)
Examples of each
Section 2 – Developing Brand Phonation with Content
Explanations of how to develop brand voice using content (written, visual, video)
Considerations for content producers/marketers to bear in mind when producing content (strategy, goals, overall make messaging)
Section iii – Examples of Content That Builds Brand Voice
Several examples (three or iv) of content that aligns well with marketing positioning and branding of recognizable brands
Decision
Wrap-up
This outline eventually became my recent post about brand voice. I deviated from my initial outline slightly, just the overarching structure was always there to go along me on target.
nine. Edit Your Work Ruthlessly
And so, yous're writing every day (or regularly, at least), and yous're feeling more confident about your piece of work. Awesome! Now you're going to get your own harshest critic.
Editing is a tough skill to learn for beginner writers, considering they identify immense value on the fourth dimension and effort they put into writing in the first place. However, a lot of writing is actually rewriting, and this is where the common cold, hard eye of an editor will serve you well.
Develop the discipline it takes to eliminate extraneous words (more on this shortly). Resist the temptation to wax lyrically and get to the point. Not certain if a paragraph works? It probably isn't. Be tough on yourself, and know when to delete or rework something. Your work will be much stronger as a issue.
10. Accept That First Drafts Are Most Always Crap
The best writers make it look and so easy. After reading a great post, it's tempting to imagine your favorite bloggers effortlessly turning in incredible posts with minimal effort earlier spending the residue of their day reading obscure books in a quaint corner café somewhere. Accept comfort in the cognition that this isn't how writing works.
Commencement drafts are almost e'er crap, and that's okay. Don't trounce yourself upward if you don't create a masterpiece on your first effort – chances are, you probably won't, and that'southward okay, too. Just get your ideas down on paper start, then go dorsum and start cleaning up. Writing is an iterative process, and even the best writers have to spend a lot of fourth dimension reworking material they were probably also embarrassed to show anybody.
11. Notice a Good (Patient) Editor
Whether you're trying to make the case for a content strategy to your manager or desire to start guest blogging on your favorite sites, finding and working with a good editor is i of the best things yous can practise to meliorate your writing skills. I've worked with dozens of editors over the years, and in my feel, the best are those who prove y'all why something doesn't work, rather than only telling you that information technology doesn't.
Allowing someone else to read your work can be brutally difficult for some writers, especially when they're only starting out, simply it'south crucial that yous develop good habits from the commencement and learn to accept constructive criticism about your work. Remember – writers are badly needy creatures who need to be constantly reassured that they're the creative geniuses they believe themselves to exist, but you'll need to develop a thick skin if yous're serious virtually your work, and a expert editor is invaluable when it comes to toughening up.
12. Eliminate Unnecessary Words
Some other common fault amidst beginner writers (and some more than experienced writers who should know meliorate) is writing overly circuitous sentences in an endeavor to "sound" more administrative.
In many cases, shorter sentences tin can accept a greater impact. You may have heard of a six-word story that was supposedly written by Ernest Hemingway, which reads, "For auction: Infant shoes, never worn." Whether Hemingway wrote this or not is irrelevant – the power of these six words shows that brevity can be a powerful tool when used correctly, and not every sentence needs to exist overwrought to get your point across.
Let's look at some other real example from one of my posts – my very outset post for WordStream, as information technology happens. This lengthy sentence is a prime candidate for a ruthless red pen, even if my lame jokes were intended to requite it a picayune more flavor. I've edited the sentence to show you how you could edit a like line in your own piece of work (additions italicized).
"Whether you're a newcomer to Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords) or accept been running PPC campaigns for years, you've probably given a groovy deal of thought to about which keywords volition result in more clicks and higher conversions – not to mention that holiday home in Lake Tahoe yous've been dreaming about."
thirteen. Take a Stroll Down Memory Lane
I've been writing professionally, in ane way or another, for the by ten years. When I look dorsum at my early work, which I do every so often, it literally makes me cringe. I don't practise this because I'm a masochist, simply to remind myself how far I've come.
Writing should be fun, and along with the thrill of seeing your byline for the first time, seeing how far y'all've progressed is one of the most satisfying parts of being a writer. Every at present and then (but not also often), re-read your before work and marvel at how much better you are now than you were and then. Pat yourself on the back. You've worked hard, so don't be shy – congratulate yourself.
14. Don't Exist Afraid to Say What You Think
Most content on the web is bland and dreadfully boring. This is considering far too many bloggers focus on regurgitating the same news as everybody else without bothering to add their own opinions. Plain you don't desire to fall afoul of libel laws, but that doesn't hateful you tin can't (or shouldn't) say what you think.
Once you've started to discover your own "vox," don't be shy about sharing your opinions. This makes for more interesting reading. Don't exist contrarian for its own sake, and don't set out to purposefully piss anyone off, simply make sure there'southward enough of you in your writing to make it a worthwhile read for your audience.
fifteen. Practise Your Inquiry
Aside from plagiarizing someone else's work, nothing volition undermine your credibility faster than declining to do your homework.
In their eagerness to exist done with a web log post (or even major newspaper article), many writers endeavor to take shortcuts with the facts. This can range from accidentally fudging a statistic out of haste to being lazy when it comes to sourcing or attribution. Non but can this state yous in large trouble with your editor/content marketing managing director/other dominate-type person, it as well makes you look like an amateur.
Everybody makes mistakes, and y'all don't need to spend weeks cross-referencing every last statistic (see the next tip), but common sense should prevail here – don't rely exclusively on sites like Wikipedia, and utilize current, master sources whenever possible.
16. Recollect Done Is Meliorate than Perfect
You should definitely take the time to write likewise as you tin can, proofread and edit your work thoroughly, and ensure that your piece flows logically from one point to the next.
All the same, this doesn't hateful you lot should take weeks to write something.
No piece of writing will always be perfect – you take to know when it'south time to let information technology get. This is specially of import in content marketing, because you'll rarely (if ever) have the luxury of crafting agonizingly beautiful blog posts full of poignant sentences and evocative imagery. As you become more confident, the "writing" part of writing will go easier and faster, but never lose sight of the fact that deadlines, or editorial calendars, are simply equally much your masters every bit any boss or manager.
As for me, I'thousand going to take my ain advice and phone call this post done. I hope y'all observe these tips useful, no matter how long you've been writing.
Summary: How to Meliorate Your Writing Skills
- Brush up on the basic principles of writing, grammer and spelling.
- Write similar information technology's your job and practice regularly.
- Read more so you develop an center for what effective writing looks similar.
- Notice a partner. Ask them to read your writing and provide feedback.
- Join a workshop, meetup, or take a writing night form.
- Have the time to analyze writing you admire.
- Imitate writers you admire.
- Outline your writing.
- Edit your writing.
- Accept that first drafts are often bad and revise.
- Find an editor who demonstrates patience.
- Eliminate unnecessary words from your writing.
- Review your before work and run across how you've grown.
- Don't exist afraid to say what you hateful in what you write.
- Brand sure you do adequate research on your topic.
- Don't filibuster writing. Get it done now.
Source: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/08/07/improve-writing-skills
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