10 THINGS YOU MUST DO TO BECOME A BETTER CONTENT WRITER

 

 

10 Proven strategies to help you become an exceptional content writer!

 

Written by: Ojeme Isioma (Content writer and Copywriter)

 

The question is, how can you become a better content writer? If you are passionate about writing like me and you want to get better at it, then this article is for you!

 

I started writing when I was eight years old. Then, I would write short stories and enhance visualization with my horrible but colourful drawings. I really can’t remember the stories I wrote or what I wrote about, but my mum still says I was a good writer, though she never got to read any of them.

 

As a Communication Arts student, one of the things that has helped me to maintain good grades and even stay on a First class is my writing prowess as I’d like to put it.

 

What about my articles? The comments I have been getting from my readers have been very encouraging and it only reflects how good I am and how much I’m willing to become better at what I do, every day.

 

This takes us back to the central message of this article, which is how you can become a better writer…

 

I’d be sharing with you, 10 major strategies/tips that I have intentionally adopted in writing over time and has helped me get better at writing. Of course, I am not yet there as well, but I can confidently say that I am not where I used to be, and I believe that you’d be able to say the same thing by the time you are done reading this article!

 

Let’s now dive in…

 

Content writing is not copywriting and vise versa. While copywriting is the art of writing to sell, Content writing is the art of writing to engage, educate and influence a targeted audience. Everything is written content, but they fulfill different purposes…

 

Content writing is writing to provide answers to the questions of your audience, provide valuable information, engage with them and possibly turn your readers to your customers {when you decide to sell your products or services, through copywriting}.

 

Content writing is all about releasing value (valuable information) to your target audience, in order to build trust, credibility and authority and around your brand. What you are reading right now, is a perfect example of content writing.

 

Copywriting on the other hand, is writing to SELL {Get people to buy what you sell, through persuasion}. If you want me to write an article like this, on Copywriting, let me know in your comments, below.

 

Again, I’d be sharing with you, 10 proven strategies that when applied well, can help you become a better writer too…

 

Don’t forget to get to jot things down, so that you can take some nuggets away!

 

10 Proven strategies… Here you go:

 

     1. WRITE EVERY DAY:

You learn to cook by cooking. You learn to walk by walking. You learn to dance by dancing. This also applies to writing. You learn to write by writing, and to become better than every other person at it, you have to do it every day. It is not an exaggeration, it is simply what it takes to become a better writer.

 

 

Although I started writing when I was eight, I never took writing seriously until after my secondary school education, and then I realized that writing was something I couldn’t afford to stop doing. I began to write every day and the more I wrote, the more I became better at it because doing it every day made me have a flare for it and writing became a part of me.

The truth is that, passion can be developed and it can also be lost. If you are passionate about singing, then you have to sing every day, and even when you are washing the dishes, because though your voice might not be lost, your passion for singing could be lost if you stopped singing. So it is with writing, write every day, develop your writing skills and let your passion for writing keep growing.

 

Is it possible for you to write every day? Yes it absolutely is! It might not be easy, especially on your busy days, but that is where making it a top priority on your list comes in. The truth is that, we will would always make out time for the things that are important to us and if you have not succeeded at doing that, chances are, you might not be able to do this either.

 

So, make writing a priority borne out of passion, and write every day, not regularly, but every day, no matter how short what you write is, just ensure that a day doesn’t pass without you either putting pen to paper or fingers to key.

 

     2. CONSUME LOTS OF WELL WRITTEN CONTENTS, REGULARLY:

Back in the years, I hated reading. I still don’t find it interesting, but somehow, I’ve succeeded at making it a part of me, by default. Then, I would always ask myself this question; “is it possible to be a great writer and a poor reader?” I always gave myself the answer I wanted to hear which was, “yes,” and even justified it.

 

 

Well, I know better now and I must share that with you. The truth is that, you can be a good writer being a poor reader, but I doubt that you can be a great writer being a poor reader.

 

Hold on…

Now, the difference here is the extent at which you are able to maximize your writing ability to become great at it. I also understand that people consume information in different ways based on what works for them. Reading is not the only way you can consume valuable information.

 

Valuable information can also come in form of videos, audio books, podcasts and infographics. But specifically, for you as a writer, above all these other forms, YOU so NEED to READ and I’ll tell you why. Keep reading…

 

Three reasons. One, reading other people’s content can help you observe and take note of some important factors such as their tone, diction, style, structure and the way they have coined the message to suit you the reader, and its purpose. For example, reading other people’s contents such as mine, can help you become a better content writer. You could easily draw inspiration to write from other written contents and even learn how to go about it.

 

You’d find the other two reasons why you need to be a good reader at the least, to become a great writer, along the way, just keep reading…

 

Consuming lots of written content is vital to helping you understand what it takes to be a writer in the field you have chosen and develop yourself to be the best writer that you can possibly be.

 

     3. BE CONVERSATIONAL IN YOUR WRITING:

Well, I cannot over emphasize the need to write in a way that engages your audience because that is the key to influencing your audience through your written contents. Okay, let’s look at it this way, if you have read up to this point and you are still reading now, then, it’s most likely because you have found this piece not only valuable to you, but also engaging.

 

 

In content writing, you are to write like you are having a conversation with your ideal reader. I believe I am having a conversation with you right now. How would you be able to achieve this? It is by researching to know and understand your readers. Number two reason why you cannot but read to become a great and successful writer.

 

You don’t need to be too formal when writing for content development. Be yourself, keep a friendly and conversational tone. It’s not always that serious because the last thing your ideal reader needs is another boring and writer-centred article.

 

Again, how do you maintain a conversational tone when you are the only one writing? Yes, good question! Whenever you are writing, keep this in mind: “You may be writing all by yourself but you are never writing for yourself”. So, again, researching and knowing your target/ideal reader helps you know what they could be thinking while they are reading your write-up.

 

In other words, dealing with your reader’s objections beforehand (or as they think of it), is one of the secrets to being conversational in your writing. Only then can your readers feel like they are having a conversation with you.

 

     4. ADDRESS YOUR READER DIRECTLY:

Simply put: let your message be more of a “You” message rather than an “I” message. This is part of maintaining a conversational tone with your reader, but it is more of coining and directing your message to them, so much that they can feel like you are talking to them one on one. It should be a one to one (writer to reader) message and not a one to many (writer to readers) message.

 

 

Addressing your ideal reader directly makes you write from an audience-centred perspective rather than a writer centred-perspective. Again, you must always keep it in mind that although you may be writing by yourself, you are never writing for yourself.

 

You address your ideal reader directly, by using the second person point of view (you, your etc. just as you see in this article). My message is directed to you, and you can see that.

 

     5. ADOPT AND MAINTAIN A WRITING STYLE:

Let’s face it, writing can be a mentally stressful activity, at some point, no matter how passionate you are about doing it. It is a whole lot of work! That is why most people hire experienced writers (like me) to do the work for them.

 

 

Adopting and maintaining a writing style or set of writing styles not only helps readability as result of the organized structure of your write-up, but it also saves you the writer the stress of thinking of how to start and end your write-up.

 

Let’s look at it this way, I have helped and still help people write their speeches and other contents, and as a result, I have a format for every type of speech that I always follow when I want to craft a written speech for someone.

 

When it comes to speeches, I love starting with either a quote or a story, as well as other contents and this saves me the stress of thinking of how to start and end the speeches. I always like to end powerfully, with an exclamation, like this!

 

As a writer who is committed to writing every day, it is not enough that you have to generate contents regularly (even though they don’t always have to come from your brain, but even the research is a lot of work on its own), you also have to be creative in your writing.

 

So, why not help yourself by simply establishing a writing style and possibly a format for each type of the writing that you do? I believe that helped. Do this and you’ll be on your way to becoming a better and more effective content writer!

 

     6. USE THE POWER OF GOOD PARAGRAPHING:

Observe yourself closely and ask yourself right now; “why am I still reading this?” You probably have a lot of reasons but whether you admit and see it or not, the paragraphs are helping your readability too!

 

 

Have you ever opened a book or an e-book or an article online and all the sentences are joined together, no spacing, no paragraphs? Did you even start reading it? Probably yes. Did you read till the end? I doubt that.

 

The effect that a well paragraphed article or write-up can have on its readability cannot be over emphasized.

 

Paragraphs not only aid convenient readability, they most likely help to make the reader read till the end, and isn’t that what every writer wants? Of course, it is! I want you to read this till the end and I know you will.

 

As a writer who aspires to become better at writing, you need to understand how to use paragraphs to the best advantage of your write-up. I learned something minute but vital, about written contents, recently and I’d be pleased to share it with you, it is; the structure and paragraphs of your content, is almost as important as the message or your content. Don’t ever forget to always keep that in mind when you write.

 

    7. DO THE READER-SENSITIVE EXERCISE:

Why do I call this the reader-sensitive exercise? What exactly is this? Good. The reader sensitive exercise as I have chosen to call it, is the art of intentionally maintaining the position of the reader and the writer at the same time, when reading any write-up, copy or content. “What do you mean?”

 

 

You remember that we talked about consuming (reading) lots of written contents in number 2 of this article, right? Did you take note of the reasons I gave? If you did, then that is exactly what I mean by, “the reader-sensitive exercise”.

 

And if you did not, you probably want to read it again and take note. Remember, you are willing to become a better writer, so you cannot afford not to take note of the nuggets you get from this article.

 

When reading the articles of other writers like you, doing the reader-sensitive exercise will make you take note of the minute things and details that a reader who is not a writer or aspiring to be one, might not take note of.

 

During this exercise, it is necessary for you to ask yourself some of these questions; “why am I still reading this?” “What style did the writer adopt to encourage my readability” (It could be stories, humor, powerful quotes etc. but mind you, be careful of using humors, if it’s not funny, it probably won’t make your readers laugh either).

 

I recommend relevant stories/quotes and good paragraphing). “What makes the heading of this write up so captivating to me?” “How can I apply this style of writing to my next article?” “Why did the writer use subheadings along the way?” (subheadings aid readability for skimmers) …

 

Question everything you take note of and either leave your unanswered questions in the comment section or find out yourself by conducting a research on them.

 

When you do this exercise often, you put yourself in the position of the writer (wanting to understand how he or she did it) and the reader (taking note of vital nuggets from the write-up).

 

It helps you become a better writer as well as develop an eye for detail (the ability to spot and pay attention to minute things or errors or something that most people would normally not take note of). This is exactly how the reader-sensitive exercise helps you as a writer.

     8. READ YOUR CONTENT OUT LOUD:

I wish I could scream this into your ears right now! Always read your written contents OUT LOUD.

 

 

You know why? It’s because it helps you to feel the tweak of what you have written. In copywriting, it has to sound exciting and conversational since you are persuading a targeted audience to buy what you sell. In content writing, it has to sound conversational and the tone of the write-up must be in alignment with its purpose.

 

For example, if you write more of motivational articles like me, the tone and language of your write-up must be persuasive, challenging, fearless, motivating and every tone that you need to enable your reader to understand the purpose of the write-up!

 

You would never be able to determine the tone of your article except you read it out loud to yourself or to someone else.

 

Reading your write-up out loud also makes your editing and proofreading easier for you. There are grammatical errors in your write-up that you might never spot until you read it out loud. This happens to me a lot of times and it’s probably the same for you.

 

So, to become a better writer, you must learn to read your write-up out loud, and ensure that it sounds the way it needs to, in your ears, based on the purpose of the write-up. A comedy entertainment write-up should not sound like a News report.

     9. WRITE, FINISH, THEN EDIT:

Resist the temptation to edit as you write. Let it flow as it comes, so that you don’t loose the key ideas before you are able to write them down.

 

 

This happens to me whenever I’m typing and even with this article. I detest seeing the red and blue lines under my words and so I always want to go back and correct the errors before continuing. I’m still learning to restrain myself from doing this too, and I advise that you do the same.

 

When you write, finish, then edit, it gives you the opportunity to pay the most attention to these two different activities per time. Writing is a mental work and so are editing and proofreading.

 

They all need the most attention that you can pay to doing them, for them to be effective to your message. So, take this strategy and write, finish, then edit your write-up to become a better writer.

     10. EDIT YOUR WORK WITHOUT MERCY:

This sounds brutal and it’s because that is how your editing should be. Brutal. Editing your written content brutally and without mercy is being able to cut off all unnecessary or over used words such as adverbs. I am not saying, don’t use adverbs, but I’m saying, use them sparingly, as well as every other word.

 

 

For example; if you write; “I felt really great at the party yesterday”, when you are editing this sentence, you could simply delete “really” and leave it as; “I felt great at the party yesterday”. Did that change the meaning of the message that you wanted to pass across? Of   course not. Now. that’s what I mean by editing your work without mercy.

 

Editing applies not only to correcting the grammatical errors, but also to the elimination of over used and unnecessary words. A little advice; when you write, leave your write-up for at least one hour, then come back later to edit it. This gives you the opportunity to relieve yourself of the stress from writing and then you are strengthened enough to do the editing, and do it well. Did that make sense?

 

And yes! You have it! Congratulations for reading up till this point! You are a step ahead to becoming a better writer than you could have ever have imagined, if you apply these 10 proven strategies. I have applied them and they worked and are still working and I guarantee that yours won’t be any different, since we both have the same goal which is to be the best at what we do, right?

 

You know what I love about these 10 tips/strategies? They are SMART! By SMART I mean they are, SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE (in this case, ACTIONABLE), REALISTIC/RESULT-FOCUSED and TIME BOUND!

 

Yes, most importantly, these tips are actionable, so why not go put fingers to key and apply them right away?

 

Good luck on your journey to becoming a better writer from this moment onwards! Let’s go do this!

 

Don’t forget to leave your questions or thoughts about this article in the comment section. If you found it helpful, let me know. If there’s something you think is missing and can be added to these 10 strategies, kindly let me know in your comments! If there is something on content or copywriting that you’d like me to write on, let me know in your comment and I’d be happy to help satisfy your need!

 

More so, to contact the QUEEN of Content and  Copywriting for her (Content and Copywriting) service, click the link below, and I’ll be at your paid service, to deliver VALUE OVERDOSE to you!

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