6 Writing Principles to Improve your Content as a Creator or Writer
This is to help you become a better writer or content creator.
Have you heard about the lion running around the southern parts
of Berlin, Germany?
Well, that is just around the corner from my home and has taken
some of my attention from content creation since yesterday
morning.
I am supposed to keep the dog inside and avoid the forest.
And now, I did in this newsletter what I recommend that you
should NOT be doing in your content: I started off with a totally
unrelated story you may or may not be interested in.
But I thought a lion right in a European capital may just be the
right recipe to catch your attention...
Some content draws you in and you won't put it away until the
last sentence.
Other content creates a giant yawn before you even know what it
is all about.
We all know that we should look for Grammar and spelling mistakes
before we hit publish or send an email.
We also know (hopefully) that structure makes texts easier to
read.
But there is more to engaging writing than producing flawless
text that looks nice.
You want your audience to suck in your content as if they are
reading the most entertaining summer novel. You want your
audience to understand you and take with them the most important
aspects of your content.
Here are 6 writing principles to improve your content and make it
more fun to read: #1 Get to the point
Don't make your audience guess what it is all about.
I get a fair number of emails for guest post requests.
And some of them start by telling me how beneficial guest posting
is.
Great. But either I already know that or I will not be convinced
by a stranger.
What they really want is to ask me if I am interested in a guest
post, provide me with some topics they could cover, and add some
background information about them. #2 Shorten sentences
Long sentences are harder to read and harder to understand.
If you can split up your sentence into two or more sentences: do
so.
Intertwined sentences leave your audience guessing what they
meant.
Your audience does not want to read every sentence twice or more
often to figure out what it is saying.
Example:
And while Twitter does not disclose what factors are used in the
algorithm, it is no question that a tweet that gets a lot of
engagement on Twitter will show more often in the feed and reach
more people on Twitter.
Twitter does not disclose what factors are used in the algorithm.
But tweets that get a lot of engagement on Twitter will show more
often in the feed and reach more people on Twitter. #3 Vary sentence length
Consuming content should be like listening to a well-tuned song.
If all sentences have the same rhythm and the same length it will
get boring.
Like someone talking in a monotonous voice.
Sprinkle in a sentence with a different tune once in a while and
you will keep your audience's attention longer.
#4 Cut the fluff
We all tend to use some filler words. Sometimes they make sense
to invoke emotions. But often they don't serve a purpose.
Your content does not need these words. They will get in your way
of getting your message across. #5 Layer information
Some information has more depth than others.
Some readers want more detail than others.
Layering helps and gives your audience the chance to keep
consuming the content without the need to go into full depth.
Classic layering follows the simple principle of
* What* Why* How
Some readers will read the "What" and move on to the next point.
Some of your audience also want the answer to the "Why" - but
many readers only turn to the "How" if they are about to
implement it all. #6 Add takeaways
Yes, we believe our content brings the message across. But we
wrote it. We know what it was supposed to explain.
Our audience does not know our intention. We can help them out by
adding little sentences that summarize the key takeaway for
paragraphs or sections.
Key takeaways for blog posts are often added in the "Final Words"
section.
But why not add some takeaways for longer sections or complex
aspects?
It will help your audience to move on in the content even if they
were lost to some difficult theory in between.
Takeaways can be short sentences to summarize a paragraph. I
create visual Takeaways for my courses.
I hope you learned something useful from this article! #news #Featured #Newsletter #AppFeed #opinion #ForYourViewingPleasure #ForDiscussion #Education
This is to help you become a better writer or content creator.
Have you heard about the lion running around the southern parts
of Berlin, Germany?
Well, that is just around the corner from my home and has taken
some of my attention from content creation since yesterday
morning.
I am supposed to keep the dog inside and avoid the forest.
And now, I did in this newsletter what I recommend that you
should NOT be doing in your content: I started off with a totally
unrelated story you may or may not be interested in.
But I thought a lion right in a European capital may just be the
right recipe to catch your attention...
Some content draws you in and you won't put it away until the
last sentence.
Other content creates a giant yawn before you even know what it
is all about.
We all know that we should look for Grammar and spelling mistakes
before we hit publish or send an email.
We also know (hopefully) that structure makes texts easier to
read.
But there is more to engaging writing than producing flawless
text that looks nice.
You want your audience to suck in your content as if they are
reading the most entertaining summer novel. You want your
audience to understand you and take with them the most important
aspects of your content.
Here are 6 writing principles to improve your content and make it
more fun to read: #1 Get to the point
Don't make your audience guess what it is all about.
I get a fair number of emails for guest post requests.
And some of them start by telling me how beneficial guest posting
is.
Great. But either I already know that or I will not be convinced
by a stranger.
What they really want is to ask me if I am interested in a guest
post, provide me with some topics they could cover, and add some
background information about them. #2 Shorten sentences
Long sentences are harder to read and harder to understand.
If you can split up your sentence into two or more sentences: do
so.
Intertwined sentences leave your audience guessing what they
meant.
Your audience does not want to read every sentence twice or more
often to figure out what it is saying.
Example:
And while Twitter does not disclose what factors are used in the
algorithm, it is no question that a tweet that gets a lot of
engagement on Twitter will show more often in the feed and reach
more people on Twitter.
Twitter does not disclose what factors are used in the algorithm.
But tweets that get a lot of engagement on Twitter will show more
often in the feed and reach more people on Twitter. #3 Vary sentence length
Consuming content should be like listening to a well-tuned song.
If all sentences have the same rhythm and the same length it will
get boring.
Like someone talking in a monotonous voice.
Sprinkle in a sentence with a different tune once in a while and
you will keep your audience's attention longer.
#4 Cut the fluff
We all tend to use some filler words. Sometimes they make sense
to invoke emotions. But often they don't serve a purpose.
Your content does not need these words. They will get in your way
of getting your message across. #5 Layer information
Some information has more depth than others.
Some readers want more detail than others.
Layering helps and gives your audience the chance to keep
consuming the content without the need to go into full depth.
Classic layering follows the simple principle of
* What* Why* How
Some readers will read the "What" and move on to the next point.
Some of your audience also want the answer to the "Why" - but
many readers only turn to the "How" if they are about to
implement it all. #6 Add takeaways
Yes, we believe our content brings the message across. But we
wrote it. We know what it was supposed to explain.
Our audience does not know our intention. We can help them out by
adding little sentences that summarize the key takeaway for
paragraphs or sections.
Key takeaways for blog posts are often added in the "Final Words"
section.
But why not add some takeaways for longer sections or complex
aspects?
It will help your audience to move on in the content even if they
were lost to some difficult theory in between.
Takeaways can be short sentences to summarize a paragraph. I
create visual Takeaways for my courses.
I hope you learned something useful from this article! #news #Featured #Newsletter #AppFeed #opinion #ForYourViewingPleasure #ForDiscussion #Education
