Entries Tagged 'writing' ↓

“How can you possibly have an international agreement that’s effective unless countries like China and India are not full participants?”

–George W. Bush,

“One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can possibly be.”

–George W. Bush, on military benefits, Tipp City, Ohio, April 19, 2007

IF you look through many quotes of George Bush, you will see a variety of double negatives; they suggest a confused and simple mind. Don’t come across like the President of the US. Choose instead clarity - say what you mean.

Don’t not say a complicated way of creating confusion when things could, in all honesty, be less complicated than you have failed to put across.

Examples of Double Negatives and Better Alternatives

• It’s Not a Bad Idea
• It’s a promising idea

• I couldn’t agree less
• I disagree

• It’s not completely useless.
• It has some potential.

• I’m not particularly happy with the progress that has not occured in the past few weeks.
• The lack of progress, in the past few weeks has been dissapointing.

Came across this interesting video at Copyblogger. Basically, Ira Glass talked about how the mundane can be made interesting. The key is ask questions of the reader so that they are drawn in and are compelled to keep reading. What is the formula for creating compelling stories? Using his idea, I wrote the following:

Boris woke up at the crack of dawn; there was an profound silence throughout the house.

With a certain inner fear, he rose from his night’s slumber and threw on some clothes.

Sleep often cleared his mind, but, this morning there was an inner disturbance with many thoughts running through his mind. However, although his mind was noisy, there was a great silence pervading the house as he descended into the kitchen.

Still, here in the kitchen, the morning’s silence was only broken by the sound of passing cars in the distance….

Basically, this story is saying. Boris got up, got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. But, here where is the drama, the interest in saying that? There is no bait or anything to get people wanting to read more.

However, in the above story, there is something in the writing which makes us want to keep reading. Why is the house so silent? Why is Boris a little perturbed? It has us hooked and we want to keep reading to find out why?

Good writing tries to pull us in and keep us guessing. It throws up questions and wants us to keep reading. The only problem is do we have a good reason why the house is silent?

Maybe its always silent? Maybe it’s a bank holiday and Boris has forgotten? Or maybe it is something more sinisiter

This is one thing you notice in the writing of J.K.Rowling and Dan Brown. The end of a chapter is a page turner - what is going to happen next?

See also: 7 Tips to make your writing interesting

One of the more difficult aspects of blogging is the ability to keep a regular posting schedule. If you are able to keep a regular posting schedule, it will help attract regular readers. It is also a good way to build up the number of archives and pages.

Don’t Always Aim for Perfection.

Not every post has to be a 1,000 word epic. Sometimes short posts are just as good. I went through a stage of thinking I should always write with Digg in mind. Therefore, articles could take over an hour to write; this was a great disincentive to post - sometimes I went a week without posting.

Try a Few Shorter Posts

Similar to the point above, try posting a few quick posts. See: Advantages of short posts

Write on What You Know

Sometimes we set ourselves difficult challenges by trying to write on obscure topics or topics that need research. When posting think of what you already know about. Maybe you have been having a conversation with someone about an aspect of your blog. If you can talk about it, there is no reason why you cannot write about it.

Write En Masse.

Often I will sit down and write 6-7 posts for Netwriting in one day. On another day, I might write 5-6 posts for my cycling blog. By doing this, you can get into a groove for writing about the topic. Then you can use wordpress time delay publication. This is a very useful feature of Netwriting. You can have new content published throughout the week, but, only need to work on the blog for one day.

See also:

• How To Be A Prolific Blogger
  
• 10 tips for Inspiration to Write

1. Spelling mistakes. Use a spell checker when writing. It is also helpful to use the Mozilla Firefox inline spell checker which will help catch errors if you write directly into your blog. There is no excuse for not using a spell checker which will help catch 85% of spelling mistakes. However, don’t forget that you still need to check because the spell checker can still miss words not used correctly. See: humorous example of spell chequer
2. Grammar Mistakes. Avoid common errors such as confusing their and there. You’re and your. If you are uncertain, take time to learn these rules, the effort will pay you back through helping you to look more professional. See: 5 Grammar Mistakes to avoid
3. Punctuation Mistakes. The comma can be tricky. How to use the comma these are the main useage of the comma. Punctuation mistakes to Avoid
4. Unnecessary words. Avoid unnecessary adjectives.
   • He was sprinting very fast - If you are sprinting by definition, you are going very quickly.
   • It is equally superfluous to say the “wet rain.” - It is rare that water is dry…
5. Repetition. Some repetition can create emphasis. But, generally, you want to avoid repeating yourself. If you have made a point, don’t keep making it in the same manner.
6. Lack of Clarity. Good writing is simple and to the point. If a word can be left out without altering the meaning, then do it.
   • BAD: I think that, on reflection, the new version of the English dictionary is mostly, quite a fascinating version. However, I am not entirely certain that it will be well liked by young generation, who generally seem not particularly interested in changes in the usage of English language.
   • WHAT YOU MEAN: The new English Dictionary is fascinating. But, the younger generation will probably not be interested
7. Repetition of words. It is considered bad practice to keep repeating the same word. In this example, using the word general 3 times creates an unpleasant effect. You should avoid this overuse.
   • BAD: Generally, the comma is misused. In general everyday use, the comma splice often creeps into people’s writing. Generally, I think people should try to learn how to use a comma.
   • GOOD: In many situations, the comma is misused. In general everyday use, the comma splice often creeps into people’s writing. Arguably, people should give much more importance to using the comma.
8. Moralistic. Do we need the moralistic second sentence? It is usually unnecessary to condemn other people. It is sufficient to point out the error.
   • x made the mistake of using uncopyrighted images. This is shameful and shows his contempt for basic human decency. Photographers should always be given credit
   • x made the mistake of using uncopyrighted images. Photographers should always be given credit Continue reading →

I spent about an hour writing a previous post Common Web mistakes made by companies 

On reviewing the post, I felt I’d made a big mistake with the first sentence.

“I am an amateur blogger. I blog for part time income in addition to having a part time teaching job. Although I’m not a full time professional, I am constantly surprised…”

It’s a very weak introduction because:

It’s repetitive, unnecessary and also doesn’t inspire confidence. True, I may not be a full time professional, but,  it is unhelpful to give the impression you’re an ‘amateur blogger’

I have cut the first sentence and this enables us to get into the argument much more quickly.

 Despite the internet offering the fastest growth sector of the economy, many multi million pound companies are still making basic mistakes with their own websites.

It just goes to show the importance of the first paragraph and first sentence. An article may be very good, but, if 50% of readers give up because the first sentence is boring, the article is wasted.

It also shows the importance of following your own advice…

• Tips on the importance of your first sentence

After writing a post, I often give myself a grade  depending on how good I think the article is. This is perhaps a legacy from being an Economics teacher and examiner. If you are honest, you can soon gain a feeling about whether an article is genuinely good or just average. This also gives an indication whether the article will do well on social bookmarking sites.

It is not always possible to write grade A articles; sometimes the inspiration comes easily, at other times it can be hard work.  But, a successful grade A article usually includes the following characteristics:

Writing from the Heart

Writing from personal experience is a very powerful way to engage the reader. It is very difficult to fake real knowledge and experience. If you are writing from your own experiences and observations, you are able to give a unique and personal angle to the article. If you write with a lack of interest, your articles will inevitably join the ranks of the numerous mediocre articles floating around the internet.

Be Useful.

The best advice is always simple. When you are writing an article, you need to be clear that it is serving some purpose and can be useful to readers. For example, if you just repeat something which has been written countless times before, how is that useful to other people? If you can, at least, add some personal perspective then that makes the article more useful because you are illustrating how the idea can be applied.

• Useful articles don’t have to be “How to” But, if you are looking for an easy template a couple of How to … articles are an excellent way to start.

Writing outside the Box.

To write outside the box means looking at things from a different perspective; it means not just writing by numbers. Think how your niche can be seen through a completely different perspective. This involves ideas such as “Drunk on Your Own Words” - Here we take two activities drinking and writing and somehow combine them together. Writing outside the box can also be using the inspiration of past masters like “what Orwell can teach us about writing” The double advantage here is that Orwell has an authority that few net writers could ever have.

Lack of Self Promotion.

To write from a personal perspective is good, but, it needs to combine a certain humility and avoid excessive self promotion. Allow your writings to speak for themselves. Good writers don’t need to tell their readers they are good. If the information is useful for readers then include it; if you are writing to boost your ego be very careful of your motives

Passion vs Emotion

We want to avoid writing by numbers, which creates an uninteresting piece. We need to convey a sense of energy and newness into our writing. At the same time, there is a big difference between passionate writing and emotional writing. Emotional writing involves adding our personal judgements in a moralistic tone. When writing is emotional, it can feel unbalanced and lacking in maturity. However, if we are careful then we can create useful articles which are both engaging and avoid an emotional imbalance.

Short and Punchy

A short sentence will grab attention. Although, if you use it too often, your writing will sound stilted and under developed. However, if you can create a mixture of sentence length it will offer greater variety to your writing; it is one of those factors which will subconsciously attract interest. The key is to eliminate unnecessary words which don’t add anything useful.

Related 

• Do You stand out from the crowd?
  
• How To Become a Better Writer
  
• Finding your true voice as a writer - by J.P.Gillespie

When choosing the best title, it is first important to know our target audience. For social media and attracting the interest of potential readers it is vital to choose an engaging title which creates interest and offers something unique. It is vital to choose a title that gives the impression the article is actually worth reading. To get an idea of powerful titles just have a look at the delicious popular page. Successful titles have the ability to draw in a reader.

Off the top of my head I can think of various headline templates such as

• Effective ways to Captivate a Reader
• Are you making these mistakes…. ?
• Why the belief in … is mistaken
• 10 Powerful ways to…. (10 is the most popular number, followed by 7)
• Secrets of the successful ….
• Why you should … To…
• How to …
• More Eye Catching Titles

The other strategy for titles is to choose keyword rich titles that attract search engine titles. The problem is that these are often quite generic and ‘boring’ For example on a finance blog. Good keyword titles include: ‘Best Money tips’ However, ‘best money tips’ is hardly likely to set the social media alight. This article is currently Ten Effective ways to make the most of your money but, I will change it later.

Best of Both Worlds

If you really put your heart and soul into an article, you could make the best of both worlds. Start off with choosing an effective title for the social media. Take advantage of potential stumble and delicious traffic. After a month, you can revert the title back to the search engine friendly title.

It is best to use the post slug option to keep the original url compatible

In the past few months I have written guest posts for a variety of blogs such as Lifehack, Pick the Brain and Dumb Little Man. It has been a good experience, helping the development of my blogs but also improving aspects of my writing.

These are some of the things that I learnt through writing guest posts.

Titles Do Matter

I have written quite a few articles for Pick The Brain, John would often change the title to something more appealing and eye catching. For example, I wrote an article “How To Meditate” John changed the title to “4 Powerful Reasons to Meditate and How to Get Started“. I would never have thought of using this kind of title, but it did very well on Digg and Delicious. Now when I write articles, I think carefully about the best title. Note, this is most important for long articles you hope will be popular on social bookmarking sites. However, this does not mean every title should be written with Digg in mind.

See also: 7 Tips for eye catching Titles 

Grammar is Important.

Sometimes I would write 2,000 words and some commentators would pick up on a small grammatical error, 3/4 of the way down (e.g confusing their and there). Previously, I had seen this as not particularly important. But, when people pick up on these errors it encourages you to proof read an article several times, especially when it is for a big audience. You could take the attitude that you should ignore these grammar pedants; but, my philosophy is if you are going to write an article, it is best to make it as good as possible and give as little scope for criticism as possible.

Write From Personal Experience

The articles which have done well, tend to be those where I have written from a certain personal perspective. Some topics have been covered many times on the internet. The thing is to find topics where you have a specialised knowledge and can offer some personal insights. This is the case for my articles on meditation and a recent article on 10 Effective strategies for writing

Continue reading →

Writing is a very important skill, which will have significant bearing on your job, personal life and capacity to earn a second income. Whatever your motivation for writing, there is nobody who cannot become a better writer. These are some practical tips that will help you become a better writer

1. Aim High

To improve our writing we need to make it a goal. If we do not care about improving our writing, nobody is going to do it for us. Whatever your current standard, make a sincere effort to improve different aspects of your writing. If you give a priority to this target, there is no reason why you cannot improve.

2. Learn The Art of Simplicity

There is an oft used phrase ‘less is more’ With regard to writing this is particularly relevant. If you can make the same point with less words then this will make you a better writer. Good writing should be effortless to read; it shouldn’t be complicated and take time to decipher.

3. Practise.

If you want to be a better writer, the best thing to do is regularly practise the art. Through regular writing you will become more fluid in your command of language. If you are daunted by the idea of writing 1,000 words, start off with writing 200 words. By writing little and often you will gain increased confidence and assurance.

4. Don’t Aim for Complete Perfection

It may sound paradoxical, but to be a better writer we may have to accept less than perfection. The reason I think this is important is because when we expect perfection from ourselves we become a very slow and ponderous writer. Whatever we write doesn’t sound right, because we know it could be better. This insistence on perfection is the wrong way to begin writing. Start off by allowing yourself just to write, later you can go back and you will be able to improve on your first draft. Also, if we aim for complete perfection we will be very sensitive to any criticism; and this will be a deterrent to our writing. Continue reading →

Making the most of Time

The great difficulty that we face as writers is the lack of time.

It is easy to think - If only we had the luxury of retiring to a cottage in the Mountains then all our writing difficulties will be solved. However, it is not just about how much time we have, but, how we use it. To maximise our potential as writers we need to make sure we make the best use of time; if we don’t have enough time, we just have to create some extra time.

Some tips for effective writing practises

Dedicate half a day to Writing.

A full day of writing seems quite an onerous task, but, if we give 3-4 hours of writing we can get into the flow of creative writing energy without being overwhelmed. When we are in the right space, writing comes more easily. We should give these time slots a high priority; when we write we should avoid getting distracted by things that can wait for another time. If we are writing articles, don’t just do one at a time; often when I get into the flow of writing I find that the next 2 or 3 articles come quite quickly. Leave the uploading of articles to your site for another time - perhaps in the evening, when you are too tired to write.

Know What to Say.

Sometimes the hardest thing about writing is knowing the direction to take and what to say. Always keep a list of titles that you would like to write. When you sit down to write, this gives you a good choice of things to write about. If the title is a little vague write down a list of 6-7 key phrases which will make up the body of your writing.

Writing Without Inhibition

When you sit down to write it is important that you try to write without expecting perfection at first attempt. It is worth seeing the first draft as a place to put ideas down; this means you have the confidence to write down quickly. Sometimes, if we are highly concentrated, this form of quick writing may actually be quite effective. There is greater power in our writing when we can write - without long pauses to daydream or worry about we should write. Of course we will check, edit and delete where necessary. But, it is important to have something to edit with first. If you are a slow writer, practice writing quicker - just as an experiment and see how you get on.

Continue reading →