4 Ways for Entrepreneurs to Cultivate Their Writing
Social
media, self-publishing and the Internet have created an amazing new opportunity
to spread our words far and wide. Entrepreneurs can take thoughts out of their
head, and put them into words that change people’s lives.
This new
opportunity has been a blessing and a curse. Today, everything is short and
punchy. A tweet is fewer than 140 characters, no one reads long Facebook
updates, and blog posts have to be fewer than 1,000 words to hold people’s
attention.
“Write good
copy,” is the new buzz phrase. Everywhere you look is a new copy writing
expert. You’re told the copy on your website has to be appealing to your target
audience. In this movement to write good copy, the art of writing is lost.
Writing is not the
same as writing copy, and just because you can do one, doesn’t mean you can do
the other. Writing good copy can help your business, but good writing changes
lives. Here are four ways entrepreneurs can write more effectively.
1. Cut out
the fluff.
Some of the
greatest writers in history did this well. Vonnegut, Hemingway, King and many
other great writers spent an extraordinary amount of time making sure their
writing was free of what they considered “extra words.” Your audience will read
longer articles and books, if they’re free of fluff.
Avoid
adverbs. Stephen King says, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” I don’t
know if that’s true, but adverbs hurt effective writing. We use them when we’re
timid. Don’t be hesitant to state your truth. There will be those who
disagree, but your target audience will appreciate it.
Everything
you write won’t be fluff-free, but as you work on it, and write more, you can
get better. A wise man told me good writers read a lot and write a lot. You can
do both and you’ll develop solid, fluff-free writing.
2. Write for
one person.
Too often
when we write, we’re thinking about the hoards of people who will read our
words. We end up writing for this throng of people, which comes off as
us preaching with words.
The problem
is that the group reads our words as individuals. The group approach doesn’t
connect with each person individually. Great writing is very
conversational. You write to that person as if they were sitting right next to
you.
Effective
writing makes your reader feel like you’re speaking directly to them. It makes
them feel like you’re addressing a problem they have, that no one knows about.
You have to write for one person: your ideal reader. It will be
different for each of us, but we started our business to help a specific type
of person. Write to them and for them. Stephen King says everything he writes
us for one person: his wife.
3. Don’t
edit while you write.
In his book,
On
Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King says, “Writing is refined
thinking.” You should have one goal when you initially sit down to
write, get the thoughts out of your head and onto paper. Never edit while
you write.
When you’re
so attached to your writing, you’ll miss errors if you try to edit
while you write. It will take twice as long to write and ruin the flow of the
thoughts from your head to paper. Focus on expressing your entire thought, no
matter what it looks like.
After you’ve
done a brain dump, go back and edit. It would even be a smart idea to take a
little break before you edit. Step away from the words and refresh your mind.
Come back fresh and see what you missed as you edit. To make things even
smoother, come back to your writing a day before the article or blog post goes
live to give it one more edit. Days away will help you see what you couldn’t
during the first edit.
4. Don’t be
afraid to be human.
We get short
glimpses into each others lives through our interactions online. That glimpse,
however, doesn’t paint the full picture. It works the same way in our writing.
Too often,
we just give people a glimpse into our message when we should be willing to be
venerable. Good writing shows people you are human, and that helps your ideal
reader connect with you.
Effective
writing is vulnerable, honest, paints a picture of the struggle, and lays out a
road map for success. No one’s life is perfect, why try to pretend? Don’t be
afraid to be human in your writing. Many entrepreneurs give the impression that
their life is perfect but no one buys it. When you're willing to be
honest, no matter how hard it is, you'll stand out.
There’s been
a push to write better copy and ads. You should write good copy and ads. But
don’t confuse those bursts with effective writing, and what it can do for your
business.
Don’t
confuse effective writing with content marketing. Good writing takes
your reader to places and feelings they didn’t know they had. It changes
lives and gives hopes. Use these tips for better writing, and use better writing
to grow your business.
Source: Kimanzi Constable
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