Writing Skills

Starting without a solid plan is like building a house without a foundation. What are going to talk about? What are your goals? What do you want you readers to take from your message? Consider the following process before you start writing the very first sentence:

• Set clear goals
• Brainstorm ideas
• Write down main thoughts
• Outline structure

Consistent writing helps your readers get the most out of your content. They know what to expect and in which format. Inconsistent writing creates chaos and leaves the reader scratching their head and trying to put it all together. Being consistent makes your audience want to read more of your work.

Don't beat yourself for delivering a non-ideal first draft. It's expected to be like that. Be patient. The baseline version helps you come up with better ideas on how to structure and polish your content. If you consider this as a starting point eventually your will win big. Scrap, reorganize, and tune. It takes time but this is the only way to deliver a highly engaging and easy to follow piece of writing.

Each time you write on something do your absolutely best so your readers want more. Include as much useful information as possible. Be creative, use images, diagrams, videos, calculators, and online interaction tools where appropriate.

The introduction section invites the reader to spend their valuable time on reading what you have to say. Ensure it is concise and interesting. Entice the reader. After reading the intro section your audience should feel like they can't wait to finish the rest of it.

Include your main ideas in a sequence of logically organized coherent sections.

Each paragraph and each sentence you write should motivate the audience to read further. When used consistently this principle will boost your audience retention rates. Do not get distracted, examine each sentence and ask yourself if it makes the reader want more of your content.

Divide your message into multiple logically connected paragraphs with an easy to follow flow. Using large chunks of text scares readers as it's difficult to comprehend ideas without having enough breathing space.

Summary section solidifies reader's knowledge by highlighting the main ideas and summarizing everything that has been communicated before. Ensure the section is as concise and as interesting as possible. Many readers do not read the whole article. Some of them do not even skim through. They jump to the bottom straight away and look for a great summary or recommendation. The only way to capture such readers is to always have great and useful summary sections. Think about this section as the only piece of content you readers have time for. What information would you put in there?

Being specific helps readers to understand your ideas much better. Imagine a CEO talking about the company's goals using blurry generic phrases like

Which one makes more sense? Which one gives you specific information that you can use from the very first time you hear it?

Effective writing expresses ideas clearly without redundant information. Eliminate unnecessary words and phrases leaving only the required thoughts and constructs. Destroy long paragraphs and sentences by re-structuring and splitting into smaller pieces. Review your work often and ruthlessly destroy the noise which does not add any value and only distracts the reader.

A great piece of writing contains the most appropriate words amplifying the main idea and making it enjoyable to read.

Weak words are weeds. They pollute your writing. A few examples: very, really, actually, so

Consider replacing this sentence

Using these constructs make your sentences longer. It's easy to replace them with more appropriate constructs as illustrated belowUsing these constructs make your sentences longer. It's easy to replace them with more appropriate

People don't like cliches. Don't use them. Replace commonly used phrases with more specific and spiced up constructs.

Putting emphasis on yourself makes it boring for your readers. Count how many times you have used I, me, we, and us. Re-write your content to use you instead. Great content engages the reader and puts them on the front stage.

Asking questions is a thought provoking process that engages your audience. Have you noticed this article has a few questions to give you a chance to stop, think, and take a breath? Do you feel engaged when encountering a question related to the area you are interested in?

A picture is worth a thousand words. Our brains consume images much more efficiently than words, sentences, and paragraphs. Become creative and enhance your content with multiple illustrations.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a thousand pictures. According to multiple reports the proportion of videos to other types of online content is changing fast. Video content is king. If you deliver online material consider using videos to spice your content up and make it more meaningful.

More often than not, passive voice removes the energy from your sentences by shifting the emphasis from the important subject. Consider the following example.

Clearly, the second sentence is much more concise and vibrant putting the emphasis on the subject (John) as opposed to the process.

While using passive voice is considered a bad practice, often it is required and sounds much better. Use this principle but remember that nearly every rule has exceptions.