This guest post is by Karol K of 100WPthemes.com.
These days, everyone’s a blogger. I’m a blogger, you’re a blogger, most people who end up commenting on this post will be bloggers too. And literally every one of us has the main goal of providing the elusive “quality content”.
However, the main problem is that virtually everything around us—social media, other commitments, you name it—tries to prevent us from doing so.
And despite the fact that there’s a massive number of tips online on how to write properly, the advice isn’t structured. There are just various bits of information here and there, so it’s difficult to keep everything in mind once you begin working on a new piece.
That’s why I want to share this following idea with you. The idea of writing exactly not like your teacher told you to.
This should be easy to grasp as we all went to school, and we all kind of remember what “good writing” is—according to our teachers.
Just a word of explanation before we begin. I’m from Poland. The school system is different here, but I’m pretty sure that the general rules of writing taught by teachers are pretty similar worldwide. Feel free to correct me, though!
The trick for us as bloggers, however, is to take this advice and flip it completely by doing exactly the opposite thing.
Don’t use long blocks of text
Chances are that your teacher told you to use long paragraphs so you can explain your points in great detail. Long blocks of text are easy to grasp on a piece of paper, but not on a computer screen.
Use a maximum of four to six lines of text per paragraph.
Don’t use complex language
In real life, using complex language doesn’t make you smart, it makes you a smart alec.
Simple words are better for getting your point across quickly.
Don’t wait to deliver your main point
The whole trick of online writing is to deliver your point early on. People simply don’t have time to read 600 words of your article to get to the point. That might work in school, but it doesn’t online.
Deliver your point in your second paragraph (unless you’re creating a list post).
Don’t introduce too many ideas
A blog post should be simple in nature. Remember that people are reading it on their computers, and reading from a screen is not the most comfortable thing to do.
One idea per post is enough. If you try to introduce more, the thing will end up being too confusing and difficult to grasp.
Don’t summarize anything
If you feel like you need to summarize your post then you’ve made it too complicated (see the previous point).
A post should be easy to grasp on its own—no summary required.
Do use readable subheadings
Subheadings were virtually nonexistent at school. At least, I don’t remember using a subheading in any of my school work.
However, using subheadings is the main trick bloggers have up their sleeves. The point of subheadings is to make a post understandable even if someone reads just the subheadings alone.
Try reading only the subheadings in this post. Does it still make sense?
Do write using “you”
Using “you” to refer to the reader directly is among the biggest sins you can make when you’re writing at school. I don’t know why … that’s just how it works.
On the internet, however, not using “you” is the biggest sin you can make. Your writing is your way of speaking to people. And how would you speak to anyone without referring to them directly?
As an example, there are 34 instances of “you” in this post.
It’s not all bad…
Really, I’m not all that pessimistic. Feel free to let me know which elements of school education you believe are extremely useful for bloggers—we’d love to hear them.
Karol K. is a freelance writer, and a blogger at 100WPthemes.com. Feel free to come by if you’re searching for some information on choosing a WordPress theme.
