Looking to improve your blog writing? Today Shannon Paul ( @shannonpaul) from Very Official Blog gives her very official tips on the topic.
I love blogs. Before I started blogging seriously, I read a lot of other blogs and was very engaged as a reader. I commented a lot and began honing my ability to craft a statement quickly in response the ideas presented in the post. I’m still very engaged with other blogs in this way. However, if I’m being totally honest, most blogs I encounter are downright unreadable.
Now, I’m not going to run down the usual list of rules and grammar, but rather a list of things I think make me a decent writer.
1. Stop Trying to Sound Intelligent
You already are smart so stop trying to sound smart. So many people craft elaborate sentences with bigger words than they would ever use in conversation. If you have to use a lot of flower language, jargon or adjectives, you’re trying too hard. Choose your big words wisely. Blogs are not publications, they are conversations. Good writing is simple, but it’s hardly simple to write simply. Unlike speech and other forms of non-verbal communication, writing is a wholly unnatural activity unnecessary to human development or evolution. Give yourself a break and know that good writing is a process that must be practiced to be mastered.
2. Give yourself permission to write garbage
Do what you need to do to get your thoughts out — lead with some insipid quote from Albert Einstein, use a definition or some other tired cliche to get the words flowing and then take great pleasure in hitting delete or crossing it out when the time is right. Learn to let go…
3. Be a Ruthless Editor
Even the best ideas don’t always serve the overarching goal of the piece — get it out of there and save it for later if it’s really that good. Nine times out of ten, words like that and which can be crossed out without altering the meaning of the sentence one bit. By hacking away the extra, you’re making it much easier on the reader. Stop thinking of writing as putting words down on a page… writing is editing.
4. Use MIGHTY verbs
My journalism teacher would scream and writhe in agony in the classroom when we used what he called, “plankton verbs”, also known as “bottom-of-the-food-chain verbs”. Plankton verbs include: is, was, are and were. He would go so far as to restrict us from ever using these in an article and I don’t recommend you take such drastic measures when you’re writing, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind. Writing that lacks strong verbs gets boring fast.
5. Read aloud before posting
Another easy trick is to read what you write out loud. Things may seem self-explanatory in our head, but these are your words. If you find yourself stumbling over the words you just wrote, chances are you’re demanding too much work from your readers. Pare your sentences down.
6. Do what works for you
Everyone has his or her own process. I know a lot has been written about writing killer headlines and choosing keywords, but good content is at the soul of any great blog. Killer headlines may get the click, but good content will get people to stay awhile and maybe even choose to come back without the assistance of future keyword shenanigans.
Your Turn
By sharing these tips I thought I could clarify some of my own writing process and help others along the way. Since writing remains at the core of generating content, how do you hone your skills in a way that helps you clarify your voice for an online audience?
I think that the most important way to write well is by proofreading. Even though it is my least favorite step, I force myself to proofread my posts at least once – even more than once if I am not too rushed (a.k.a. lazy).
Thanks,
Nate
I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned that’s helped in my writing is to always take notes. I have thoughts that I come across in random points of my day and where sometimes I can’t actually write the post but is sitting up there in my head. Getting my ideas and thoughts down to paper, at the least, helps me in creation and makes writing the post at a later time much easier.
Great guest post, Shannon!
Great tips, Shannon. One tip I would add that’s greatly improved my writing is giving myself permission to NOT write. Some days I have no idea what to blog about, and I finally realized that it’s better for everyone if I just ‘live to blog another day’, than force myself to get a weak post up, just so my readers will have something new to read. Sometimes less is more.
In my very short blogging career i have learn one big lesson about writing content i.e Don’t Write a lot if you dont have lot to write.
don’t stuff unnecessary and irrelevant information just to make your post bigger and look detailed. Keep it short and to the point.
I like your tips it’s all practical based on truth and not fiction. No wonder you write well.:-)
Pay attention to your voice and be faithful to it. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Can you get your idea across? Perfect.
If you get a lot of feedback regarding the consideration of a nice career in the food service industry or whatnot then go the route of revamping your voice. There are a lot of folks on the internet who will have *zero* problem telling you if your grammar sucks. They’re also happy to let you know if they can’t figure out what in the wide-world-of-sports you were trying to say.
Cheers
George
These are very good points…especially about reading the post aloud. You can pick up simple grammar mistakes by doing that.
I just want to add one of my own:
Write only when you are inspired.
If that means you sit down and write 6 or 7 posts in a burst, do it. Empty the contents of your head when the ideas come to you. If you try to force good content, it will be apparent to your readers.
I think no.1 is a perfect reminder.. Good writing should be simple and easy to understand.
Some really great suggestions here. I think your first point is critical – it reminds of something my Dad always told me…”No matter how intelligent you are or how well you know the ins and outs of what you do – you will never be good at it unless you can put it in terms and/or everyday language that people can actually understand.”
I think it’s important to remember that while none of us want to sound dumb, we may come off that way if we are writing and talking in a language no one else can understand. Not only that – but all of that information is then useless to everyone else.
I know my biggest challenge is trying to avoid sounding like a book report – in a sense, I need to think less about what I am writing and just write. Thanks for the reminder and some great pointers!
Excellent tips for all writing, not just blogging. Another tip I picked up in a seminar on writing news releases–if you have the tendency to use “very” a lot, substitute damn in its place. You will break the habit quickly.
Julie
A writing tip I picked up from reading Stephen King’s only non-fiction work – “On Writing” emphasized tip #3 from above. He targeted reducing the text by something like 10%.
One thing I do is just do draft copies with a text editor. No formatting or pictures, etc. I won’t accidentally hit “Publish” and end up with having to go back and edit.
Good post!
MJ
Excellent tips, Shannon. I’ve never quite been able to do #2 on your list, give myself permission to write garbage.
Another thing that works for me is to finish writing a post, review it after an hour and only then hit “Publish”.
Great tips. I love the first one, not trying to sound intellegent. Most people do this and pose themselves as fools.
I agree with Jeffrey, whenever you feel inspired, you should write. There no use of writing as if it was a burden.
This was a good article. I’m pretty much doing all of these things already. Writing to me is mental vomiting, and I agree, the real work starts with the editing. I vomit it all out there, then go back and tweak it a lot.
Great post, I couldn’t agree more with you on #1. I had a friend that almost failed an English class [unrelated to blogging] because she tried to sound ‘smart.’ Like you said it would, it was a problem with flow, run-on sentences, and way to many prepositions.
Through my experience for blogging and writing for the web in general, I can’t stress research/brainstorming enough. If I do that first, I can make sure I’ve covered all the topics I want to cover, and am still able to write in my own voice.
I really appreciate all these points, and I agree completely…except this part: “Writing is a wholly unnatural activity unnecessary to human development or evolution…” While it may be scientifically accurate, I feel like writing is one of the most NATURAL things I do, and that it IS completely necessary to my development as a person.
But that’s just an aside. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Number 2 is very important. You can’t know how to improve if you don’t know what you’re failing at.
Combining points 2 and 3, I’d also suggest that you *not* edit until you’ve finished writing. This is a habit it took me forever to train into myself, but I think it led to a massive improvement in my content.
If you keep going back to fix a word or a sentence, or even a spelling mistake, then you’re interrupting the creative flow. Finish the article and then go back and edit it, and you’ll end up with a much stronger end product.
English is not my first language, that’s why it’s very difficult for me to make a post. I need Ms. Word to fix my grammar, and I know I still make mistakes here and there. But at least I have tried to write something. I just think that it’s better if I make some mistakes, but I already take an action, than if I do nothing.
These are great tips! I never thought of significance of the verb usage. I think the best writing I have done is when I am not trying so hard and the thoughts are just racing to get out of my head. I love those days. Good writing comes in waves and when you can catch that great wave, I say ride it! now, if I could only get readers! :(
Thanks for this advice!
“writing is editing” – that’s deep! I like it and great post too :)
I love your terms “plankton verbs” and “bottom-of-the-food-chain-verbs.” Just lovely.
@Tumblemoose: To be told that I would have more productive use of my time in the food service industry is one of my greatest fears. But of course no one is stopping me to find ways to improve my writing. It’s entirely up to the individual.
Read more and write more is what I find effective in bettering one’s writing.
Thanks for this! I just wrote a bold note saying “strong verbs” and posted it near my computer. Looking forward to working with it.
Like your ideas. I like the verb idea the best. Helpful for people wanting to improve their writing.
Wow, great post. And after reading that “writing is a wholly unnatural activity unnecessary to human development or evolution” I am relieved.
That might explain the struggle to get my thoughts on paper!
This is great Shannon and you’ve given me some new thoughts to hone my writing practice – thank you. At a friends suggestion, I’ve recently started doing more writing which fits with your suggestion to “give permission to write garbage”. She says the more we write the better we get! So now I write every morning before my day gets away from me even if only for 15-20 minutes.
I also keep a journal with me pretty much all the time and when an idea strikes me for a blog post, I try to mindmap it which makes it easier to focus in on and pull out the key ideas and trim off the excess. Looking forward to integrating your advice and some of the ideas from others in the comments. Always more to learn.
EDITING: There are very few great writers, but you can learn how to be a great editor.
Writing is not about being brilliant in your first draft but steadily working on improving your articles and posts until they are “high” quality and fit to post.
Thus, editing is by for the most important element of writing.
Another really helpful article for people looking to improve their writing skills. I am always thinking about writing and how I can get better, I think one of the main important things to do is read out loud as mentioned here and to check everything thoroughly before posting…..not just for spelling mistakes but for grammar and punctuation too!
Also I always find myself rushing content with the mindset of changing it later changes are you won’t (I don’t seem to) so it’s worth taking a little bit longer to make sure everything is right first time.
Thanks Guys
Is it really bad to use definitions of words to begin a blog? I’ve done it… a couple times.
My favorite thing about being a ruthless editor is that lovely gray “delete” key.
Good tips.
Less is definitely more in most cases, and yet I find that instead of enforcing compression and clarity, most social media forums end up encouraging an “accepted” code of truncated spellings and odd abbreviations.
Strong language use is very compelling, so I teach that if one cares enough to share an idea, he/she better give it the deserved attention and care prior to publishing.
Your post is a a bit of a lesson in practical writing. Fine, But you suggest that somehow this will enable blogs to acquire readers.
Errr !
My blog MODERN TIMES IN MUDSHIRES at http://rocketspage.wordpress.com has some merit, but attracts next to no readers.
If you just took out any competent article from any of the best newspapers in the World and stuck such meritorious writing in a blog it wouldn’t attract readers either, so I am utterly failing to grasp this whole business of blogging at all.
I think my biggest problem at times is that I don’t “read outloud” enough. Even when posting comments like this.
But I think one of the most important things is that you are always writing and editing when you’re on the Internet. So, I try to rethink how I write everyday.
Thanks for the great post! Shannon reflects the thought I tell my blog readers all the time: DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!
Writing is not about doing what works for everyone else. As a professional writer and budding fiction writer, I’ve learned this the hard way. For years I forced myself to do things “like everyone else” because I thought I was “supposed to.”
Now I’ve realized that I have to do things my way to keep my writing authentic and something I can feel proud of.
“Good writing is a process that must be practised to be mastered”. Ain’t that the truth!
Thanks for the great insight. It will, no doubt, inspire many blog writers to become better at their craft and these are easy things to do. We often tend to make things harder than they really are, don’t we :-)
I really liked the stop trying to be intelligent tip. Many bloggers try to prove themselves professionals and they often tell the people that they make thousands of dollars every month but this makes a bad impression because if they check your alexa ranking or anything else then you are doomed and you lose a reader for ever.
Mohammad Afaq
Free Website Traffic
Writing is Editing. I like that.
Following the advice of Hendry Lee and Problogger and a few others, I have recently set up an editorial calendar. It’s all manual, pen and paper, and here’s how I did it: I bought a large wall calendar and hung it on the wall of my office, and then I bought two old fashioned masonite clipboards and hung them under the shelf above my desk. I have two blogs, so a clipboard for each blog. Each clipboard holds a sheaf of paper, two different colors. On the clipboards I write down every idea I have for a post, in random order, as it occurs to me. Then about once a week I stand in front of the calendar and I plan out the posts for the following week, leaving a couple of slots open to leave room for sudden inspiration. I find that this practice frees my mind up to think about what I am actually going to write. I look at the calendar at night, before I go to bed, and the ideas for the posts of the next day percolate in my brain while I sleep. When I wake up I can sit down and pound out the first draft without having to ponder much at all. Then of course I re-read it carefully and edit it, and I do try to be ruthless and remove ambiguity and unnecessary words. But getting the flow is important and with my new calendar I feel so much more powerful and in control! Thanks for your tips.
I was sitting here trying to pick just one of the items you listed as my fav – but I couldn’t make up my mind.
Okay to start with – YES on #1 – some blog posts are written so “smart” it’s like a college thesis rather than a conversation.
For #2 & #3 – I teach my clients to first turn of their inner English teacher and just let the words flow. Later come back and (#5) read the piece out loud and get rid of the difficult and awkward fluff that doesn’t flow.
Now, my fav #4 – Use Mighty Verbs – When a person writes too “smart” the tendency is to not to use enough mighty verbs.
I’m going to go back and look at how I’m writing to make sure that I am using verbs that go zing! pop! wow!
The important thing that I find is to write with a single ideal client in mind, like I’m having a conversation. When I focus on a person that I can visualize sitting across the table, individual readers tend to feel like I am writing to them.
With all the stuff going on in my life editing has become the least of my worries. I’ve hit the wall, the always dreaded writers block. Everything was flowing wonderfully and then one day I went to post and…nothing. Guess I can use this time to back up and edit my old posts, make them fit together a bit more till I get out of the funk :(
I really love the other tips people are offering here, too! Giving yourself permission NOT to write when you have nothing to say is important — it’s better to take a break than simply phone it in.
@Sunil – totally agree that bulking up posts is never a good idea. I prefer concise over bloated any day!
@blog4movie – I’m sure writing in a second language has a different set of challenges I can’t even fathom. I agree that your voice is important and adding your perspective — even if it contains grammatical errors — is better than not.
@Emily – I love that! Strong verbs also help us use fewer words to express the same thoughts. Good stuff!
@Shelby Lynn – Yes, using definitions is very cliche. Of course this is my opinion, but when I read, “according to Webster’s Dictionary…” or “Wikipedia defines __________ as…” I can’t help but roll my eyes. Unless your concept is truly obscure or foreign, assume your readers are intelligent enough to know the accepted definition, or just embed the definition in link-form.
@Jacob – Glad you like my mantra. :)
Greats tips. I think that to blog isn’t as write a letter to a friends or write a piece for an internationl magazine. It is in the middle.
When I write i ever think about one thing: there is always someone that knows more than you. So, don’t write as a “messia”.
Bye! Manu
True, true, true….
I have not yet started writing a blog, because, quite frankly, until I feel I have something to share, what’s the point? Providing commentary on other people’s content can be just as impactful.
Great tip about verbs. All too often writers don’t regard them with a recognition of their power.
To expand on what previous posters have said, I would add: Make your Mode Match your Mood.
If I have a lot of ideas, I generate a lot of drafts, even if they are only a sentence long. If I’m rolling, I write post after post. And if I’m editing, I work on several and schedule them.
It’s like setting up a factory to get your head in the right places. So don’t gear up just to make a few items.
Thanks Shannon, wrote my first blog today after lots and lots of hesitation.
http://mystudiobiz.wordpress.com/
Great tips, and I strongly agree on this:
“Good writing is simple, but it’s hardly simple to write simply.”
very nice post…. as usual (you choosing)…. by the way I like the first one in particular…. most often than not people don’t like superior intelligence (acting intelligence). Count me among the people in that category.
My first job in the late 70s required that I prepared an audit repoft for management. My writing was sparse and controlled as my internal editor was constantly stopping me. One summer my finance went on a sailing trip and was gone for three months. So I started to keep a journal of my daily routine. What I discovered is that the simple act of writing every day and a very low risk activity like a journal improved my writing for audit reports. In the beginning my journal entries were a few sentences for the prior day. By the end of the summer each entry was a page long. So if even you do not create a blog entry, at least journal. Another side benefit of journaling: you begin to notice patterns of when and how you create excited to write your blog post.
Great post. Geez, reading this causes me to cringe only because I know I’m guilty for doing a lot of these.
What are some of the things I do? If an extra set of eyes (fiancee) exists, I have her look over it quickly.
I like to refer to a thesaurus every once in awhile.
When I read something I like, whether it be for stimulating content or good writing, I take notes. I love learning from other writers.
That’s it. Thanks & Aloha!
Thank you for these tips.
I have recently switched over my blog from Blogger to WordPress and in the process I have lost all of my old url links. Search engine traffic has completely dropped off and I am essentially back at “square one”.
Anyway, since I am basically starting over one of my goals has been to make my writing more engauging entertaining. By implementing these tactics I hope that I will be successful!
One thing that really helped me was to remember who I am writing for. On my product blog, I am writing for others where on my personal blog I am writing for me.