Beginner’s Guide to Writing: Secret tips revealed

Do you wish to improve your writing or pursue writing as your career? You may have started a blog, made a portfolio and worked on keeping your content a level up and now trying to pitch clients. Welcome to the writing world.

Being part of the literary fraternity creating content over the years, I wish to share with you my real nuggets of wisdom. Beginner’s guide to Writing with tips, secrets and real value. This Writing Module Series is with a vision to help you see beyond the writing rules without getting overwhelmed and enjoy writing. Subscribe and stay tuned for EWP blog updates.

Writing plays a significant part of content creation. I will be incorporating more emphasis on writing in terms of content. My purpose is to help you start building the stage for your content business early on. So, those of you folks who are content creators and pursuing writing seriously, you should definitely consider it.

I’d ask you to trust me on this, but hey, you can decide for yourself.

Let’s begin by Introducing the Writer’s Daily Circle of Life.

A TYPICAL DAILY LIFE OF A WRITER :

A typical writer’s life consists of:

a) writing sample posts, preparing portfolio, publishing articles or writing projects on website

b)pitching for clients, getting clients on discovery call, sending a proposal

c)sealing the deal with a good offer

d) researching and working on the project, delivering the final project requirement

e) drafting your invoice, getting the payment

f) asking for testimonials and future references, work.

That circle of life for a content and creative writer also includes building your brand, networking with fellow writers, writing submissions etc.

As we deep dive into the writing sphere in future blog posts, you will understand how effective writing and content creation sync to create a good content strategy.

Before you jump into writing gigs, hold onto the basics.

5 PRIMARY FOCUS TIPS YOU NEED IN WRITING:

1. Clarity of  thoughts

Be clear to whom are you addressing the content. Know your target audience . Clarity is important as you can use certain power words that your audience immediately connects with. For instance, people who love home décor would love articles that speak about Housekeeping, Home Organization etc. The message is clear as to what they expect from you.

2. Grammar

Improve your vocabulary by learning new words. Try to incorporate new words into your article or copy, As a writer you need to have better grammar skills than a non- writer. Take some time off your poof and roll over to grab a book to read. Obviously it will take time. Don’t rush into it. Keep on practicing . In the hindsight, you become less dependent on process notes. The more you aware how a vocab is used, the less stress you put into writing a simple post.

3.Voice

To me, Voice is a soul of a writer. Voice is a power that you can choose to modulate. Irrespective of whether you write for yourself or others, voice defines the character of a write up. So, incase you writing for a client, remember to study or ask the voice of their brand.

What’s your brand voice as a writer?

While other aspects of writing like grammar, language, thoughts can change, the voice is a universal constant factor that you add to your writing. Choose it carefully.

Eg: EWP voice is casual, friendly yet is an authoritative one on content creation.

Do reflect on the tone of your words you want to share – is it pleasing, effective and inspiring? No one wants to read a sad boring article.

4. Language

Typically language is about speech and the way you wish to talk. I would like to take this aspect future. Learn to adapt to the forms of language Eg Writing an article vs a copy ad. Learning nuances of language helps you get the best writing material.

Content v/s writing copy gives you a new perspective on how an idea can change in different context. Trying different language styles can transform content from being educational to persuasion.

Protip- Practise these tips and be less dependent on tools.

5. Choice of words

Choice of words are reflection of your message. But apart from literal sense, focus on what choice of words your audience are searching for. Is there a way you can bring help them find a solution through your writings. Both SEO and organic keywords are important. This way you attract the right amount of people to consume your content. A well written article or script is based on good choice of words. In case of content, it will related to being informative while in copy , you should be use persuasive words so that you get conversions.

Shall we head towards the next fundamental of writing?

What Value do you bring TO your writing?

Yeh Bhi Theek Hai ! Yes, this catchphrase from #Mirzapur2 is true because we actually follow this daily in our lives. Do you agree? Today I am sharing this practice as we tend to #yehbhitheekhai”(Compromise in one word) to deal with content too.

If you are Writer, Time is money today. Give value to your audience through your work. Don’t let monetary gains wipe away your creativity. If you need time to better your work. Borrow time from your client to finish the project. Remember, Nobody wants a shallow work! Not even you!

Dear Clients, As a writer, may I debunk and clear this popular myth. I see many clients demand for a short copy. Why? Content or Copy is a preface to your brand. We all love crisp short copy. Even I do. As a writer, It is always feels top notch to write short lines. But, why ignore a well meaning long form copy? Sales through copy will happen only if it is understood by your prospective buyers.

Protip: Focus on #processsimplicity and #audiencechoice

4 STEPS TO START WRITING

Do you wonder how to write about a new topic everytime? The goal is to perfect a step one at a time. We are here for a long term game, right my Writer buddies.

Let me share my experience and observations here.

1. Create an effective plan:

You want to write posts, captions, articles, create social media content and so on. That’s alright. But, is there any content plan and strategy in place? An effective content plan can make life super easy for you. You can allocate a dedicated strategy for writing, editing and creating your content. For instance, I am blogger who notes down important topics. I allocate more time certain tasks like research and inspiration. This way I am constantly aware of the elements of content I need to focus on before actually presently it.

2 Choose one important aspect:

But, start by choosing 1 format. If it’s writing captions for you, write a bunch of captions daily. Notice the vocab, the tone you use for each one. Now avoid severe critical analysis. If the caption feels good, post and share.Send it out to the world. Look at the response you receive. Who are the people who liked it. Ask them what attracted them to your writing, is it style or distinct voice?

3. Devote complete focus :

Focus on improving your work. Each time you write now, build it up with intuitive words than forced meaning. See how this works? Use captions as part of other writing forms eg: photo caption, email caption, post caption. Devoting complete focus is a daily activity. You need to train your mind and nurture this writing habit just as you would being a plant mom! Observe on your writing skills. Have a steady flow of work on your content like structure of a blog post, strategy to promote a content piece.

Focus helps you stay productive as writer. It keeps your mind active and creative.

4.Art of perfectionism:

How many of you love to do tasks that are perfect in nature? Even if you don’t tell, this page can see your perplexed facial reactions! Many of us suffer and bother ourselves to be perfect in what we do. Including subconsciously. Well, given the fact that writing as creative form has core rules, you tend to follow them to get a good desired result. Who wouldn’t want their blog post to be ranked 1^st on Google, have their content copy be advertised by the best brand in the country?

But, my advise to you here is to become master of one and then choose your next skill. It is easy to get swayed to tap the end goal but worthless with little knowledge or experience. When you are confident of doing something, learn everything about it. So, when you explore a new aspect, you are not lost on confidence, skills and expertise. Be more progressive than regressive.

Are you bored of writing? I am sure you will not be coz each time you are writing something different. Bonus tip: Knowing about writing is not meant for writer’s alone. Start now, because why not?

WHY WRITING IS IMPORTANT FOR GEN NEXT?

Writing is today one of the most used form of communication. We chat, send emails, interact with others. It is not limited to being a writer. Everyone need to Rock their Writing. You need it at all times, whether drafting a resume, addressing a complaint, offering your service and even proclaiming your love. You don’t want to seem amateur even if you are college student.

Apart from spoken words, written words are 1st impression you make. Eg: Essays, Projects, Letter of Intent to your desired college. Digital Writing today is more about “choice of words” than plain alignment. Wouldn’t you love to come across a well read person? So, Rock your writing journey. Even if you use it for a small task, make sure to create an impact.

MY 4 SECRET MANTRAS FOR WRITING:

1. Your Content may not standout always:

Stop over gauging at your written work. It is okay to be not okay once in a while. If one piece of content has not done well, learn from others. See, what made your audience love other’s content. Keep away from suffering an existential crisis. There’s life beyond that.

2. Focus on content that your audience will love you for:

While starting as fresher, we always feel overwhelmed by popular and senior writers. But does it do anything to our work. Yup, you start perspiring even when it is a cold weather. My mantra is the more you focus on content that your audience  will love you for, the more creative and happy you will be. Carve your own special niche.

3. Success means consistent effort:

Who else better than me to validate this? I cannot sit idle and expect EWP blog to transform into an interactive content blogspace, I have to work towards it. My creative weirdos, success truly means constantly working towards your goals. Like the Gary Vee, the entrepreneur and social media influencer says “ Crush it “. No one is gonna offer you everything on a platter unless you are star Nemo in a writer’s cubicle. Hmm, even then, you will have to clearly find your place.

4.Writing is not a one time task:

As a writer , you need to be like a planter who plants seeds in hope that one day it will bear fruits. If you are beginner and haven’t tasted success yet, doesn’t mean you will not in future. Writing is no one time feat. Let me reiterate that it doesn’t limit to one thing too. Writing as a career is like a full grown tree. Keep upskilling and you can pursue different writing domains like blogging, copywriting, creative brand manager etc.

CONCLUSION:

Writing is like a powerplay of your life. Give it your best shot. Put a clear writing score to dominate your thoughts on a paper. While creatively satisfying, it helps you grow as a person. Productivity, patience, analyzing content trends are some important critical skills you equip yourself just by being a writer. Choose to give your best while keeping your ego low. Be the frontrunner of designing a writer’s world for yourself. While you may get success by devoted writing, remember the wise writing mantras to stay afloat for long term future.

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Copyright©2021- 3rd April by Elvira Lobo Pinto (All rights reserved; unauthorized use prohibited) Disclaimer: The image(s) in the post are taken from Unsplash, I don’t claim any of its rights and the creatives tagged as “elviraitsmylife ” belong to me as source mentioned. I claim all of its rights.