Whether you enjoy writing or not, you can make your writing more effective and better by using the following five easy methods:
1. Keep it Simple
To make your business proposals, sales letters, and promotional copy more reader-friendly, you must organize your ideas in a simple, logical format. While you don’t have to outline every point you want to make, you should spend a few minutes jotting down your ideas and planning the most effective order to present them. Some people like mind maps, and others prefer lists. Whatever format, or lack thereof, you choose for your pre-writing, make sure it is effective and easy to use.
2. Stop Thinking So Much
Taking your time and planning every word won’t actually improve your writing. In fact, quickening your pace has a number of benefits, especially in the first draft. First, writing fast captures your natural voice and personality in every sentence. That means your words will sound like you, which is important in making your messages effective. Speeding it up will also help alleviate your fears of making mistakes. If you continuously second-guess your sentence structures, word choices, and grammar, you’ll never finish your first paragraph. And that’s what editing and revising are for anyways.
3. Write Less
Before your excitement takes hold, write less doesn’t mean write less frequently. In this case, it means write fewer words. Shakespeare once said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” And if he didn’t know what he was talking about, then you wouldn’t have read his work in high school English class. So what exactly did he mean? Simple; tighten up your language and leave out every word that doesn’t add meaning to your message.
4. Don’t Hold Back
If you’re writing something, whatever it is, you obviously have a reason for doing it. Maybe you want to inform your employees of a new policy, or maybe you want to share the benefits of your latest product with prospective clients. Regardless of the reason, you must make it clear to your readers. Otherwise, they won’t read past your first sentence.