Do you want your writing to stand out, to have power and persuasiveness, to have life and zest and energy? Then here are four ways to take your writing to another level:

1: Have something to say
No matter how well you write, it’s really what you have to say that counts. If you have something to say, the writing will probably come easily. If you don’t know what you want to say yet, you’ll struggle all the way.
The greatest writers there have ever been (Shakespeare, Sophocles, long list goes here…) were not only good with words. They had something important to say about the human condition. They had stories to tell.

2: Use metaphor
A metaphor is a double-edged sword: it adds life, colour, vision and texture to your writing. But use too much metaphor and your writing can become like a crazy fairground ghost-train ride crossed with an out-of-control roller-coaster, with images flying past your readers mind faster than they can take them in, as their stomach starts to churn and they have to close their eyes before they vomit the whole lot up. You get the idea. Use metaphor sparingly and with discretion, but make sure there’s enough in your writing to give it life and sparkle.

3: Find your voice
How do you make your writing distinctive, even unique? By writing with your own voice. You are unique, we all are. So while you will need to learn and improve your writing by picking up techniques from other writers. your goal should be to find your own voice. That way people will recognise your style

Here’s some suggestions for ways to find your voice:

• Go easy on the grammar rules for a while - don’t let them strangle your writing.
• Think about the things you enjoy most in your own writing. What mood were you in when you write that? Can you get back to that place?
• Just write it - don’t try to edit as you go along.
• Write from your own experiences.
• Write what you want - without thought for what others expect. Do it your way for once.
• Picture your reader - but only one person. Don’t try to write for the world at large. Write for just one person.
• Learn to recognise when you are writing with your own voice.

4: Get into the ‘zone’
It’s not only sports men and women who reach peak performance when they are ‘in the zone.’ Being in the zone, or in flow, is a state of heightened concentration and focus. It’s nothing mystical or unachievable. It comes down to letting your unconscious mind take control for a while. In this state, when you are relaxed and focused, the words should start to flow, almost as if they were writing themselves.

Click here for a previous article on writing in the ‘zone.’

And go here for an hypnosis download recording that can help you to beat writer’s block and get into the zone. (Affiliate link)

There are three crucial things you must know before you start to write:

What are writing about?

Why are you writing?

Only when you know these can you really organise your thoughts and your writing effectively.

‘Content’, ‘content’ everywhere,
But not the time to think.

There’s been a deluge of ‘content’ onto the internet. We’re drowning in it already - and the internet is barely into its adolescence.

And you know who’s fault it is, don’t you?

Google loves content, and so like amorous suitors desperate to win her attention, the webmasters, the bloggers, the spammers and the entrepreneurs, we all lay our precious gifts of ‘content’ at her feet.

Everyone wants to catch the eye of the search engines. So anyone with a website is busy creating as much ‘content’ as possible. But what do they mean by ‘content’? Just word count?

Oh Google, Google, what have you done?

Look on the job writing boards and you’ll find webmasters who want thousands of articles on a particular topic, all to help their search engine optimisation. Forget quality, so long as there are keywords.

But what on earth are we going to do with all this content? How much of it has real value? How much of it is original? Is there a difference between ‘content’ and ‘writing’?

Oh Google, Google, what have you done?

Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of a personal publishing revolution. I like the fact that anyone can be their own publisher, that everyone gets a voice.

But is there any real value in churning out content - any content - just so long as the social media types digg it, so long as it snags a few search terms?

Does Google assess quality, rather than simply counting the keywords? Inbound links are supposed to help here, as a kind of democratic arbiter, but the SEO experts know all too well how to game the system.

And when I say the ‘quality’ I’m not being a prose snob. It doesn’t have to be literature.

There are many sites out there with great writing and ideas and things to say; with personality, fresh thinking, solid information, facts and humour.

But there are plenty of sites where webmasters are piling on as much ‘content’ as they can, often without any real merit - hollow, vapid, uninformed, but packed with the right keywords.

Let’s name this monster

We need a term for it: content that only exists for search engines and ad clicks. It’s a kind of spam, really, dressed up as nourishing meal, but actually containing so few real ideas and information that it just leaves you more hungry than when you started.

If we can name this monster, maybe we can tame it.

‘Content’ that is really just a kind of website spam. What are we going to call that?

And do you think all this matters?

I do - because if people write like drones feeding keyword honey to the Queen Bee Google, then the real value of a personal publishing revolution gets lost somewhere.

There’s no real freedom of personal expression if everything you write is hackled by a subservience to keywords, and motivated solely by a desire to stuff yet more content into the slavering jaws of the search engine monsters.

(Hey, it’s my rant and I’ll mix my metaphors as vigorously as I please).

If I’m talking tosh, feel free to say so in the comments.

</rant>

Illustration of the Ancient Mariner is by Gustave Dore. The lines at the start of this post are, of course, a reference the the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge:

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider helping me promote it through whatever social media you use (Digg, StumbleUpon etc). Or link to it from your own blog. Or make a comment. Or tell people about it, in person or by email. Thanks for your help.

Don’t let these mental minefields blow holes in your creativity:

Fear of failure
If you’re afraid that things might go wrong, or not turn out perfect, then chances are you’ll never get started in the first place. And if you keep imagining scenarios where everything goes wrong, or reminding yourself about times when you feel you failed in the past, then things will keep getting worse. Fear can be paralysing, and is pretty sure to kill your creativity.

Being cautious
Being too cautious can be fatal for your creativity. Perhaps you try to stick to techniques or ideas you already know - or which you think are tried and tested, so good to employ one more time. You might find yourself bowing to authority and not wishing to stick your neck out, trying to fit in and go with the opinion of the majority.
Creativity requires boldness and audacity. Break rules when it suits you.

Listening to your inner critic
There will be a time to scrap what doesn’t work, to throw away the bad ideas, to employ what Hemmingway called the “sh*t detector.” But that’s after the creative process. If you let your inner critic get going before you’ve had time to start generating ideas or getting words down on paper, then it will likely kill your creativity stone dead.

Being humble
I’m English. We do self-deprecating modesty as well as anyone. But sometimes it can go too far. You need to throw off the humble, modest persona for a bit, and be wildly, boldly creative. Other people may be the true experts, they may have had more success than you so far. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be as creative as the best of them. Reach for the heights. You don’t have to tell anyone that’s what you’re doing. But behind closed doors, in the sanctuary of your own writing den, you have the freedom to aim for creativity that ranks alongside the greatest writers there have ever been. Why not? There’s no embarrassment in trying to be good.

Oversimplifying
Creativity is likely to make your life, your art, your writing, more complex. Now, clarity is a good thing. Oversimplifying is not. Embrace the complexity, and ride the wave.

If you feel your creativity is stifled, try this.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider helping me promote it through whatever social media you use (Digg, StumbleUpon etc). Or link to it from your own blog. Or make a comment. Or tell people about it, in person or by email. Thanks for your help.

Experienced professional writers won’t need to read this post. All the advice here will be second nature to them.

However, if you’re new to publishing your writing, these simple tips could help you look less like an amateur and more like a pro.

Especially number one. And five. And six. But seven is the most important.

1. Never use exclamation marks
Don’t use them. Just never use them. Using an exclamation mark makes you look like an amateur (unless you can get away with doing it ‘ironically,’ which is mighty tricky). Using more than one exclamation mark at time makes you look like a complete and utter idiot. Don’t do it!!!!

2. Don’t publish or send straight away
Always try to review or edit what you’ve written at a different time, when you are in a different mood. How does it sound now?

3. Break out of formal structure
At school and college people learn to structure essays with introductions and conclusions. There’s nothing wrong with this but there are lots of other ways to structure a piece of writing (including the inverted triangle used in journalism). However, even if you do stick to the introduction-argument-conclusion structure, you don’t have to be so lame as to highlight it in your subheads. Honestly, I have received articles for inclusion in a business magazine where the author had included ‘introduction’ and ‘conclusion’ as sub-headlines. What’s wrong with that? It’s boring and unimaginative, that’s what.

4. Use short words
Don’t try to sound clever by using long words for the sake of it. It actually has the opposite effect.

5. Edit
Cut out as much as possible, eliminating redundant words. Always edit your work as thoroughly as time allows.

6. Be clear
Remember that it is your job, as the writer, to communicate effectively. If the reader doesn’t get it, it’s your fault.

7. Say something interesting
Presenting a balanced point of view is all well and good - but it gets dull after a while. Be passionate about your subject. Be audacious. Project your personality.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider helping me promote it through whatever social media you use (Digg, StumbleUpon etc). Or link to it from your own blog. Or make a comment. Or tell people about it, in person or by email. Thanks for your help.

There’s a fascinating piece on a blog site called Study Hacks, which I discovered today because it popped up high in Del.icio.us. It’s aimed at students who need to write papers, but as the article itself points out, the advice applies to just about any form of writing.

The author has dug out a series of interviews with “masters of long form non-fiction” and used the information to create a picture of how professional writers work.

The most striking observations from this study:

The writers work in the morning. They often start very early in the morning.

Five out of ten of the writers described a little ritual before starting their morning writing. A surprising number of these rituals focused on The New York Times.

The writers drink coffee. Lots of coffee.

The writers write in isolation. If they didn’t have families they would push this even farther. Many discussed having no e-mail or phone in their workspace. One purposefully used a “shitty old laptop” to avoid temptations like solitaire. Gay Talese rigged his home office so it could only be entered through a separate outside door.

The whole article, called “How to Schedule Your Writing Like a Professional Writer’” is well worth a read.

Nearly all of the writers questioned said finding a place free of distractions was very important to them. As a professional writer myself, I’d say that is indeed a great idea, but not advice that I’m ever able to follow myself.

There are distractions all around me. I have a phone on my desk because clients might call. There are emails popping up because they might be urgent. Then there’s the dog, the cats, family members, the garden, the sunshine, the internet … you get the idea.

The article points out that magazine writers seem to able to work anywhere. As I started out in an insanely hectic newsroom, perhaps that’s why I’m able to still get at least some writing done.

What do you think of the advice? Is a distraction free writing environment something you have achieved? Do you think it’s even possible?

A new writing site has been launched which looks like it could create innovative ways for writers to share ideas and feedback.

Scribophile is aimed mainly at authors, poets and so on. It’s bound to be of interest to anyone involved in creative writing.

It’s well designed and attractive to look at which isn’t always the case with writing sites, many of which look like throw-backs to the early days of the internet.

The people behind the site (one of whom is a regular reader of this site - hi Alex) intend Scribophile to become create a community of authors, who can help each other and provide support and appraisals of each other’s work.

As the site itself says:

Think of Scribophile as a writer’s workshop, but instead of being in a room with 20 or so other writers, you’re on the internet with millions of other writers, each of them eager to read your work and offer helpful critiques. We pride ourselves on our friendly and helpful community. You can meet other writers with similar interests and interact with thousands of other like-minded authors from around the world.

It’s very new so the community is just starting to build. It’s looks like a cracking idea well executed, so please support them and check out the site.

One of the great things about being a writer is that you don’t need any formal qualifications.

On the other hand, getting help in developing our writing skills can’t really hurt.

If you’re interested in some kind of formal training without the expense and time commitment of a college course, then check out some of these free online university writing courses.

I know nothing about any of the courses, so I can’t make any recommendations or endorsements. They all appear to be respectable educational institutions, however.

Today’s sermon on writing in a modern, conversational style comes from William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830):

“It is not easy to write a familiar style. Many people mistake a familiar for a vulgar style and suppose that to write without affectation is to write at random. On the contrary, there is nothing that requires more precision, and if I may so so, purity of expression, than the style I am speaking of. It utterly rejects not only all unmeaning pomp, but all low, cant phrases, and loose unconnected, slipshod allusions. It is not to take the first word that offers, but the best word in common use; it is not to throw words together in any combinations we please, but to follow and avail ourselves of the true idiom of the language.

To write a genuine familiar or truly English style, is to write as any one would speak in common conversation, who had a thorough command and choice of words, or who could discourse with ease, force and perspicuity, setting aside all pedantic and oratorical flourishes.”

(From the essay ‘On Familiar Style‘, published 1821).

English is a mongrel language, one that has evolved over a long period of time, and continues to change. It’s also a language that has no standardised version. There is no single ‘correct’ version of English.

The obvious comparison is between US and UK English. We spell and use words differently. Often the same word can have a completely different meaning in one country to the other.

The French language, on the other hand, is strictly controlled by L’Académie Francaise, an institution that ‘protects’ the language by fixing an accepted standard of pronunciation, syntax and sentence construction.

But the sheer variety of English, the speed at which it changes and the way it gets changed by different people to suit their purposes, all go to make it a more vital and dynamic language. Continue reading →

When writing isn’t clear, it becomes a double waste of time.

It wastes the time of your reader, who has to puzzle out what you mean.

And it wastes the time of the writer, who will either not be read (so what was the point); or he will have to write it again, to explain what he means.

Writing properly means communicating clearly. It doesn’t necessarily mean obeying the rules correctly. It means getting your point across so the reader clearly understands you.

To get your meaning across clearly, you need to choose the right words and set them in the right order. After that, style will take care of itself. As Matthew Arnold (An English Victorian poet) said:

Have something to say and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret of style.

Choosing the right words to use is not always easy, however. Often it requires a little work and a fair bit of thought.

Clear writing, like clear thinking, is hard work. But it is work that is worth doing, because without it, you waste not only your own time but also that of your reader. And that is a rudeness which is inexcusable.

Photo by ponanwi (CC on Flickr)

When you blog and people link to your site your blogging software lets you know. So you can go and check out what people are saying. You might not always like what you find of course….

A while back on this site I fired off a quick little piece about writing how you talk. It got picked up by StumbleUpon and brought in thousands of visitors. It is far-and-away the most popular article that’s appeared on this site.

However, from the start it has generated a lot of misunderstanding. (It must be the way I wrote it. The fault is all mine.)

One of the latest links to the site is from someone who appears to be rethinking their education based on what I wrote. This has alarmed me, to say the list.

I was going to link to the page but have decided not to, to respect their privacy. (Yes, I know that sounds daft when they published something on the web, but it’s not really on a blog. It seems to be more of a ‘keep track of your thoughts’ kind of site).But this is what the person says:

So, I’ve decided not to pursue a minor in English. I guess somewhere along the line, I lost my interest and I feel that it really isn’t my thing. I mean, I can speak it just fine, so people tell me, but I figure once I have the minor, I’ll not have a use for it. Well, I’m decided in not pursuing, so I won’t be taking advanced composition next semester or any other English class for that matter. Anyway, here’s a nice little article I found on the web. It’s really one of those ‘what you were taught in grade school was all wrong’ kinds of pieces, but I found it interesting. (Here they link back to my original article).

Let’s get something straight here. I’m not saying that you don’t need a formal education in order to be a good writer. I’m not saying that everything you learnt in school about writing is wrong. (It’s also not the English classes that are to blame. It’s the history essays, the French essays, the science reports). Continue reading →

Photo by fuzzbabble (CC on Flickr)

Being a full-time freelance writer isn’t so different to being a self-employed plumber. Both need control of their tools, be it words and phrases or a wrench and socket set.

But that’s not enough. Not nearly enough. If you want to a be a freelance writer, you’ll need a lot more than just writing skills. Making a living from writing (or blogging, or graphic design, or whatever) means you’re running a business.

Making it as a freelance means getting regular work that pays well enough that you can live on it, year after year.

If you neglect the business side of things, then you’re heading for trouble. But by looking after your business, it’s perfectly possible to make a good living as a freelance writer. I’ve done so now for over 12 years, without ever needing to take a part-time job or earn any money outside of writing. (And without making any money from online writing or blogging).

But to make it as a freelance there are some important things you’re going to need along the way. If you don’t have them all right now, don’t panic. But until you have some of this stuff in place, it isn’t time to leave the day job. After the jump, the 20 things you need most to be a freelance: Continue reading →

Do you know the most important word in any piece of copywriting?

You probably use this word all the time anyway, perhaps without even realising it. In which case, you can make your writing all the more effective by using it more, and using it with purpose.

Do you know what the word is yet?

You do?

Good, because it really is a magical kind of word for a copywriter, one that you really can’t use too often. The really wonderful thing about the word ‘you’ is the way it makes you change the way you write. And it changes what you write about.

Instead of writing “I” this, “we” that, with the focus on yourself, your company, your product or service, it forces you to start writing about the reader, about the customer and what they might be interested in.

It makes you write about the benefits of a product or service (”this is what it can do for you,”) rather then the features. (”Our company does this. Our product does that.”)

As a blogger, it makes you focus on what your readership can take from a piece, the value you can give them. It makes you think about how your readers can act on the information you are giving them.

So next time you’re struggling with how to write something, try using the word ‘you’ as often as possible. It really does sprinkle a little magic on everything you write.

Whether you’re writing a blog or a best-seller, you need to know where to make a start. Should it be at the beginning? Not necessarily. There are good arguments for starting in the middle, or even at the end.

The beginning

Lewis Carroll outlines this method quite neatly in Alice in Wonderland. The Red Queen advises Alice to:

“Start at the beginning, go through to the end and then stop.”

The beginning is indeed the obvious place to start for any form of writing. This method has the advantage there will probably be less editing and reworking needed later on (though this is by no means certain). For copywriting adverts, sales letters and blogs posts, there is definitely something to be said for getting the headline and the first paragraph absolutely right first and then letting the rest flow from there.

But I rarely start writing anything at the beginning. Continue reading →