I have always found it hard trying to write a piece on anything, Im more of a numbers person. I do like it when I write articles and would therefore like to get better. Can anyone suggest a good way of doing so?
Practice, I suppose. I have never been a numbers girl, in fact I find myself easily confused by anything involving even the simplest mathematics. lol. Words have always been my game. However, anyone who wants to write should just do it all the time, and constantly work on improving their vocabulary and sentence structure. It just comes with the territory.
Numbers are a left brain activity. Creativity is a right brain activity. Writing takes diciplines from both sides because you have to organize it and you have to be creative. If you are a numbers person, more left brained, you can probably write and be organized and learn the spelling and grammar but you'd probably, in most cases, be more suited to something like technical writing which is writing the technical specs and manuals. That's how it usually works but there are certainly exceptions to that. I simply don't find many accountants who can write in a way that's interesting. And those who are way right brained can be interesting but their writing hard to follow.
I agree that you should read, read, read and practice, practice, practice. Don't tell yourself that because you are technically minded you can't become a good writer. If you tell yourself you can never be a good writer, you won't be able to - it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I can write and I'm also good with maths and techy stuff. They're not mutually exclusive. Think of the people who write science articles for the general public and science fiction writers who discuss technical topics. They can do it.
You need to outsource . You cant do everything . You will produce better faster results by outsourcing
I´ll agree that reading is the best way of developing a feel for language. Well, in my opinion at least
Two things: read quality writing and write as much as you can yourself. Reading writing of a high standard improves you as a writer, and following this up by writing regularly yourself will help your technique gradually become more fluent and creative, while increasing your confidence. Regards, Dan
The way i approach writing my articles, is to ensure im addressing the main points and being informative. Ensure you introduce the article, what is it about?? What problem do you want to solve?? What solutions do you have to the problem?? If you cover these main areas, you should do well. As for improving and enhancing your writing abilities, go to ezine articles, read them, then read some more...pick a few sentences and think of ways you could say the exact same things by rewording them. You'll get there!!
I'm not sure if this applies to your case but sometimes, difficulty in writing can stem from these things: 1. Lack of information. I suggest you spend more time researching for the topic you're writing about. 2. Too much information, leaving you disorganized. Write an outline of the article you're writing so you can organize your article better which will make it flow better as well. 3. Subject's unfamiliar. Again, research, research. I hope that helps.
Don't think of copywriting as a 1500 word article, write in chunks example; Be specific about your main topic. When you know what you want to write about, it's easy. Determine what your site's visitors need to know. This will help you target your research for relevent information. Describe your overall thoughts about what you are writing, it forces your readers to think about your message. Also, direct your writing towards being positive, adopting a "you attitude," your readers might be very smart, you just can't tell. Use images that forces you to think about what you are writing, (a picture is worth a thousand words isn't it?) Last but not least, add sources from content you've founded online. Copy a little, and end your reference like so: Doe, John. "Don't Think About Copywriting: Concept Analysis." (show title of the site, date the article was published, and the URL in brackets). This should help you to come up with ideas when you've got writer's block. hope this help
Sometimes, when I am struggling with a topic I find boring or hard to understand (i.e. tech articles, blech) I'll do my research and then start writing whatever comes to mind about the topic based on my personal thoughts and understanding. That gets the personality into the article. Then I wait a day or so, go back to it and clean it up and polish it. That might help you.
According to some tests, I'm a 40-60 person - slightly to the creative side. Which should be fine for a writer. I hold a hockey stick the way lefties do but write with my right hand. You won't jump into it if you just read a bunch of stuff that should make you a better writer. Writing is gradual progress. And gradual progress is quite a hard thing to understand in our society. As you progress, you'll be developing a sense of what to write and how to reach your readers with your writing. You'll also progress and get somewhat more conscious of the mistakes you've made if you re-read the articles you wrote and analyze them. For example, I'd probably shorten my post if I re-read it tomorrow.
I think with practice you can do almost everything. When i first started on the internet i used to tell my self i will never make it because i cant write anything good and fast enough. But i keep on practicing and now i think i rock in writing. Just a quick question, how long did you take to write this post?
Practice all you like....but in my opinion if you can't add a little personality to your writing, you won't be able to reach a very high level of success as a writer. Maybe as a content provider, yes, but probably not as a publisher of your own material.
ah yeah, personality. everybody has their own personality, and some boring ones at that. even writers.
I would also say: practise, practise and practise and let your work get reviewed by a senior copywriter!! Feedback can work wonders. Also, read a lot of good copy.