A Mini Writing Guide.What Pro Writers Know But You Don't.

byFloydd01

228 followers

5 years ago

What do pro writers do differently than beginners?

I guess you probably already know what that is... do you?

It might be so obvious you can't even see it... Keep reading.

Maybe you think you need to spend 10,000 hours before you can get good at writing kick-ass content that you are confident about.

But I can tell you that there are only a few things that you need to do to start writing content that keeps your website visitors glued to your content.

Is there some kind of secrets that you need to know to upgrade your writing skills?

Well maybe... but I don't believe in secrets.

Heres what I'm not going to tell you in this post.

• Write Everyday
• Write what you know
• Write what you are passionate about.
• write a page a day
• and other Stuff you hear everyday

iInstead, here's what you're going to learn in this post.

• Actionable tips you can use immediately after reading this.
• Rarely talk about writing tips that work.
• Tips that I am using in this exact post your reading.

Sound interesting?

Ok, let's go.

Hint: if you are still reading it means I know how to write stuff that keeps readers sucked in..

Want to know how to do the same?... I will share that in a minute.

You see, unlike most persons that write every day and then learn what works and what doesn't. that's not how I learned how to write content that gets results... I have taken a lot of courses on different types of writing so by doing that I was able to take the shortcut to learn real-world writing...

So I promises to tell you what the pro writers know that you don't know and here it is: it's not the writing that's hard, its actually sitting down to write that's hard...

Ok, so now that you know secret, the question is what do you actually write once you sit down to write?

Does this sound familiar?

You sit down well pumped up to hammer out a 1,000 words but after 30 minutes your still sitting there looking at the blank white page with the cursor blinking... Blink... Blink... Blink.

Confuse... Not knowing whats the first sentence you should type. You dash off into procrastination mood.

Watching motivational videos on youtube, listening to podcast and scrolling through social media...

I bet that sound so accurate, right now you probably looking to see if I'm spying on you... Sorry, I'm Not... I'm just a regular person that had the same struggle as you...

Ok enough of the theory...

Time for actionable tips to slay that blank page once and for all...

#1-The Obvious But Too Obvious Solution To The Blank Page Problem.

If you have been battling to get that first sentence out every time you sit down to write something. do this...

Write an outline before you type the first sentence.

At this point, you might be like... "Yeah right, how's that going to help?"...

Just try it...

Having an outline is like having a fill-in-the-blank worksheet for your article...

Have you ever realize how easy it is to answer questions on what you know?

Let me explain...

Imagine this for a moment. Say for example, your an expert on weight loss, if someone says "tell me about weight loss" it's a bit hard to explain because you don't whats the first thing you should tell them...

But what if they asked, "What should I eat in the morning to stay healthy throughout the day?"

Immediately, you have an answer or maybe even dozens of answers waiting for you to spit out to that person...

That's exactly what having an outline is like.

The blank page is the person asking a broad topic so you have no idea where to start. on the other hand, having an outline is someone asking a specific question.

So the next time you are going to write about a topic. list out all the subtopics that you want to write about in that article.

Then immediately your brain will start to form the answers that should be under each sub-topic....

Ready for the next tip that will improve your writing skills.

The next technique is what got you this far in this post.."shocker"..I practice what I preach.

#2-Use Short paragraphs & Sentences.

Did it feel like you just read over 600 words to get here? Probably not...

But why? you might ask...

It's becuase I give you bits of information at a time... I.E: Short Sentences and paragraphs.

Take a look at this image:

Now take a look at this image:

Did you notice the difference?

Which of those looks easier to read? I think the answer is obvious...

What the bottom line: Short sentence and paragraphs make your content easy to consume.

Moving on.

#3- Write to one "single" person.

Again, since the first sentence it feels like you were having a conversation with me right?

Now, I'm going to reveal how I did it...

Before I started taking writing seriously I use to read blog posts and other forms of content and wonder why some got me reading to the end, while I stopped reading the others after the first few sentences.

So I started taking notes. and here's what I learned.

Here are some of the actionable tips you can use to keep people reading your content.

• Use Open Loops

What is an open-loop?. An open loop is when you ask a question but don't answer it which opens a loop in the reader's mind, in order to close that loop the reader needs to get the answer to the question...

Take a look at the first line in this post and you will see what I am talking about...

"What do pro writers do differently than beginners? "

Your probably still reading because you want to know everything that pro writers differently. that's an open-loop...

• Make it interactive.

You might not even realize this but why did I say "imagine this" and "does this sound familiar" before I start a paragraph earlier ?...

I wanted you to feel like you are involved and not just reading...

When your brain read "imagine this" you immediately start thinking about the scene am about to break down, at this point you're not only reading but interacting...

• Ask questions that already have answers.

Did you notice most of the questions I asked you already know the answer?

Why did I do this ? its becuase it gets you answering the question. similar to the previous tip it keeps you interactive...

#4- State The Problem Better Than The Reader.

You probably already know that every piece of content needs to solve a problem in order to do well.

But have you ever read something that is solving a problem but it didn't really interest you at all.

I bet you have come across a few.

Here the solution...

You need to state the problem better than the persons who is reading can explain..

Let's rewind for a moment...

Remember at the beginning when I was talking about the blank page problem?

Did you realize how detailed I state how it affects you...

I talk about how you stare at the blank page then start procrastinating maybe you didn't even realize you were doing that until you read that line...

So what did I do?

I explain something that you know was a problem but unable to explain it yourself.

For example, if someone asks you why you procrastinate when you should be writing I bet you wouldn't say "looking at the blank page is terrifying" instead you would say something generic like "becuase writing is hard".

Before I end this I want to give you a bonus tip.. if you take nothing from this post today make sure you take this becuase it will make a big difference in your writing.

Bonus tips: Use Examples...

How many time did I say "for example".. too many to count right ?... and that's what makes you understand most of the tips that I give.

For example, I didn't just say "Write to one single person" instead I gave you examples of how you should do it.. (see what I just did there?).

Wrap this up

To wrap this up, I want to know your thoughts. I am thinking about creating a WA training on this topic. but I would love to know if that's something you would be interesting. let me know in the comments.

Also, let me know what's your biggest struggle when it comes on to writing,