"Don't write words. Write music." How to write something people will actually read!
Here's another amazing article I have read recently. I have been struggling with improving the readability of my posts, and this article offers quite solid advice on how to write in a more attention-grabbing manner. Something people will actually read.
The most practical advice I took away from this article is how to vary the length of my sentences. Short sentences do work. But having too many short sentences makes a paragraph boring. Short sentences, thoughtfully intercepted by medium and long sentences, actually holds the reader's attention for a bit longer.
Another good advice from this article is to make your writing seem effortless. Make it look like it's a breeze to write and to read. Even though it is not. It almost never is. You probably spend five hours whipping out something that takes five minutes to read. But make it look easy nevertheless. Because if it looks easy to write, it is often easier to read. Don't make it a chore for your readers to read: cut down on the technicalities and jargons, instead show them how much fun you had writing what they see.
Hope this helps. Here's the original post:
By the way if you're into more reading, I do recommend Entrepreneur.com as a source of reference. Happy blogging, and thanks for reading!
Recent Comments
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Hi Gina, Your title first caught my eye so I had to read more. I was a musician for the Army for six years. I was always taught not to just play the notes but to play the music. This is why a great musician can play a simple scale of music and make it sound like a song. You first have to get past the mechanics of playing. It has to feel natural to you so you no longer think about the mechanics but you concentrate on the feelings of the music. How do you do this? Practice practice practice. Anybody can learn how to play a musical instrument and learn to play it well. All it takes is action. Action is practice. Getting some guidance and instruction helps you to get better.
Guess what, learning how to play music and learning how to write uses the same steps. You need some guidance and instruction to learn the mechanics. The more you practice the more you learn how to write with feeling and the mechanics just flow because they are second nature to you. Then you can concentrate on helping the reader to have feelings about what you are writing which causes them to take action through your guidance.
Very few people were born to be great writers without practice and guidance and instruction. By interacting here at WA, you are learning how to write from everyone here. This is one of the things that is so great about this community. Dave.
Hi Dave! Thanks so much for your opinion. Indeed I think it is important to learn the music not just the techniques when playing. It is the same with writing, it's important to learn the flow and the art of writing with feelings, not just the theory and techniques.
Hi ginax, Thanks for your advice!! i will definitely follow it... I have a double challenge. Before joining WA I was not used to writing and also, English is not my first language. So, I may not sound so natural because of this barrier... I don't know, I always feel a native speaker have additional ingredients that a non english speaker don't. Sometimes I want to express myself in such a way and I can't find proper words in English... it would be more effective if it was in my own language, obviously.
But maybe this fact turns out to be a positive thing... who knows? I have received some positive feedback through the comments area though.
Well, thanks for sharing!
Hey Stefan, I completely understand the struggle, and you definitely are not the only one :) I agree with you, it can turn out to be your strength. In the sense that you can focus on writing something extremely readable. If you feel that you can't express something in English, feel free to ask someone to help you edit it.
But yeah, I would say focus on making the information easy to read, and enjoyable for your readers too! Hope that helps.
Stefan, You could write it out in your own language expressing it as you want and then put that on Google translate to English. See how it comes out. It might not be exactly how you need it to be but it would give you a starting point to improve upon. Dave.
Hi! that a good tip! I am sure it will help because it can give words that I haven't think of, another way of saying. Thanks you so much
That article link was so informative. Editing the flab. A piece like this is just what i needed as a reminder of the constant but satisfying work writing can be.
Thank you for sharing.
Hi Van
A good rule of thumb is to just sit and write, don't over think your first draft, let it flow naturally
On blogs, write straight through, don't stop to go back and edit, just keep going.
Write as you would speak it, T
The second time, go over it, and read it out loud, feel where it's not quite right and fix it. This is your second draft.
Then go over it again for your final edit.
Thanks for the great post :)
Joseph.
Nicely said. "The anxious writer seldom writes". Getting over the desire for perfection at first shot is very often the solution to getting it done. Thanks Jozeph for your great advice! :)
I actually wrote a humorous blog on here earlier this year, I think You might enjoy it. It's called "Write Drunk, and Edit Sober".
I had to leave for a bit, just got back yesterday, I still have to rewrite my profile. However, feel free to head on over, I got some good posts there about writing :)
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Great advice for writers!
Thank you! I'm glad it helps!