All Facts And No Flair Makes Jack A Dull Blog

byhowmuch

1.6K followers

10 years ago

One of the most daunting tasks with creating an authoritative website, that is, a website that is actually full of useable information, is the act of writing itself. Many people (including journalists) have difficulty writing articles week after week that engage, interest and inform the reader.

Is that something you find tricky?

I do. I'm rarely at a loss for words; but when they are written down and I re-read the article, I find myself thinking all too often, "This is drek."

So what turns drek into a treasure box of content that convinces a reader to return to your website?

1.--Remove the clichés. Take a second look at what you have written. Is it stuffed with common slogans, trite sayings, or standard phrases or euphemisms? Pick them out, write them down on a piece of paper, and list words or phrases that come closest to each meaning. Or do a quick internet search of the cliché--you can often find alternate phrases or words with a moment or two of searching. Use those instead. One cliché in an article is fine. One in every two or three articles is excellent!

2.--Eliminate the jargon. Knowledgeable writers are often tempted to use the language of the niche they are writing about. But that can be a secret language to many. Your job is to inform, not impress people with all the crazy-neat words you know. Decide on the level of knowledge your target audience has. If the only people you are speaking to are professors who want your affiliate products, go right ahead and use all the technical terms you want. But if you are speaking to a much broader audience, take a look at those terms and see if you can translate it into understandable phrases for them.

Even unmethodical writing may be simplified. Clarity in journalism can be as elementary as ameliorating one's ability to acquire unpretentious verbiage.

For instance, here is the above paragraph re-written so people can read it easily:

"Even casual writing may be written in a clearer manner. Understandable writing can be as basic as improving one's ability to find simple words and phrases."

Which paragraph was easier to read?

3.--When making points of greater complexity, make your words, sentences and paragraphs shorter. Complex ideas tempt us all to explain what we mean by using complex words and long, run-on explanations. Slow it down. Use more periods. Short sentences create stopping points for the reader to absorb the information better. If you do this you become a teacher, not a computer-generated encyclopedia.

4.--Don't just give them the facts; give them what's interesting. Pepper your information with a little fun stuff. J.M. Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan, once said to H. G. Wells, "It's all very well to be able to write books, but can you waggle your ears?" Making your article interesting with a fact or ancedote or two (don't go overboard) can go a long, long way in keeping your reader on board with you. Remember your goal--your goal is to get people interested in your content and read it.

5.--Talk to yourself. Sometimes what is a little foggy in your thinking (and therefore writing) can be fixed by saying what you want to write about out loud, as if you were talking to a friend. It helps you to realize what you actually understand about your subject, and where you need to do a little research. It also creates opportunities to ask questions or make suggestions in the actual writing itself.

6.--Use metaphors, similes and analogies when trying to explain an unfamiliar idea. Couching unfamiliar concepts and ideas in familiar thought-pictures can help a reader easily grasp what you are trying to say. Telling people about something new is like throwing a ball that you want them to catch--you don't pitch it at their head with all your force; you toss it gently toward them so that they can follow its path and grasp it with both hands.

7.--Finally, remember what you are. You are an affiliate marketer, a website owner, a teacher, an entertainer and a writer. The very act of writing for your website with a view to helping your readers and also possibly converting them into buyers makes you all of the above. Whether you find the process easy or difficult, that is what you are.

And that's a pretty amazing person to be.