The GREATEST Article Writing Tip That You Will EVER Receive

byParthaB

4.2K followers

Updated 2 years ago

You’re Not Shakespeare, So Stop Acting Like it.

THREE things that are GUARANTEED in life

Death

Taxes

AND

If you give someone a pen and paper, or a laptop, and ask them to write, they suddenly transform into a completely different human being.

IT’S TRUE!!!

Suddenly, you become a long-distant relative of Shakespeare, Dickens, or Tolstoy.

OR

You write as though you’re a Journalist with a Harvard background.

Basically, you start writing as though you’re some type of genius.

The hope being that the people reading your content will think you’re REALLY CLEVER.

STOP IT!!!

I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent individual.

However, I’ll often read books, books that are extremely well-known and that are said to be “life changing”.

I get 2 minutes into the book and I feel as though I’m not really understanding a word, but most importantly, the AUTHOR IS NOT CONNECTING WITH ME ON A PERSONAL LEVEL.

WE ALL DO THIS.

Don’t believe me, (and NO, I’m not having a go at Newbies), check out any post written by a new member on their first day or two here on the platform.

A Catchy Slogan.

Meaningful Words (That actually mean NOTHING).

It’s almost as though the words written deserve a “mic drop” afterwards - “Look How Cool I Am”. “BOOM!!”

Or that the blog post should be read while listening to really cool music.

STOP IT.

Sounding or acting clever has never impressed anyone.

The best way to write online is in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS YOU TALK.

In fact, you'll often hear that you should write an article/blog post as though YOU ARE VERBALLY EXPLAINING IT TO YOUR BEST FRIEND.

Would you use jargon, big words, or try to act like you're Hemingway in front of your best friend?

NO!!

They'd laugh at you and ask what the hell you're doing!

Just write like you talk and as though you're explaining something to your best friend.

You do that and you have a better chance of CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE ON A PERSONAL LEVEL.

You try to act all smart and use BIG WORDS, people will react in exactly the same way AS YOU WOULD.

They’re either going to see straight through you, or simply leave your article as they have no idea what you’re going on about.

In a way this also says to the READER, “I think I’m better than you, I’m above you”. You won’t win many fans with that attitude, will you?

Being a success online (or offline) is all about the relationships you build.

How people think of you, whether they like you, or dislike you.

You know yourself, you tend to buy things (in the offline world) from people that you like.

If you walk into a shop and the server is rude to you, you walk out without buying anything.

You can actually end up disliking someone simply because you don’t really understand what they’re saying (you ALL hate me, don’t you!!! Hahahahahaha)

ALWAYS write in a genuine and sincere manner and LET YOUR PERSONALITY SHINE THROUGH.

Obviously, this can vary from niche-to-niche, as some niches could be more academic in nature.

That being said, I think the vast majority of us tend to focus on niches suited to EVERYDAY PEOPLE.

So, in order to CONNECT with everyday people, you NEED TO BE ONE YOURSELF.

You’ll also find that trying to be OVERLY SMART actually slows down the creative process.

AND THIS is why you may be struggling to write content as quickly as you hoped.

In truth, trying to sound smart, using big words, writing as though you’re a completely different person, are all simply ways of trying to “perfect” an article.

DON’T DO IT!!!

TWO THINGS you’ll always hear me say.

Firstly, STOP writing for yourself, that’s SELFISH, no-one cares, write the content that the PEOPLE IN YOUR NICHE WANT TO READ ABOUT, and do it in a way that is easy for them to understand.

Secondly, start your research by HANGING OUT WITH THE PEOPLE IN YOUR NICHE.

This is why I say that you’re initial research should be to go to the Google search bar and type in your niche name (or something relevant) PLUS forums

• Affiliate Marketing + Forums
• Skincare + Forums
• Woodworking + Forums
• Weight Loss + Forums
• Give Up Smoking + Forums
• Rock Climbing + Forums
• Growing Tomatoes + Forums
• SoundProofing + Forums

This is where REAL PEOPLE who are INTERESTED in your niche HANG OUT.

Go hang out with them, read what they have to say, take notes, see how they speak to each other, the language they use, the things they say.

I can guarantee that in the vast majority of niches these people are acting in a completely natural manner, and speaking NORMALLY.

I would hazard a guess that some of the greatest ACADEMIC writers in history may not actually have made the best bloggers.

Why?

Half of us wouldn’t have a clue what the hell they’re going on about.

BE SMART with your article writing by NOT trying to be OVERLY SMART.

No-one likes a show off, especially when they haven’t got a clue what the person's going on about.

Be YOU and let your personality SHINE THROUGH.

I would also suggest that you go to Google and type the following into the search bar:

Jim Vandehei Ted Talk Smart Brevity

Not only does Jim discuss this aspect of trying to sound too clever when we write, he also focuses on WRITING LESS TO SAY MORE.

I will say that I recently promised a few of you a complete guide to backlinks as my next blog post.

I actually started writing the guide after listening to Jim’s TED Talk…

Guess What?

It ended up at nearly 6,000 words.

NAUGHTY PARTHA!!!

Clearly, I was trying to sound ALL SMART and USING BIG WORDS (and probably going off on about 70,000 tangents).

Back to the drawing board for that Blog Post.

KEEP IT SIMPLE!!

Short & Sweet Today.

(Well, you have got a 6,000-word blog post to look forward to soon, LOL!)

Thank You For Reading

Partha