I have always considered myself to be a pretty good writer, especially if I am interested in what I am writing about. Recently I took courses on writing, grammar, spelling etc. through a website called NewsU. After completing these courses I realized I need to increase my skills in a lot of areas in order to become a better writer.
I recently came across an article on PR Daily that discussed new ways to better your writing called “7 Ways to Improve Your Writing..Right Now.“
The 7 quick ways in which the article suggests to become a better writer are:
Be concise and Clear
The longer you write, the less you hold a reader’s interest. If you can’t say it simply in just a few words, then you’ve lost readers. Write short, write lean, and write clearly so you don’t have to waste words explaining what you’ve just written.
Keep it short
You do not have to keep your writing short just the line length. Set your page layout so that it’s not full width,keep the sentences short and use plenty of paragraph breaks. 100 characters per line is optimal for speed — but about 45 characters is best for reader comfort.
Stick to three magic words
So have 3 bullet points. 3 steps, 3 strategies. Use the number 3 as often as you can.
Not only will you capture better reader interest by doing so, but you’ll improve your readers’ ability to remember what you’ve written. We tend to chunk information into groups of three, and recall those triads more easily.
Watch Your Tone
It’s easy for writers to assume readers can pick up on our mood and tone from our writing. As a reader, you have no idea what tone the writer is trying to convey unless the words around that phrase cue you into my written tone.
Talk Food, Sex, and Danger
If you want people to pay more attention to your writing, bring up those big three. Use stories and examples that touch on aspects of food, sex, or danger. Add descriptors or associative words. Pair it with a nice picture, if you’d like. It’ll glue them to the page.
Break It Up
Make it easy for people to read your work. The easier it is, the more they’ll get your point and enjoy reading — and that’s what you want.
Stay On Topic
Building and outline helps. Decide on the main point of your piece and create three (!) sub-points that support it. Make sure each one ties back to the message you want to get across to readers, and make sure each sub-point is supportive and relevant.
I really like this post, very informative.
Every blogger needs tips for better writing and I think you provided very substantial ones. PR Daily is a great site in providing information for Public Relations students and professionals. My mom always said you hang pictures or group decorations in groups of three, and I have now learned that you do this when writing as well. Thinking back, it is easier to recall triads better than statistics that hold more than three pieces of information. And speaking of three’s: food, sex and danger are major topics that will grab a readers interest. Being a part of Ch. 97 Eagle News, our professors have told us at times “show us flames, show us something risky, with images like those it doesn’t matter what you’re talking about.”
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