Be a better writer

Why read this? : We look at 7 different ways to be a better writer. Learn how great writing influences customers to think, feel and do something different. We show how clear and compelling writing grabs attention, creates engagement and builds your brand identity. Read this to learn how to connect with your audience and be a better writer.

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Be a better writer - where do you start?

Everyone can write, but it takes time, effort and patience to get good at it. Great writers are persuasive and influential. That’s where the value of business writing comes in. It helps you persuade customers to buy into your brand and what it stands for. It influences them to do things, like buying your brand.

No-one starts out as a great writer. It’s a skill you learn. And even if you’re just editing a piece of writing or giving feedback on a copywriter’s work, you should understand the key principles of what makes writing great.

There are many great books about writing out there. The world isn’t short of advice about what makes writing great. But in this article, we’ve focussed it down to the 7 bits of advice we use most often to improve our writing.

7 key ideas to help you be a better writer

These ideas are the ones we’ve found easiest to implement and which have the most impact on the quality of your writing. Use these to keep your writing concise, relevant and focussed on achieving your business goals.

Define the goal

Always start your writing with a clear goal in mind.

Know why you’re writing, whether it’s writing advertising copy, blogging or sales copy.

You write for a reason. That reason is usually to make your target audience think, feel or do something differently. It’s why you write, and why it matters.

The clearer your goal, the easier it is to write clearly. Clear goals help focus your writing. They stop you wandering off at tangents, and help you cut out unneeded words when you edit. They make sure your words are focussed on delivering a result for your business.

Your writing goal’s often to help move customers though the brand choice funnel. It drives one or more of trust, awareness, consideration trial or loyalty.

But what you write to move customers through these steps will be very different.

Customers have different expectations at different times. You have to tailor your writing to what the customer needs at each specific stage of their journey.

Writing and brand choice goals

For example, awareness-driving writing needs to grab the customer’s attention. It needs to be concise and immediate. We’re talking headlines on adverts, or short social media posts.

But if you want to drive consideration, your writing needs to hold the reader’s interest for longer. It needs to be more informative. You tell a more engaging story. Now, we’re talking articles and blog posts.

And then to drive trial, your focus is on sales copy. The right mix of factual, emotional writing to persuade customers to buy. Here, it’s product pages and sales promotions.

If you don’t know what impact you want your writing to have, chances are your writing won’t work. It’ll be waffly and confusing. Customers won’t read it, and obviously, you don’t want that.

So, the first step to being a better writer is to define a clear goal for your writing.

Plan how you’ll write

Once you define why you’re writing, the next step is to plan how you’ll write. You need to plan out your writing process.

For example, when will you write? What steps will you go through? How long will it take?

For each piece of writing, you need time to research the topic and the audience, for example. To do keyword research to see what’s relevant and popular.

You’ll also need to block out time to write your draft. Then, allow time to edit it, either yourself or using an editor. Most writing you see has gone through several rounds of editing. That all takes time.

If you write regularly, you need to get into some sort of habit or routine. Specific times of day, or days of the week when you’re at your writing best.

Then, there’s where you write. Do you have a dedicated place where you can write undisturbed? Some writers prefer peace and quiet, while others like the noisy bustle of a busy coffee shop. You need to plan your writing location.

The more prepared you are with a writing plan, the more focussed you can be when it comes time to write. Plan for when and where you feel good about writing, and make sure you stick to that plan.

It’s a cliched old saying but failing to plan, means planning to fail.

Research the audience and topic

Next step to being a better writer is research. You gather information about the topic and the target audience. The more you know, the easier your writing will flow.

Writers usually do lots of secondary research, especially keyword research. If there’s a brief for the writing task, you check out any research which comes with it.

Your writing is better when you write with a specific person in mind. Ideally, for business writing, there’s a customer segment persona to help bring the target to life.

Plus, you also need to understand the topic you’re writing about. What are the key points you want to make? What will make your writing stand out from other pieces of writing on the same topic? You want your writing to sound credible and well thought-out.

It’s also important to work out what the audience really needs. You need clear insights into their expectations.

Are they looking for information, for example? In which case, you want that information to be easy to find. That means your writing needs to be very clear. Very direct.

Or are they looking for something a bit more entertaining? More of a story to see if they like your brand, rather than a specific fact? That writing style would be very different from a fact-driven piece of writing.

You also want your research to show what else they may have already read about the topic. Check out which articles come top on search, for example. Your writing needs to offer something different or better than those, or customers will never read what you write. Your research helps you be relevant and original.

Plan what you’ll write

It’s usually worth writing an outline of the key points you want to make before you start writing. These help you organise your story, and often become section headlines later. Landing your points in the right order makes your reading flow better.

This outline plan also makes sure you cover the essentials of the topic. It helps make sure you don’t miss anything. You can also use it to help cut unneeded content as you edit.

An outline plan also helps you break down a big topic into smaller chunks. This is more readable than writing long passages without a break. (see also our design psychology article for more on chunking).

Beginning, end and middle

Your outline plan also helps you figure out the best structure for your writing. If it’s a story you’re telling, most stories come in 3 clear sections. Beginning, middle and end.

The beginning is the most important. If you don’t hook readers at the start, they’ll never read the rest of your stuff. Spend the most time making sure your introduction is clear and compelling. It’s usually where you set out the problem or need the customer has.

Next most important is the end. You want that to cover your call to action, so it’s clear what you expect the customer to do after they’ve read your writing. A good ending to a story usually shows the change which is happened to the “hero” of the story from where they were at the start. It’s where they find the solution to their problem or need.

Lastly (in terms of writing order) is the middle. It has to covers the key story points, which get the reader from the problem at the start to the solution at the end.

Be concise

Great writing is concise. It expresses big ideas in a small number of words. As you get to be a better writer, you learn to choose your words carefully. Every word should be there for a reason.

Most people who start out writing over-write. Long words where shorter words would do. Long, rambling sentences, where the reader forgets the initial point of the sentence by the time they reach the end of it. They don’t vary the length of their sentences to make it easier to read. No short sentences after a long one to give the reader a break. You don’t want to be that type of writer.

The reader is reading your writing for a reason. The sooner you get to that reason, the happier they’ll be. So avoid being long-winded. Avoid over-writing. Make sure when you edit, you cut out extra unneeded words.

Here’s some ideas on how you can do that.

Earn $1 per word you cut

One copywriting tip we learned, and often use, is to imagine you earn a dollar for every word you cut during the edit.

This focusses the mind.

You focus on saying the most, with the fewest number of words. It also motivates you to cut, even when cutting feels like a challenge.

You should see cutting words as a positive. It means the words you leave behind are stronger. Clearer. Purer. They say exactly what you need them to say. Nothing more.

It’s like panning for gold, and you’re left with only the most valuable nuggets.

Use the active voice

Another tip to being concise is to use the active voice as your default. The order of the sentence in the active voice goes subject-verb-object. The subject’s the focus of the sentence, and comes first. The subject does (verb) something to the object. (see our books about writing article) for more on this).

That’s an easier order to read than the passive voice. With the passive voice, the order is object-verb-subject. The object’s the focus of the sentence. Something is done to the object in the passive sentence. It’s the ‘victim’ of an action.

Passive sentences can be spotted, when you see a variation of the verb “to be” and a past participle. So, for example, the sentence you just read is passive. “Passive sentences” are the object, which can “be” spotted.

A more active version would start “you can spot passive sentences, when you see …”. This uses less words and shortens “spotted” to “spot”.

It might not sound much. But over the course of an article, it cuts down your word count by around 10% or so. You make the same points with less words. You’re more concise when you use the active voice.

They also sound better to the audience. They’re more direct. More assertive. Easier to read.

You can throw in an occasionally passive sentence for effect. When you want to focus attention on the object, for example. But this should be deliberately done. Make active voice your default, and passive only by exception.

Adverbs

Adverbs describe verbs. They describe how something is done. But if you want to be more concise, they’re often something you can leave out, unless they change the meaning of the verb.

For example, consider the difference between “She smiled.” and “She smiled happily.”

The adverb happily doesn’t add much to the sentence, does it? It’s usually safe to assume someone smiling is happy. If you leave it out, the reader still gets the meaning.

But, what if instead, the sentence was “She smiled unhappily.”?

See how the adverb now changes the meaning. It adds an unexpected twist, a surprise emotion to what you normally think a smile implies. That adverb adds value because it changes the meaning of the verb, rather than just amplifying it.

Use gerunds with care

Gerunds are where you make verbs into nouns by adding -ing to them. So for example, “understanding” is the gerund from the verb “to understand”. But this makes the word longer. It’s harder for the reader to process. You should try to avoid gerunds where you can, and stick to verbs.

For example, here’s a different version of a sentence we wrote between our first and second draft of this article.

1st draft : When you’re working on building your skills as a writer, you find yourself reading other writers differently.

2nd draft : When you build your skills as a writer, you find you read other writers differently.

In the first draft, you have 3 different “-ings”. Working, building and reading. But working isn’t actually needed and can be cut. And the other two verbs read better as verbs, than as gerunds. Using (!) verbs shortens the sentence.

There’s no blanket rule against using gerunds. But, when you use them a lot, it makes your writing less readable. So, only use them deliberately and by exception.

Be Conversational

For the reader, great writing feels like you’re having a great conversation with the author. That through their writing, they’re talking directly with you.

So use the techniques you use in talking to people in your writing to make it more conversational.

For example, use “you” in your sentences a lot. Ask open questions, so the reader can pause and think. Write about things you know the reader will find interesting. Read the writing out loud, and listen to how it sounds. Imagine the reader on the other end of that listening. Make your writing sound like a good conversation with an old friend.

Habits and routines

These 7 ideas are all great way to start learning how to be a better writer. But great writing doesn’t happen overnight. It takes practice. It takes habits and routines to keep getting better at writing.

These build from the initial plan of how you’ll write from earlier. They’re more specific tips about when and where you write. Getting into good habits helps you maintain your energy and enthusiasm for writing.

You need these because writing regularly isn’t easy. Good habits help you overcome the many challenges you face when you’re a writer.

When you write

Try to make the time you write a regular part of your schedule.

Set yourself a target to write (or edit) a certain amount of words every day, or every week. Once you get used to the idea of this regular “writing time”, you’ll find it easier to write at those times.

It’s like doing exercise, but the exercise is your writing skills. You’ll find it easier to start, be more productive when you write, and help keep your energy levels high.

Set writing times also help you make sure you don’t overdo it. You also need to factor in rest times to let your writing “muscles” recover.

Where you write

Think also about where you write.

For example, you need good internet access to do research. You need somewhere you can work without interruptions, when you write and edit. And if you like to read your writing out loud to see how it sounds, you probably don’t want to do that in your local coffee shop.

In short, you need a writing place where you can focus on your writing.

Also, think about the technology in this writing place.

Do you just work from a laptop, or do you have a separate screen and keyboard, for example?

Do you turn off alerts and notifications on your phone when you write? You don’t want to keep getting disturbed.

Going to this writing place and making sure others know you’re writing when you’re there is a good habit to get into. It helps you get into your writing zone.

Just write

One particular writing challenge is when you get ‘writer’s block’. You stare at the screen and literally no words come into your head. No words at all.

It happens to every writer at some point. It’s usually when you’re trying too hard to find the ‘perfect’ piece of writing. Your brain makes you afraid of writing something you know isn’t quite right.

There’s no guaranteed way to get round this mental block. But there are many options you can try to just start writing.

Getting round writer’s block

First, remember writer’s block isn’t the end of the world. It’s rarely permanent, and the best way to get past it is usually to divert your attention away from it.

Change your environment, for example. Step away from your writing place, and go somewhere else. Go outside. Go for a walk. Being outdoors shifts your brains patterns. Your thoughts go elsewhere, and when you come back to write, you often find the block’s not there any more.

Or go do something else that isn’t writing. Make a coffee. Put the washing on. When you ask your brain to do something else, the thing it was stuck on (writing) often becomes unstuck because you’re not directly thinking about it.

Use the Zeigarnik effect

The Zeigarnik effect is named after a Soviet psychologist called Bluma Zeigarnik. Watching the waiters in a cafe, she noticed they could easily remember orders without writing them down. But once the customers had finished, paid and left, they couldn’t remember the orders so clearly.

It was like they had an active memory for “open” tasks. This “closed” when the task was complete. A bit like having an open file on your computer, but in your brain. You pay more attention to open tasks, and often your sub-conscious brain will continue to think about them, even when you consciously walk away from the task.

You can use this to jump start your writing.

Let’s say you have to write a 1,500 word article tomorrow. Sketch out an outline and the first 100 words at the end of today. You’ll find when you start it tomorrow it’ll be easier to get going. Your brain will have had ideas and thoughts in the background, and you’ll find it easier to write.

(see our thoughts about thinking article for more on the Zeigarnik effect).

Set writing targets for yourself

Another way to become a better writer is to set yourself writing targets. For example, a target to write something every day. That might only be an idea, a social post, or a paragraph for a future blog article. But just write something.

And when you’ve a dedicated blocked out writing session, use targets to keep yourself going. No coffee until I’ve written 500 words. No lunch until I’ve done 1,000 words. And the laptop stays on until I’ve reviewed the last paragraph.

The more you write, the more you build a bank of things you’ve written. And if and when you get stuck, you can go to this bank of writing to help inspire you. To help you get unstuck.

The amount of business writing you need to produce, obviously depends on the context of you and your business. But if you need to produce content regularly, set yourself targets and track and measure them.

How often do you need to update your blog for example? Most bloggers including us would aim for at least once a week. What about your website content, how often do you need to add, update or edit that? You should set yourself a schedule to review website content say every 3 months to check that it’s not out of date.

Track ideas and progress

Keep these extra ideas and bits of writing in a notebook or notebook app. You can use this for inspiration, and to track what you write.

Not all your ideas appear when in your writing “zone”. You need somewhere to hold ideas which appear when you’re not in front of your laptop.

Keep a note of ideas you though were good, but discarded when editing. They might not fit that topic, but you often find a use for them somewhere else.

Take notes on other people’s writing that you like. Note down why it works and what you can learn from it.

Don’t copy, obviously. But take what works, and make that work for you, in your writing style.

To keep yourself motivated and confident, it also helps to track how much you write and the impact it has. So for example, if you write to update your website, track :-

the topics you cover.
your overall and average word count.
your use of keywords.
how well you do on readability.
how long people spend on each page.

Trying to improve your writing “measures” is a good way to be a better writer.

Manage your physical and mental energy levels

Writing can take a lot out of you. You may not be physically active when you write, but you use up a lot of mental energy.

Then getting feedback on your writing can also leave you feeling drained. Plus, you’ve got the stress and pressure of writing well enough to deliver on your business goals.

With all these challenges, it’s important you look after your physical and mental well-being.

Take regular breaks. Eat healthily. Stay hydrated. Make sure you have other things to do which don’t involve writing. Make sure you let the writing part of your brain recharge.

Reach out to other writers via online groups and forums. You’ll find writers all face similar challenges. It makes you feel better when you realise it’s not just you that finds writing hard work.

If you know other people who write, reach out to them or join online groups and forums. You’ll find writers all face similar challenges and it can be useful and motivating to know you’re not the only one facing the challenges of writing.

Editing

Next up on the journey to being a better writer is editing.

If you read your first draft and think what a pile of crap it is, then don’t panic.

Every writer faces that. Writer Anne Lamott in her book Bird by Bird famously calls these shitty first drafts.

So, that’s why you edit. And then re-write. And then edit again. Over and over until the writing is good. It takes time, and effort to craft a great piece of writing. But going back again and again to edit is how you get there.

Our editing process always has at least 3 rounds. Each editing round focus on a different area with each review.

First review

The first review looks for obvious and embarrassing mistakes. Bad spelling and grammar errors, for example. Where you might have meant to say assess, for example, but accidentally miss off the final ‘s’. (this has happened to us).

Your word processing software should highlight obvious mistakes, but won’t pick up everything.

In particular, words which look similar at a glance, but have different meanings. Identity and identify, as an example we often struggle to spot.

This review should also check areas like spacing between words and sentences if writing online content. You need to be consistent in how you do these. You should also check all the links work. That they take the reader to the right place.

This review is about checking the writing makes sense. That there’s no unfinished sentences or paragraphs. That happens more than you’d think.

Second review

The next review is about crafting the writing so it’s tighter. You make it more more concise.

You swap long words for short ones. Break up long sentences and paragraphs. You use all the tactics we covered earlier to make the writing concise. Using the active voice, getting rid of adverbs and cutting (!) unneeded gerunds.

You can use online tools like Yoast as per our SEO writing guide to do some of these checks. It helps highlight if you’re writing is readable or not.

This review is about making your writing simpler.

Third review

The first 2 reviews might be enough for short content like social media, or if you’re pushed for time. But if you do have time to park your writing, and come back to it at a later date, do so. It can be very beneficial to improving your writing.

Reading and improving something you’ve written with a fresh perspective is a big part of what helps you be a better writer. You read your old stuff like a reader, not the writer of it.

This fresh view helps you assess the work more objectively. You can more clearly see the structure and the ideas you were trying to convey. You get a better feel for how the writing flows, and whether it all makes sense.

Coming to it fresh makes it easier to be ruthless in the edit. Cut everything which isn’t necessary. If you’re unsure, cut it anyway. Only include what you’re absolutely sure needs to be included.

Re-edit stuff previous work

It can be helpful to go back to published work (especially blogs and website content) and review it every 3 to 6 months. You often spot areas you can tighten. Spelling mistakes you didn’t spot. A sneaky passive voice you could change to active. There’s often lots of little things you can do to improve the writing. To cut out that unneeded adverb. To make that word easier to understand. All little things which help you to be a better writer.

Reading makes you a better writer

Finally, you should also including reading as part of being a better writer. Reading is how you put yourself in the shoes of your audience.

But there’s another dimension to reading when you’re a writer. You don’t just read to be informed or entertained. When you read as a writer, it’s not just to enjoy the reading. Or be entertained or educated. It’s also to help you learn how to be a better writer.

Read about writing

In particular, you should read about writing.

There’s plenty of online resources like Copyblogger, The Content Marketing Institute and Reedsy, for example.

Plus, there’s many books about how to write. Some of our favourites include :-

Telling Lies for Fun and Profit

Telling Lies for Fun and Profit* by Lawrence Bock was first published in 1981. It has some real gems of wisdom about the art of writing. Just ignore the outdated references to typewriters, and visiting the library for research.

On Writing Well

The classic On Writing Well* by William Zinser dates back to 1976. And if you can get past the curmudgeonly style, it’s also well worth a read for great tips on how to be a better writer. Plus, it gave us the excuse to use the unneeded adverb curmudgeonly in a sentence.

On Writing

Finally, if you’re looking for a book from this century, Stephen King’s memoir On Writing* from 2010, is also a clear and insightful read about writing. It’s worth a read just to know even Stephen King had to put up with many rejections and negative comments before finding success as a writer.

(See also our lessons from books about writing article for more tips on what to read).

Read like a writer

When you start to build your skills as a writer, you find you start to read other writers differently.

You’re more likely to look at their writing style and technique. You spot the types of things we covered earlier. The passive voice. Unnecessary adverbs. Complex words and long sentences you want to simplify or cut.

You realise you’re reading like a writer. And that’s a good thing. It’s part of what helps you be a better writer.

When you see good writing technique, think about how you can make it work for you. Question why something’s written the way it was. Could you have written it in a better way? That’s how good writers think when they read. That’s how they learn to improve their own writing.

Read widely

Our final piece of advice to be a better writer is also to read widely. It’s helpful to look at what your competitors write, but look at other categories too. What can you learn to make your own writing better?

Read different genres. Look at different tones of voice. Listen to different opinions. Seek out new ideas to boost your writing skills. There’s always more ideas out there you can bring into you writing. For everything you read, think how you can use it to be a better writer.

Conclusion - Be a better writer

Great writing helps you connect with your target audience. It “talks” to your customers when you’re not there. It helps them solve their needs, and move through the customer journey.

But great writing doesn’t come easy. It takes time, effort and a lot of dedication to get good at it. So keep at it. It’s worth the time and effort to get it right. That’s what being a better writer is all about.

*As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Three-Brains and writing

We’ve a lot of experience and expertise in business writing. From creating and commissioning writing to the editing and refining of it for marketing and e-Commerce purposes.

We specialise in coaching and advising on how to raise your business writing skills. Whether you use writers, manage it in-house or want to build your own writing skills, we can help.

Contact us, if you want to know more about how we can support your business writing needs through our coaching and consulting services.

Be a better writer

Be a better writer

Ready to test your knowledge?

Be a better writer - where do you start?

7 key ideas to help you be a better writer

Define the goal

Writing and brand choice goals

Plan how you’ll write

Research the audience and topic

Plan what you’ll write

Beginning, end and middle

Be concise

Earn $1 per word you cut

Use the active voice

Adverbs

Use gerunds with care

Be Conversational

Habits and routines

When you write

Where you write

Just write

Getting round writer’s block

Use the Zeigarnik effect

Set writing targets for yourself

Track ideas and progress

Manage your physical and mental energy levels

Editing

First review

Second review

Third review

Re-edit stuff previous work

Reading makes you a better writer

Read about writing

Telling Lies for Fun and Profit

On Writing Well

On Writing

Read like a writer

Read widely

Conclusion - Be a better writer

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