Follow these steps to write your best content

“Watch out for the undertow.

And please, wear sunscreen.

And remember. It’s possible to have the time of your life while following the rules.”

My teenager is leaving on a school trip, a stay at the beach to celebrate the end of the school year. As I dropped him off this morning, these were my parting words.

Driving home, I thought about how this advice applies to writing. Not the undertow or the sunscreen part, but about following the rules. It’s possible to write your best content while following the basic principles of style and usage. Here’s how.

1. Write for your reader.
   One of the basics of good writing is to know your audience. For whom are you writing? What motivates them to read your material? How can you make your topic relevant to your readers? This rule applies no matter what you’re writing. Whether it’s a press release, a feature article, or a blog post, begin with your audience in mind.

 

2. Lead with the most important message.
   Get to the point in the first few words. Don’t expect readers to read a long introductory paragraph, with the “what” and “why” buried at the end.

 

3. Use concise language and eliminate redundancies.
   Are there words that seem to add very little to your content? Pruning phrases is an easy way to tighten your writing (use “mystery” instead of “unsolved mystery”; use “revert” instead of “revert back”). You can also cut out extraneous phrases, such as “all things considered” and “due to the fact that.”

 

4. Choose simple words over complex words.
   The use of unfamiliar or complex terms interferes with comprehension and slows readers down. Readers may even skip terms they don’t understand, hoping to find their meaning in the rest of the sentence (use “carry out” instead of “implement”; use “improve” instead of “ameliorate”).

 

5. Choose your adjectives carefully.
   Which word better describes a kitten: “orange” or “cute”? The use of indirect and unclear descriptors can cause readers to ignore or misinterpret your message. The same goes for adjectives that have lost their meaning through overuse or misuse (“unique,” “amazing,” “revolutionary”). Descriptors should be precise.

 

6. Mind your verbs.
   A common problem with business writing is that it’s full of lazy, meaningless verbs. “Utilize,” “implement,” “leverage,” “disseminate”— these words trash your writing and weaken your message. Choose clear, active verbs instead of throwaway ones (use “send” instead of “disseminate”; “start” instead of “implement”).

 

7. Use similes and metaphors wisely
   When used correctly, similes and metaphors help us paint pictures with words, adding depth to our messages. (“That meeting was painful, like a long walk in tight shoes.”) But avoid clichés and metaphors that are so commonplace that they’ve lost their power.

 

 

 

 

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