7 Sure Fire Ways to Improve Your Writing Overnight

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Seven Sure Fire Ways to Improve Your Writing Overnight

Written by William Ballard, Professional Author and Writer

No matter how bad (or good) your writing is today, it is possible to improve it overnight. I am not kidding!

Here are seven sure fire ways that can improve the very next piece you write.

7 Sure Fire Ways to Improve Your Writing Overnight

No matter how bad (or good) your writing is today, it is possible to improve it overnight. I am not kidding!

Here are seven sure fire ways that can improve the very next piece you write.

1. Take time to know your reader. This means more than knowing a few demographics (how old they are, their average income, etc.). To know your reader means you understand their fears, frustrations, and aspirations. Writing from the reader’s perspective will dramatically change the way you write. Always remember this phrase “Writer Like a Reader and Read Like a Writer” – William Ballard
2. Know your definitive chief aim or main goal for every piece you write. Every piece you write (blog post, press release, video script, or anything else) must have only one definitive chief aim. If you do not have a target (a goal) you will miss it every time!  I call this objective the Desired Result, or “DR.” Knowing your DR forces you to write with crystal-clear focus.
3. Do not use lengthy words. To persuade, you must be easy to understand. Using short words is one of the best ways to do this. Do not show off how many big words you know.
4. Your sentences must be short as well. Your thoughts come across more clearly and precise in compact sentences. An added bonus: short sentences prevent you from confusing your readers.
5. Keep your paragraphs short too. Imagine you come to a webpage filled with massive blocks of text. There are no paragraph breaks. Are you likely to read it? Most people would say no. Make your writing skimmable, scannable, and scrollable. Use short paragraphs!
6. Use an active writing style. An Active Writing Style is vigorous and interesting. A Passive Writing Style is boring. How do you know which is which? In an active sentence, the subject is doing the acting: “Bob fixes cars.” In a passive sentence, the target of the action becomes the subject of the sentence. For instance, instead of saying, “Bob fixes cars,” I might say, “The cars are fixed by Bob. Passive language presents your idea poorly. It feels “backwards.” It is also more difficult for many readers to understand. Write with power! Use active language!
7. Write recklessly, re-write ruthlessly. When you write your first draft, it is okay if it is awful. In other words, right recklessly. After you have your first draft on paper (or hard drive), filled with power and energy, you can clean up any “messes” you might have made. Be ruthless when you re-write.

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