Easier, Faster, Better Writing

One of my favorite sayings is, "Writing is like pumping iron for marketing." That is, when you write, you build your marketing muscles. If you don't write, your marketing tends to get weak and flabby.

All too often I hear, "But writing is so hard and it takes so long that I end up avoiding it." A lot like exercise!

Writing is also a key element of the Contribution Factor.

It's through writing that we make some of our biggest contributions. Articles, reports, talks, and eZines, all require writing. And offering this written material to prospective clients not only provides real value, it adds to your credibility and professionalism.

It should be a goal of every Independent Professional to become a better writer - but only if you want to attract more clients, grow your business and multiply your income. If you're not interested in that, writing is optional.

So, where to start?

You not only want to write, but want to write easier, better and faster. In today's eZine I'm going to share a few ideas from the interview I recently did (see above) with Daphne Gray-Grant who is a writing coach and expert in helping business people write with more impact and less struggle.

Most of us learned to write in school, college or university.

Daphne said, "The trouble is, writing for academic reasons is often a problem. The type of writing style they’re looking for in academia is very different from the writing style the typical average reader is looking for.

"It usually has a lot of passive voice. It’s just filled with problems. What’s worse is that these things aren’t seen as problems. You might get excellent marks for writing that way and have no idea that what you’re producing is actually a failure (as far as business writing is concerned.)"

The way to write for business and for marketing is much more conversational, and less formal. Therefore it's a lot easier. Throw out the academic rule book. Write as if you're explaining an idea to someone, trying to make it as simple and clear as possible.

When you're writing, you also want to spend more time on planning and thinking than on the actual writing.

You start with an idea - often the best one is a problem your clients have experienced. Since you already have methodologies and stories as the foundation of solving these problems, you just need to get your key ideas onto paper.

For doing this, Daphne is a big proponent of mind mapping.

Start with a circle in the middle of a page with the main idea or problem and then draw circles around the central circle with all the other related ideas written inside these circles. Don't worry about structure or getting it perfect.

Before too long you'll have a pretty good idea of the core content of your article. You don't need to outline it in detail. What I often do is let the idea gestate at this point. I just did that this weekend on an article about "The Fear of Rejection."

I did the mind map the night before and when I woke up, the whole article was assembling itself inside my head! I grabbed my laptop and before I even got out of bed I wrote the first full draft of a 2,000 word article with very little effort.

Once you have a first draft, let it rest again. Don't obsess about it being perfect. Go do something else and get your mind off the article. I did this on Sunday by going out to a show and dinner with my wife. When I returned, I approached the revisions and editing with a fresh eye, and it was easy to complete.

Feel stuck about ideas or content or can't get started?

Send out an email to those you know asking them to share some ideas about the topic. You'd be surprised at the valuable input you'll get back, ready to incorporate into your writing.

Another great idea I got from Daphne is to direct your writing to one specific person, not to a crowd, not even a generalized picture of an ideal client. She was very insistent on this:

"It can be very helpful to have a deep understanding of who your reader is, including gender, age profile, education, things they’re interested in and kind of business they’re in.

"Anything you can do to help you create a strong visual image of a specific reader, not a whole group of readers, is going to be very helpful to you as a writer. Take it down to one individual person. That makes the reader real to you. That tends to make a big difference."

Perhaps one of the most powerful things I got from the interview with Daphne is that you can "let the writing come to you." You don't have to force it (which so many of us do).

You know the material already. You are focused on the reader. You have done your planning and thinking ahead of time. You are not obsessed with perfect writing. Then the writing itself will come naturally. You'll be amazed at how easier, better and faster your writing will be.

If you want to take the struggle out of your writing, and learn many more tips from Daphne, you can order the Expert Interview I did with her at this link:

http://www.actionplan.com/tc/tc_writefast.html

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The More Clients Bottom Line: Writing doesn't have to be a chore you avoid. Learn the secrets of writing easier, better and faster and it can be both productive and fun.

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What tips do you have to make your writing easier, faster, and better? Please share on the More Clients Blog.

Comments

[Ioan Nicut]

Hello dear Friend,

I am not a native English speaking person and I write in English. I am from Romania.

The subjects of my writing are the things I experience in my own self development. Whenever I have an insight, I put it on paper and I listen to my Heart...

Sometimes I listen Jazz Music while I am writing (Robert smiles at this... :) and the states music create with me turn into a "story" that flows to you, the reader.

I wish you success with your writing,

Ioan

ps. Sometimes smiling, helps the process of writing (and living :)

[Sandra Reimer]

If you're nervous about your writing ability and how professional your skills are in this area you can always hire an editor to polish your material.

I am a writer and I use an editor for proofreading and when I need help structuring a piece that is not working. As I work with an editor, I learn new skills and overcome the common flaws in my writing.

I highly recommend using an editor--especially if writing does not come naturally to you. It can substantially increase your confidence in your work.

Some great editors can be found through the Editors Association of Canada at www.editors.ca.

Sandra Reimer
Reimer Reason Communications
www.reimer-reason.ca

[Cecelia Munzenmaier]

Another strategy is to separate writing and editing. When writing, your goal is to capture the ideas you're developing.

Larry Gelbart, one of the writers on M*A*S*H, advises, "You have to put down less-than-marvelous material just to keep going, whatever you think the end is going to be, which may be something else altogether by the time you get there."

Once ideas are captured, you can switch from the free-flowing creative mindset to nit-picky editor mode and refine the spelling, punctuation, and wording.

Cecelia Munzenmaier
http://word-crafter.net/Articles.html

[Andrea Dale]

Practices I use for easy writing:

1) Work on a specific project for only 20-30 minutes a day. Leave a note in the file for when you come back to it, so that you can easily dive right in.
2) Don't be afraid to use skills from other types of writing. For example, I am also a songwriter, and I bring many of those skills into my marketing writing. If you write poems, descriptive blog posts, etc. many of those skills/ways of writing are quite useful.
3) For longer articles, consider creating and using a *basic* outline. It frees you to write, versus remember what's coming next. And you can always change the outline, it's a guide, nothing more.

[Grace Chatting]

Thank you for another great article. I found it very affirming and encouraging. I am coming to the end of writing my book, "Ten Steps to Save Your Relationship". I wanted to translate the process I use when working with couples into a format they could pick up, read quickly and understand easily. I found that chunking down into 3 stages and 10 steps gave me a framework to arrange my material. I believe it also makes the content easier for the reader to grasp and to remember, and therefore to apply in day to day life.

[Chuck Jeffery]

"Most of us learned to write in school, college or university."

Really? A lot of us never learned to write. But your line made me chuckle...As a business major in college around 1492; I received solid marks on term papers from business professors. But, was not convinced that my writing skills were all that great...After that point in time I needed a few liberal arts credits to graduate.

The first paper graded by the English literature professor was returned with ample red ink...Seems there was almost nothing right about my work...The professor asserted that there was a problem with the style. I'm grinning!

As you point-out, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Thanks for the encouragement.