“Your words have to creep up on your audience and sucker punch them into paying attention.”
See the difference?
By using the sensory experiences, the sentence latches on to the readers attention and forces them to feel what you’re saying.
12. Keep Your Writing Active
The passive voice butchers your writing. Whereas the active voice, adds strength and vigor to it.
Take a look at these passive sentences:
The bat was swung by John
The ball was thrown by James
The door was broken by the dog
Look at what happens after a little makeover…
John swung the bat
James threw the ball
The dog broke the door
Not only are the sentences more concise, clear and strong. But they also carry more impact with less words.
If you want your readers to effortlessly slide down your posts, keeping your writing active is a must.
Nobody wants to process large chunks of information. They want easy digestible pieces of information they can easily understand.
That’s where having shorter sentences and paragraphs can help a ton.
Keeping sentences and paragraphs short quickens the pace of your writing; makes it easier to understand, and makes your writing less intimidating.
Aim for one main point per paragraph and one main idea per sentence.
14. Supercharge Your Brain With Words
“I often read for 5-10 minutes. Out loud.” Was Jon Morrow’’s response when asked what his pre-writing rituals are.
We all know that any writer worth his salt is a serious reader.
But, did you know that when engaged in a powerful reading session, you receive a boost in connectivity in the part of the brain that is associated with the receptivity of language?
Yup, scientists from Emory University proved that reading heightens your brain power when it comes to dealing with language.
Try reading before you sit down for your next writing session and see if you don’t improve.
15. Develop a Brain Pumping Routine
High performers in any profession develop a routine to get in the “zone”.
Developing a routine for your writing trains your brain to expect to write, which warms your mind up and makes the act of writing much easier in comparison to writing cold.
Jack Kerouac would kneel, pray, light a candle and write by it’s light, then blow it out when he was done.
John Carlton would slip into a different of writing clothes to get him in the zone.
Ernest Hemingway liked to write first thing in the morning.
Experiment with different routines and see what sticks, because once you have a solid routine to get you in the mood, you’ll no longer be a victim of writers block.
16. Sharpen Your Headline Chops
When writing headlines, you have to make every single word count. Or you risk your reader turning a blind eye to your post.
Headlines force you to be selective and squeeze the power out your words. This transitions into your ability to create hard-hitting sentences that flow smoother, and read better.
17. Write Like it’s Your Job
As Stephen King said, writing is “just another job like laying pipe or driving long haul trucks.”
Let’s imagine that you’re a plumber, and it’s your first day on the job.
You wouldn’t expect yourself to be amazingly skilled at what you’re doing, right?
But you know that becoming better is inevitable. Thanks to the fact that it’s your job, and you’re doing it almost every single day..
The same applies to writing.
Write when you feel like it. Write when you don’t. Prioritize your time around writing.
Write like it’s your job and you’re guaranteed to level up your skills .
18. Get enough sleep
Ever tried to build muscle?
An important principle that people skim over is rest.
They pack themselves into gyms and break down muscle tissue to get stronger. But, the body doesn’t get stronger during exercise. It starts repairing and adds extra muscle tissue during sleep.
So activities like: writing and reading. Studying different styles, and analyzing great writing…are the literary equivalent of pumping weights.
They’ll challenge your writing muscle and force it to grow stronger.
But despite your attempts to sharpen your skills…something as simple as sleep could be killing your progress.
Sleep is vital for survival,and keeps your nervous system functioning properly. And according to biological psychologist Namni Goel, “there’s plenty of research showing how a lack of it cripples your mind.”
Writing is hard.
It forces you to dig deep in your brain and extract ideas, information, and feelings. Then communicate them to another human being.
Don’t make it even harder by not getting enough sleep.
19. Get Moving
Henry David Thoreau said: “the moment my legs begin to move my thoughts begin to flow – as if I had given vent to the stream at the lower end and consequently new fountains flowed into it at the upper”
As mentioned before, writing ain’t easy.
That’s why its important to keep yourself in shape. Your body is your temple, and you want it to be operating at its peak (don’t you?).
Exercise can help you do that.
Many great writers swear by exercise being a helpful tool for boosting creativity and preparing you for the act of writing.
There’s even research that proves exercise fires up your neurons and switches your brain on.
Research conducted by cognitive scientist prof colzato showed that “people who are doing exercise on a regular basis outperform those who don’t. We think that physical exercise trains your brain to become more flexible in finding creative solutions.”
I like to hit the gym or jump rope for a while before writing. It calms me down, boosts my mood and clears my thoughts.
But you don’t have to do anything strenuous, you could walk, run, or even do light stretching… just get your blood moving.
20. Release Your Inner (Doodling) Child
Sounds odd doesn’t it?
But at times, rules, regulations and emotional baggage can weigh you down and stifle your creativity.
In her book the doodle revolution, Sunni whatsapp data brown says that doodling helps you focus by “anchoring” a task. Especially when it comes to things that require attention for extended periods of time. Things like lectures, meetings, calls and writing.
“We think doodling is something you do when you lose focus, but it’s really a preemptive measure to stop you from losing focus,”
Find yourself feeling mentally clogged up at times? Grab a pen and blank paper. Let your thoughts flow freely.
21. Have an Editor Read Through your Work
No one ever writes the perfect draft.
And even though your second and third En del av salgsteknikkene gjennom ones might be more polished; nothing beats a fresh pair of eyes.
An editor can also highlight your weaknesses and strengths so you can objectively look at your writing and decide what to work on.
22. Join a Group of Writers
Writing is a solitary activity.
And unfortunately, not everyone usa ceo understands what it’s like to bleed thoughts from your brain into crisp, compelling words that communicate your ideas.
Surround yourself with people who write.
You’ll get ongoing feedback on your progress, and you’ll always have someone who can sympathize with your writing pleasures and pains.
