Are you striving to write superior content? Because there are so many blogs and articles online, and a lot of them of very good value, we should all strive to write better and better. We should all be working on the art writing superior content.
Yes, Writing is an art just like painting is an art, and just like not everyone can paint, not everyone can write. But I can assure you that anyone taking painting classes can manage to be able to paint a decent picture, just like anyone learning how to write, can become a decent writer.
Are you striving for the ability to write superior quality content? Do you like to write? Are you willing to improve your writing skills? If you are blogging on a weekly basis, you should!
Do you Like to Write?
Many people are saying that they don’t like to write or can’t write or can’t put their ideas together into written words. Granted, writing is not for everyone, and I don’t care how much you can and will improve at writing if you can’t get to like it you might never be able to be a great writer.
However, do you need to be a great writer to be able to write on your own blog? My answer is NO. If you needed to be a great writer to own a blog then lots of people would not own a blog at all.
This said, however, it doesn’t give you an excuse not to practice and try to improve your writing skills.
In my case, for example, I love to write. I’d better be you might say, considering that I write for my three blogs each week, as a guest blogger, as well as for clients.
I really feel that I’m writing all the time, but one thing is sure, in each of those instances I try to write the best piece I can, and I try to raise my standards every time. One thing that I’ve noticed is that if you don’t, your writing will not improve, and sometimes even regress instead of progress.
That’s why some of the clients that I’ve got have told me that the person who used to write for them was great at the beginning, but the quality of their work diminished over time. Don’t ever fall into that trap.
You need to remember that just like an athlete would start losing his skills if he didn’t strive to improve his skills constantly, your writing skills could diminish if you didn’t strive to improve them as well.
As a writer, I commit to it, and decide that I am going to give it one hundred percent until I’m done.
What about you, how much are you willing to give to your written piece? Are you committed to learn and practice the art of writing?
Be Willing to Practice the Art of Writing
Even if you never become a great writer, you can still practice the art of writing. I am not a great painter, by any mean, but I do practice the art of painting.
What do I mean by this exactly? I mean that if I decide to paint I will put all my might into it, and try to do my best. Does this mean that I need to be a Monet or a Renoir to be motivated to create the best painting I can? No, most certainly not.
It is the same thing with writing. Do not hide behind the excuse that you are not a great writer to prevent yourself from writing.
As a matter of fact, I am here to tell you that writing is addictive. The more you write, the better you’ll become, and the more you will want to write as well.
Do you still doubt that? Well, try it. That’s the only way you’ll know for sure. That’s how you’ll learn to master the art of writing.
How to Develop the Art of Writing
1 – Read
You need to read as much as you can not only about your specific niche, but about other niches as well.
While your read materials from other people, try to notice how they write, how they structure sentences, what tone, style, words and form they’re using.
If you are not very good with punctuation get a grammar book and learn the basics of punctuation. Basic knowledge of punctuation is usually enough if you are a blogger, but no knowledge of punctuation at all will make your blog posts hard to read.
Punctuation is often neglected, but it’s very important and adds value in your writing. I will quit reading an article if punctuation is none existent or wrong.
Always remember that reading will build the foundations of your writing skills. There is no substitute for this.
2 – Practice
As William Zinsser mentioned in his famous book “On Writing Well”, practice will not necessarily make you a good writer, but it will certainly make you a better writer. So whatever is your level of writing at this point, practice will make you a better writer.
Even if you read materials until the cows come home you will still not be able to write until, well, you actually write.
Even if you’ve never written more than a post card until now, go ahead and start practicing your writing. Don’t think too much and don’t wait until you know exactly what you want to write about. Just jump in and write.
Do not stop to look for typos or mistakes until you’ve written at least 250 to 300 words straight, because it would stop you in your tracks, and you will lose your thread of thoughts. Remember, practice makes perfect. The more you write the better you will become at the art of writing.
3 – Do this over and over
Just so you know, when you own a blog and need to write on a regular basis, reading and practicing will become your routine.
This is not something you do for month or a year. This is something you’ll be doing as long as you want to have an online presence.
You might not think so right now, but believe me, over time you will develop a true love for the art of writing.
Even if you never become a great writer, you can become a good writer. Even if you don’t really like to write right now, you could get to love it over time.
I’m closing in on my 7th year of writing online. If I look at how I used to write it almost makes me want to cry. No way! Did I wrote that?
On top of everything was the fact that English is my second language. I didn’t grow up speaking and writing English. Far from it. Yet, I was still able to improve my writing skills to the point that I can write for people who were born speaking and writing English. So, if I could do it, what excuse do you have?
If I could do it, so could you!
Hello Sylviane,
Yup! If we wish to write irresistible content then the only way to do it is keep writing. The more we write, the better we shine because quality comes with experience and experience comes by writing.
The art of writing is hard art, but same time its worth it. The more you practice the better you get so keep practicing. 🙂
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Hi Romy,
Thanks for coming and welcome here.
Yes, I couldn’t agree more with you. Practice makes perfect they say, but even if it doesn’t make perfect, we know it makes us better. Much better over time.
Hi Sylviane,
Well, another lesson well done! As a blogger I do need to be mindful of my writing skills. When I write, I don’t pay attention to grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. I just let the thoughts flow.
If I stop and think about a miss spelled word, I loose my thoughts. But after it is done, then I go back and make sense of it all. Oh those run-on sentences make me laugh to myself. Plus punctuation! Oh boy even I cannot understand my writing with the punctuation I use in my first draft.
After I do that all, I get a second pair of eyes on it. I am very lucky my husband was a professional writer! He had done that for so many years, he absolutely hates it now. But his experience comes in handy when he eye-balls my stuff. And this is how I constantly learn.
I clicked your Basic knowledge of punctuation and that sure helped me out too. Whenever you write about writing, I pay attention. Why? Because YOU are the professional. Where else can people go to get these wonderful lessons and inspiration.
You have given me confidence with this post and others you have written in the past and I want to thank you.
Donna
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Hi Donna,
I know that you are probably the person that appreciate my “writing posts” the most, and I love that.
You are so lucky to have another good pair of eyes to edit your writing. I had that in French with my mom who used to be a walking encyclopedia. I learned more of the French grammar with her than in school LOL!
But I never had anyone in English. Ever! When I thought I did, they were terrible. I could even see things re-reading myself that they had missed.
Now when I wrote my online eBooks I asked some online friends I had, those were good, but never anyone in my physical world so to speak.
I’m still striving to get better at writing myself and love to write about what I’m learning.
Thanks for coming and have a great week!
Hi Sylvianne,
I agree 100 % with your blogging tips on writing. The only way to get better at something is to commit to it , learn more about it and practice, practice, practice.
The fact that English is a second language for you is a true testament to your commitment. Looking forward to more great content here on your blog.
Tonya
Hi Tonya,
Yes, if I could do it, certainly, someone whose mother tongue is English can do it too, right 🙂
Nice seeing you here as always. Have a great week!
Practice makes improvement. I first heard this from Les Brown some years back. I dispels the idea of practice makes perfect.
I’m not the best writers and some of my peers have told me why would I start a blog if no one’s going to read it. That was a challenge for me. Not only to prove them wrong but mainly to prove to myself that I can write well and have people read my content.
So definitely reading a lot of books, articles, and blog helps. It gives you some ideas of how to organize and write your posts. From there you can bring out your personality and show the world who are you. Thanks for sharing Sylviane!
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Hi Sherman,
Well, as for the people who told you why writing a blog if no one will read it… How in the world would they know that? If you are striving for success I hope you don’t spend too much time around people like that 🙂
Yes, as in anything in life, the more you practice the better you’ll become at it, and writing is no different.
Thank you for your input and for coming here again and have a great productive week!
I will agree Sylviane that the more you write the better you’ll become. I think the more comfortable you’ll become too, it’s just that time thing again.
We’ve talked about this but I never considered myself a writer and I still don’t. I’ve always been told I have a “way with words” but I never saw it myself. I think a lot of times we never see our own work the way others do.
But I do know that the more I wrote the more I enjoyed it because I enjoyed the messages I was sharing. So to me it’s so worth it and the more you write the better you will become. It’s kind of inevitable I think.
If you want to be a blogger then I think this is an important lesson I hope everyone will pay attention to. We can all strive to be better and with each new day it’s a new lesson.
Thank you for sharing this and I hope you have a wonderful week.
~Adrienne
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Hi Adrienne,
That’s true. The good side of this is that the more you write the better you’ll be writing over time – that’s inevitable as you said! And that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Just kind of like the more you eat the fatter you’ll become, but in a good way. Inevitable is not always negative. In this case is darn positive.
I was just asked a question on Klout about what are the main challenges about writing, and how to become a better writer. My first answer to this question will always be practice, practice, and practice some more.
Thanks for your feedback, Adrienne and hava a good rest of the week 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
Writing is a form of art and it also takes talent. We have amazing writers who are natural and have the gift. Then there are writers who are good and who with practice get even better.
That is all that one can do, strive to improve and strive to do the best.There is no such thing as “I can’t”. Most people can write or do anything they wish to do if they put their mind to it.
Many bloggers, particularly some internet marketers push these formulas that supposedly help one write an article in less than 10 minutes. That is why we see so much junk online. It takes time and an effort to write a good article, be it a story or something technical. I’d rather spend more time on an article and offer my readers a quality content than publish daily a lot of junk.
Thank for sharing,
Dita
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Hi Dita, and welcome to me blog.
You’re are so right. Especially 3 to 4 years ago the “how to write an article in 10 minutes” and how to spin an article in even less time, was very common and certainly promoted trash. Then that trash started to become so overwhelming on the internet that Google started to launch they panda and penguin and what not to get rid of it all.
You are right. Writing good stuff is going to take time. When I write my first draft, I’m rather fast, because I have experience by now, but then I go in and edit and edit some more. When I write for clients I edit even more, because I want my article to “perfect”.
Thanks for your input and for you visit, and hope to see you around again soon.
Hi Sylviane,
This is a great post as always about the art of writing superior content. I love this kind of posts by you and I learn a lot from them as I am also trying to improve my writing skills.
I love all your tips here and what is helping me to get ideas and improve my writing is I read lots of articles and blogs and I also love to read the comments of other bloggers on an article. I learn a lot from them and I try to share what I learn by writing. It’s a journey and we definitely improve as we go and with practice we become better and better.
For me also, English is not my first language and as you said, if we can do it, I don’t see why others can’t.
Thanks for such a great post Sylviane. Very informative and educational.
Be Blessed,
Neamat
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Hi Neamat,
Well, I’m really behind on my replies to comments this week as the days are not long enough 🙂
For most things in life, the fact that we succeed or not in something is what type of thoughts we put into it. In our case we could have “decided” that we could never write long valuable blog posts on a weekly basis, but we didn’t.
For me it was never a doubt that I could do it. I just put my mind into it and did the work. It took lots of practice. It’s only people with a lot of excuses that amount to nothing.
Witht he right mind set, it can be done!
Congratulations on you hard work and your excellent writing, Neamat 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
A lot of truth in what you are saying!
My biggest problem?
Something new…interesting, earthshaking…I’ll sit down and write away!
Adrienne Smith and I discussed this one time and sort of agree…when it is something you Must do, it sort of removes the zing!
Just freehand (which Adrienne and I agree is the way to go), I’ll just type and then cut and paste to sort everything and use Wp-admin editor for the spelling!
In the Must Do category I will plan, even outline to make sure I’ve included all the
points I want to make…actually it makes writing easier!
Just do what they taught you in Journalism or English class and make it your own!
I loved your slide machine….now an article on how to do that would be Awesome!
Thanks for the share.
Cararta
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Hi Cararta,
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation about how you get you posts done, it might be helpful for someone who will be reading this comment.
Adrienne and I have talked about this subject several times before as well, and basically both of us do rarely ever run out of ideas to write about, because we already know what we want to talk about. The rest is just putting it into a written form that anybody could understand.
The silde “machine” as you called it (very cute:)) is something I made using SlideShare, and I will certainly write about it probably on my next post. I’ll do a video too. So check it out!
HI Sylviane,
Great post!
I will give you an example with what happened yesterday, I was to reply to one of my client’s mail, I use to write 2 – 3 line mail, but now since I love writing and infact enjoy writing, I wrote 3 paras with every point mentioned in detail.
I went through it twice and thrice, which I’m never use to doing before, till the time it becomes a better written piece of work.
You know when I start reading your post I’m mesmerized and then this thing really pushes me to become better.
I subscribe to your viewpoint of practiceX3.
Thanks for this great share. Have a great week ahead.
Sapna
Hi Sapna,
Well, I’m so glad if my blog posts encouraged you to write more and apply yourself to writing better as well.
I’ve always loved to write since I was a child, so I’m just glad I can now actually use this love of writing for good and even for a living.
You’re right, even an email should never be neglected. Anything you write should be thought of carefully, because it will be there forever. I certainly edit all my emails and even blog comments. EVERYTHING!
Keep up the good work!
Did you mean that you downloaded my free writing tips eBook?
Thank you for sharing these tips Sylviane and your advice is right on.
I have gone back to older posts that I’ve written and when I take a look at it, I can see how much my writing has changed, and for the better because Ive made it a point to practice writing and most importantly learn from great writers.
This has become an important part of my routine and now that I’ve grown to love writing I look forward to my next post. I really liked the slideshare presentation as well.
Congratulations on making 7 years and wish you many, many more!
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Hi Corina,
Isn’t it a nice feeling when you go back to your older posts and can clearly see that you’ve made tremendous progress? This means that you are on the right track, and congratulations to you!
I’ve read an article once that said that the writing quality of what’s online can be pretty low. I think it’s true. It’s because people are lazy and want to have a blog, but don’t want to do the work. It takes work to become good. There’s no way around it.
I’m so glad you understand that and that you do your diligent work to get positive results for your hard work.
Hello Sylviane, This is a great topic because we’ll been struggling with this at one point.
I really feel that once you start adding value to your content it will then become superior content,
This is something I’ve learned quickly because I was not providing value to my content.
It’s very important people can learn from the content you are delivering.
Thanks so much for a great read my friend.
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Hi Rob,
Yes, I guess we’ve all done that at some point or another. We weren’t providing very good content, and our traffic suffered because of it.
Nowadays it’s very important that we promote superior content or our readers can always go somewhere else.
Thanks for coming and see you around.
Hello Sylvane, I’m back again. I was always sure coming back to your site will only do good to me. Yes, I too advocate that as much as one practice hard, he will only get better. One thing what many ignore is READING. For me reading and writing is directly proportionate to each other. Practice only comes in handy when you have tactics to do that and to get all those tactics and tips, you need to read a lot.
I’ll just keep coming back Sylviane. 🙂
Regards and Keep blogging always. 🙂
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Hi Koj, and sorry for this late, late reply. I have 3 blogs to keep up with 🙂
I totally agree that reading is vital to become a better writer.Yes, a lot of people underestimate the power of reading in order to progress with their writing.
I’m glad you are an avid reader!
Sylviane first of I am sorry I have not been around, but I have been working on a new project.
I like your slideshare. You are right about writing good content. The more we practice, the better we should get.
It is actually pretty hard not to get better when you practice.
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Hi Michael,
Well, thank you for coming anyway 🙂 I understand that people get busy as it’s my case as well, and coming by to all the blogs we want to is hard at times.
You’re right it would be hard NOT to become better with practice.
I totally agree with you Sylvia that writing is a talent not everyone are born with, but can be developed eventually. I started writing when I was in Grade school. At first, I thought I really cannot make it because I am not so good in expressing my thoughts into writing. But after attending different writing conference and joining different writing contest among different schools, I was able to develop my writing skills and now I am using my writing skills to earn.
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Hi Alexis,
Welcome here and I’m glad you found my blog.
It’s great that you’ve got to see that you could indeed write and use your writing for good use.
By the way, my name is Sylviane, not Sylvia 🙂
Hope to see you around soon.
I totally agree with you that the harsh competition among the talented bloggers in the same niche is rather motivating. Visiting the blogs of others is likely to kick up our own writing. To my mind, reading and commenting on the blogs of others should be included in our writing strategies.
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Hi Sylviane,
You are the best to talk about writing 😉
It reminds me about how I started visiting your blog. Who wouldn’t love to read your articles? I’m not an native English speaker, but I enjoy your writing a lot and indeed an inspiration.
I believe my writing has improved over time and I’ve been embracing some techniques on writing too. I still remember that I started using headlines in my posts once after I read a post of yours here. I used to write posts with only one paragraph 😉
I think blogging and commenting made that for me Sylviane. I’ve been writing since I started blogging and oh yes, practice makes it better and been doing it over and over.
I’ve read that sometimes folks may not write at once and check for typos later. But that’s what I do. Else I wouldn’t able to express what’s on my mind as they flows once I start to write.
Woah… You did a Slideshare slideshow? 🙂 Awesome Sylviane! Lovely background images there with writing tips. I hope more to come 🙂
I’ve did 2 slideshows after Lisa wrote a guest post on Slideshare at my place but unfortunately my hard drive was faulty. Had to replace and now I’m lack of time. Even to comment on blogs 🙂
Well, keep more comin’ Sylviane 🙂
Cheers…
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Wow, great tips and great article. I never would have guessed that english was not your first language, you are an excellent writer and a great inspiration (even for someone like me, who grew up with english as my primary language : – )
Hi MsDSMiller,
Thanks for your compliment. I appreciate that. And thank you for coming by. I hope to see you again soon.
When I started I was horrible and I know it, but I got the best tip about writing: Read, read and read some more. This really helped me allot because I was able to improve my grammar and structure in the way I write sentences. Do I have room for more improvement, sure I do, but I am also willing to put in the work to get better. I think bloggers understand that, but at the end of the day, its your voice that makes it all happen. Writing is truly a science and how you craft you story makes the difference.
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Hi Sonia,
I couldn’t agree more with you. Writing is indeed a science and a craft, and like any other craft it needs to be practiced if we want to be able to master it.
Thank you for coming by and sorry for getting to reply to you so late.
Sylviane,
When I started writing on my blog I had never written for anything before. I was not a very good writer but I just started doing it. I have told myself that I like to write and I can become a good writer if I just keep doing it.
I think unless you have positive attitude toward writing you do not have a chance of becoming a good writer.
I actually enjoy writing now. When I get going I love writing. It just seems to flow and that is such a great feeling. I don’t think by any means I am a good writer but I think I am continually getting better and I am striving to be the best writer I can be.
Great post on how to become a good writer.
Dee Ann
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Hi DeeAnn,
You’ve said the magic words “positive attitude”. That’s what I’ve noticed with a lot of people. They start with a negative. They say the deadly words “I can’t” write, which we know is a killer in anything you might want to do in life.
My language not enven being English, imagine if I’d said I can’t?
I’m so glad that you’ve got the perfect attitude and it shows 🙂
Thanks for coming.