How to be a Better (Blog) Writer
- priscillawrites
- Mar 9, 2016
- 2 min read
The blog world is filled with tips on how to grow your blog's following, enhance your social media strategy, and even take better pictures. And while all those tips are definitely useful, there's one essential piece of the puzzle that isn't addressed so often.
That, of course, is writing. I believe good writing is the backbone of any good blog. Sure, it's not the most flashy, "fun" part of blogging (although to me it actually is ;), but without good writing you can alienate your audience and create an unprofessional image. I'm definitely not a professional blogger, but I think writing is one of the things I do well, simply because I love it and have done it for so long.
So today I thought I'd share a few of my favorite tips to help you become a better blog writer. :)
Develop Your Voice
A unique writing voice (aka, writing style) is what will define your writing to your audience. It's what writers use to make themselves stand out and to give their writing consistency to make them recognizable to their readers. For example, one of my favorite authors, Shauna Niequist, loves long metaphors, run-on sentences, and an overabundance of conjunctions that make her writing sound very poetic. And that makes her works easy to recognize. If you're not quite sure what your writing voice is yet, here are two things that really helped me develop mine: 1) journaling every night and 2) studying authors with varied writing styles.
Proofread. Then proofread again.
Every writer has a weakness. For me, it's my tendency to be wordy. I sometimes have to cut out whole sentences when I go back and edit because they were completely unnecessary! And that's exactly why proofreading is so important. If you're not a grammar expert, have someone proofread your blogs for you, or read them out loud before you publish (while not something I do, I've heard it's incredibly effective). You guys, grammar is such a boring thing, I know, but it can make the difference between whether someone takes your work seriously or not. So don't overlook it!
Read.
You know the old saying: "a reader doesn't have to be a writer, but a writer must be a reader." It may be a tired cliche, but it is 100% true. If you want to become a better writer, you need to read more. That's not so you can copy other people's writing style (never a good idea), but because being around words that flow well will help you familiarize yourself with good writing and make it easier for you to recognize it (or the lack of it) in your own posts. Read whatever you want - fiction, self-help books, blogs - but read. It makes such a big difference.
Do you have any good writing tips?