Elevate Your Content – The Go-To Guide for Writing
This is one of the most user-friendly practical guides to writing I have read. I appreciate Ann Handley’s words of encouragement and empowerment in every chapter, filled with practical tips and advice. Ann covers a multitude of categories: how to write, grammar and usage, story telling, publishing, marketing, writing for social media, and utilizing content tools.
The chapters are brief, practical, and the sections can be read in any order. I have gone back several times to review a couple of the sections that have helped me improve my writing skills. Below are some of my best go-to tips for writing based upon my notes from the book. I utilize this writing advice both in my work and creative endeavors.
Are you telling your story from your unique perspective, with a style that is clearly you? – Ann Handley
Some of Handley’s Writing Advice
- There is no one way to write
- Key is to write every day – make writing a habit
- Don’t write a lot; just write often
- Write for an audience – value their relationship and put their needs first
- The first draft is always ugly
- Brilliance comes from the re-work
- Write the first draft which are unleashed thoughts on paper
- Walk away from the draft
- Go back and re-write
- Editing comes later
- Good content is about showing and not telling the reader
- Find the best fit for your content
- Know your audience
- Craft your content and creative work to be as readable as possible to the audience you serve
- Set your writing goals based on word count and not the amount of time you write
- Do the best work you can by the deadlines that are set
Deadlines are the WD-40 of writing. – Doug Kessler
Few More Words of Advice
- Use the active voice (not the passive voice) to generate active writing
- Adverbs suck – really! (avoid using them as much as possible)
- Content is not story-telling but telling a story well
- Tell stories only you can tell
- Cite sources, if used, as your write – citing other people’s work is a sign of respect and gives the reader the opportunity to research sources as needed
- Use hashtags to tell your story and to connect with your readers
- Write what you need to say in as few words as possible
- Trust your own voice – your voice is unique (no one else writes or speaks like you)
A writer always tries…to be part of the solution, to understand a little about life and to pass this on…. – Anne Lamott
Don’t be afraid to tell your stories. There are many venues to do that. Your voice, your experience, your story is so unique, trust you have something to share to the world.
How do you express your unique voice of content?
Write.
Share.
Repeat often.
Done is better than perfect. – Ann Handley
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