by Patrick Bailey
Writing for a living is challenging. Day in and day out, you need to meet deadlines set by your clients, regardless of your workload. As a professional writer, you often have no excuse not to produce the content you are required to submit.
On good days, you may be able to produce articles easily. But when the muse does not pay you a visit, writing can become a struggle. Here are some tips to get those fingers moving on the keyboard and to increase your productivity:
Outline your work.
A common problem even veteran writers encounter is not knowing where to start. As you stare at the blank computer screen, words may not seem to flow as effortlessly as they did the previous day.
Creating an outline is a good way to fight writer’s block. The outline may be in a bullet or numeric form. To create this outline, identify the key points you want to discuss and stick to them.
Avoid fluff and be concise.
Writers are a creative bunch. Like artists or musicians, they want every word and sentence to resonate with their audiences. But there are times when writers may be carried away and their pieces become a hodgepodge of incoherent ideas.
To address this concern, be as precise and concise as possible. Only use words and phrases that are necessary. Less is often more. As an added bonus, you may be able to finish your assignments faster!
Know your readers and write for them.
As a speaker, you need to know your audience so you may relate to them effectively. As a writer, you need to be familiar with the people who read your work so your writing connects to them.
For instance, if you are writing for a science magazine, many of your readers may come from scientific fields. If you are writing for a public affairs publication, many of readers may be policymakers. Knowing the people in your audience will help you understand and reach them better.
Choose the right tone.
While engaging people in conversation, what you say and how you say it depends on who is participating in the conversation. If you are talking with a group of business leaders, you may want to assume a formal, straightforward tone. If you are talking with children, you should adjust your tone accordingly.
Choosing the right tone is also a sound strategy to adopt in your writing. It will enable you to grab your reader’s attention. As you write, imagine that you are engaging your readers in conversation and consider how you would convey your points in real life.
Use writing applications.
Being a writer takes talent, creativity, and hard work. To maintain your readership, you must be able to develop compelling content. Doing so will hook your readers and leave them wanting more.
There are many offline and online writing applications that may help us refine our work. For instance, many professionals use Grammarly. This writing application includes spellchecking features and provides writers tips about grammar and sentence construction.
Writing is not easy. But these tips and tools can help you overcome the challenges and be more productive in your work
Patrick Bailey is a professional writer mainly in the fields of mental health, addiction, and living in recovery. He attempts to stay on top of the latest news in the addiction and the mental health world and enjoys writing about these topics to break the stigma associated with them. You can read more on his website at http://patrickbaileys.com.
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