I wrote a detailed blog post the other day exploring how to become a better writer. This post, Write Like a Pro, is a shorter version of the previous post.
In the former post, I picked 3 tips from 10 famous bloggers, making up to 30 tips. Those are too many for most people to remember.
So let’s summarize those posts into 10 powerful tips that can supercharge your content writing game.
Shall we?
10 Powerful Tips for the Best From the Best Writers
I’ve been writing for a while and continue to realize the best writers have a lot of things they practice. These things focus more on the mind, how you think, and external things. What you put on the page is the last piece, but the thought behind it is more important.
It’s like shooting a blockbuster movie. The fine thing you watch at the cinema is just a tiny aspect compared to the hard work that goes into creating it.
So, what are the tips for writing content?
1. Think like your audience
For starters, your audience won’t spend hours figuring out what your post is about.
If they can’t find the value they seek as soon as possible, you will lose them. They will check another blog.
So study your audience and give them what they want. That’s what it means to write like a pro.
SEO professionals call this process search intent: during keyword research, you have to understand why someone is searching for a term and try to meet their intentions.
Readers will bounce or laugh if your tone, language, or intent are wrong.
This blog has a post on what is SEO writing. You can check it out.
2. Stay consistent with your voice, style, and beliefs
Spend time knowing what you’re good at and what your audience enjoys. Then create a balance between the two.
Maintain your style, voice, and format at all times or on each post you write. It makes it easy for readers to connect with your writing.
How do you recognize a professional writer? It’s because of how they write.
3. Surprise your readers
Your readers have read it all— the crazy, bizarre, or interesting stuff.
So they are used to the same content being recycled around.
It gets boring if you are doing the same thing as everyone else.
You need to make a lasting impression to get them interested in what you have to say.
If you want to know which topic is best for content writing, start with the one that would make your readers rethink what they already know. Wow them. Write like a pro.
One way to do that is to surprise them with headlines, images, or stances you will take on popular subjects.
This content writing tip is important for marketers who want to impact their niche or industry. Remember: most of your readers are bored, and only you can make things better by writing intriguing content.
To become a better writer, you must become a better thinker.
4. Research takes a lot of time if you want to write good stuff
The only exception is when you have years of practice or experience on a certain topic.
If you want to write quality content, you have to understand that it takes time. It takes hours or days to read, research, meditate, consult people, read on it, and sleep on it before you come up with unique content.
If you write quality stuff in a few minutes, let it be a topic you know much about. Counting your years of experience, we could agree you have been ‘researching’ the topic for a long.
In short, you have to learn how to research content writing.
5. Summarise your post in one sentence
It doesn’t matter how long your post is. You haven’t organized your thought process effectively if you can’t summarize it in a few sentences.
Remove the excesses and unrelated anecdotes and pandering on the topic. Get to the point clearly by writing a one-sentence summary. This summary will be your guardian — the north star.
So before you start writing, write a one-sentence summary of everything.
6. Build trust as early as possible
Look at these titles:
- “I read one million blog posts on New Yorker in 1 year, and this is what I learned.
- I am a behavioral scientist. This is when I know not to trust someone.
- The Neuroscience Behind Bad Decisions
These are just headlines. You haven’t even read the first line of the article.
Yet, you look at the headlines, and you subconsciously say I can trust the author of this post. Why?
The clues are there:
- I read one million blog posts — wow, this guy has done his homework
- I am a behavioral scientist — an expert wants to explain a concept
- The neuroscience behind — This is backed by research
These are just examples, and they aren’t the only way to build trust.
The headlines above were published on popular blogs, which is also part of building trust.
So, if you’re writing an article, try to answer the question ‘Why should I trust you?’ as early as possible.
7. Making money writing is another skill. Learn it
Many content writers aren’t sure of how to make lots of money.
These are two different skills:
- Writing
- Making money writing
The making money side of it is hard and bullish. (It can lead you to become an asshole on the internet.)
But if you want to become a successful writer at this age, your understanding of marketing should be sharp.
You need to shift your perspective from writing as a fun, exciting endeavor to ‘the success of our brands or of me paying mortgage depend on this article and that one.’
Have you read some articles on the internet and seen a lot of backlashes? Welcome to the side of making money writing that people don’t talk about often.
I try not to blame the authors. Writers have to buy a car and take expensive vacations. You can hardly do that without bruising elbows or stepping on toes.
My point is to treat writing like a business tool. Treat it like a machine that will yield exceptional profits, depending on what you write and how you go about it.
So how?
Well, I don’t have much experience (I haven’t bought my first car either), but look at these tips:
- Learn marketing
- Learn from journalists
- Don’t be afraid to offend some people
You can also read my posts
- How to write evergreen content
- 12 things content writers do for businesses (now and in the future)
- 13 ways to make money as a content writer
The first answer to how I start content writing is to learn marketing. Start there. Then, write like a pro every time.
8. Good writing makes you proud
I am tempted to say that if you’re not proud of writing about a topic, you probably shouldn’t publish it.
Then I looked at my list of published articles and will rephrase the sentence above.
Write about ideas that wake you up at night. Write like you’re saving a life — your child’s, for instance.
The article you’re about to publish now should be better than those you’ve done before.
How do you do that?
Find ideas that inspire you, take your time to write a masterpiece, and edit like Serena Williams holding a racket on the tennis court.
Smash it!
9. Show, don’t tell
Every storyteller or fiction writer knows this tip. You can’t move people if you can’t make them imagine the details with you.
Look at this:
One business has been losing money because it didn’t execute content writing well.
Compare to this:
The startup manager collapsed yesterday after the company failed to make sales in six months.
Many people tell and don’t show, which is bad for readers.
Your readers will understand better if you make them imagine the scenes.
Write like a pro. Try to create vivid and clear images when you’re writing. It helps your readers remember what you have written.
You can read the beginner’s guide to storytelling in marketing.
10. Know thy audience and the gatekeeper to thy audience
If you’re writing articles for children, you will have to convince school teachers and parents first. Those are the gatekeepers.
If you have to publish an article in the New York Times, you must understand the people who read the New York Times. But first, an editor will take a look at your piece.
Failure to understand the gatekeeper means your piece might not reach your target or get published.
Find the gatekeeper, and listen to their instructions.
OBEY THOSE INSTRUCTIONS.
It’s the same with blogging. Search Engines and social media are examples of gatekeepers here. If you don’t obey their rules, your content reach will be limited. In the worse case, you get banned.
Understand how things work.
So, what can kind of content can I write?
It depends on where, who, or why you are writing. Think about the platform if you are writing about your product on Linkedin. What will be more acceptable there?
Write Like a Pro by Practicing The Right Things
Go These are helpful content writing tips for beginners and experts. They don’t mean you will become an expert next week, but with time — building trust and authority — you will get there.
If you want to read the other 20 tips to become a better writer, check the first link in this post.
You can also check the best blog posts I’ve ever read.