4 ways to take your writing to the next level

We’re all writers in our jobs, even if we don’t realise it. Think about every email you have to write - that counts just as much as the person writing blogs or marketing material. And writing, like any other skill, is one that you can build up and get better at. But after leaving school, many of us never thought about it in that capacity again.

This is despite the fact it’s such a big part of our daily lives. That “skill” is the key to communicating effectively and getting the outcome you want. If you’re willing to work on it, that is. But where do you start? Everyone has their own quirks and way of writing, but here are a few general tips to help you take your written communication to the next level.

Audience

This should always be your starting point when looking to improve your writing skills. Because it isn’t just about what you write, but how you write it. And part of that is thinking about who you’re writing to.

We find a good place to start is by asking: “what does this person want?” If you know what they’re looking for, you can make sure what you write appeals to that goal. For example, if you’re writing an email to a client and you know they’ll want to set up a meeting, take the initiative to let them know you’ve done just that - with a stipulation that they can suggest a better time if they need to.

Part of writing to a particular audience means adjusting your language. You might have a lot of technical knowledge, whereas the reader might not. So you should consider cutting out the jargon and asking yourself where you can make your writing simpler. If you want to dive deeper into this topic, check out this blog.

Planning

So you know your audience and you know what they want to hear. That’s great. Next, you might want to consider planning how you’re going to get your message across. Sure, this makes sense for a blog, but do you really need to plan an email? We’d say… yes.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you need to do a detailed breakdown. But writing out a simple sentence or two to remind you of your core message will do wonders at keeping you on track.

That’s emails; longer content needs planning, too. Even if that’s not your style. Giving yourself a structure to work from ensures you don’t start rambling about something irrelevant. And it gives you a chance to think about your key messages and hone them into something more effective.

Structure

This one is a tough one to get your head around, but crucial if you want to strengthen your writing skill. When you write, it should have structure. Each sentence should lead into the next, and paragraphs follow the same rule. What we mean by that is each one should build on the point made in the last one.

You can see where we did it in that last paragraph. We set up the concept of structure, then explained what we meant, and then expanded on our point. Each one gave further detail to what came before it.

What we often see people do is hop around points. They might have a couple of topics they want to talk about, but instead of building each one in order, they bounce between the two. For the reader, it means they’re constantly going back and forth, and it’s hard to understand what you’re trying to say when you’re all over the place. So focus, stay on track, and don’t move on to something new until you’ve said all you need to say.

Spelling and grammar

Of course. We can’t talk about improving your writing without talking about spelling and grammar. This is a hard one to cover since there are so many potential mistakes to make. And in the English language, there are so many rules you could break. Does this need an apostrophe or not? When is it okay to use a semicolon? It can make your head spin.

So the only advice we can give here is to slow down. Don’t feel you have to type at a mile a minute. And when you’re done writing, step away for five minutes, come back, and read it again. Slowly. This way, you’re more likely to catch mistakes that your brain is ignoring when you read fast. We find that reading backwards is a great way of catching errors.

Keep these four ideas in mind and you can start to improve your writing and communication skills. While people think being a good writer is something you’re born with, it isn’t. Anyone can work on that skill like it’s a muscle. The tricky part is going to be recognising where you need to improve. But we’ve got you covered…

Through our coaching service, we can help you and your team become more effective communicators. Our in-depth approach allows us to highlight your strengths and areas of improvement, giving you something you can work towards. To find out more, reach out on 0161 413 8418.