Write Something People Will Read: Four Traps Of Good Advice

Writing And Speaking Published on

When you're writing articles, whether it's for print or e-books, it's easy to write articles that no one but you will read. There are many good tips for writing an effective essay, but be careful: if used incorrectly, good advice is worse than no advice at all. This article will help you understand the pitfalls of good advice so that you can use it effectively and start writing the right articles.

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One of the reasons why these four traps are so deadly for your essay is because they are secret tips for writing a good essay. What you will learn in this article are simple tips for writing effective articles that should be applied carefully. Yes, it's a simple technique that works, but writing is still an art, not a mechanical skill. Simple techniques can work for you if you use them lightly and without thinking.

By the way, this applies to all articles written for ads and content you create for your website—almost everything you write.

So, take a look at these four tips for writing great articles and figure out how you can go astray.

Start with keywords.
Use synonyms to enhance your writing.
Spell each word correctly.
Use correct grammar.
Start with keywords.

Is "starting with keywords" a bad idea? Yes, it's good. Of course, your article should use keywords that attract readers. If your article is going to be published online, you should use keywords that show that keyword research is effective, but that's not the place to start. Start with the structure and content of the article, then look for keyword placement.

If you write an article by putting a bunch of keywords on one page and trying to combine them into sentences and paragraphs, you will end up with an article that no one will read. If you start out thinking about an article and find some powerful but irrelevant keywords and try to use them, you will end up with a clumsy article that no one will read.

Instead, you have to start with your imagination. What do you want to talk about? Say it, use the words that come to you, and then worry about keyword optimization. Once the article structure is complete, do the keyword research and insert the keywords in the appropriate places in the article. Below is an example of my personal experience writing articles for climbing-related websites. I want to explain how to choose the best and cheapest hiking shoes. I wrote an article about what to look for and how to find a good source for hiking boots. Since this is a topic I'm familiar with, this script flowed smoothly from my keyboard and was done. Then I went to do keyword research. To my surprise, I found that the two search terms used with "hiking" are "hiking shoes." It would be nice if I could edit my post and replace all instances of "hiking shoes" with "hiking shoes."". ". But if I knew this from the beginning, I would have trouble focusing on the words I was using, and my writing wouldn't "flow" easily. Yes, I use the right keywords in the articles I publish, but I don't let worrying about keywords get into my writing.

So what if you have a great idea for an article and your keyword research finds strong keywords, but those keywords aren't good for the article you're working on? Will you change your article to include that magic keyword? NO! Fill your article with relevant keywords, then use your new magic words as a starting point for your next article!

Use synonyms to enhance your writing.

Of course, you don't want your article to be boring, but you can use the same method to the extreme so that no one will read your article. Yes, you should avoid repetition; using synonyms occasionally will save your writing. But I want to remind you of two things:

don't let the fear of boredom stop you from being creative.
Don't try to impress your readers with words they don't know or don't understand.

The first reason is the same as I said in the previous section: let your thoughts flow, say what you want to say, and don't let the technical details of what you say get in the way. . Start by writing your essay in its entirety, then go back and add flavorings (if necessary). And you may think that you don't need any spices at all.

If you think about it from the reader's point of view, the second reason should be clear. Do you think readers reading your work will open a dictionary to identify all the obscure words? You've seen similar articles, and you know what your reaction is. Your readers will be thinking the same thing: "This idiot is trying to impress me with big words, and all those big words made me so stupid that I thought this writer was a clown." "So don't be a proud clown," said the master clown. Instead of looking for words that fit your essay, use words that you know are appropriate for your essay. Be a little judgmental, but don't get caught up.

(By the way, did you notice the use of citation?" See article. "My English teacher in sixth grade really impressed me. you don't.)

Spell each word correctly.

Please don't misunderstand this. Yes, you should proofread your writing before submitting your article for publication. Submitting an article and writing it guarantees that no one will read it except the rejected editor. But don't let worries about spelling paralyze you when composing your essay. If you don't like to write words correctly, don't worry until the end of this article. Are you typing in Word? Ignore that crimson-red underline for now. Express your opinion, write your articles, and say what you want to say. Don't interrupt your thinking process while trying to figure out how to spell words you haven't spelled correctly. Just write your article.

But don't send it to the publisher until you come back and get rid of the red flags!

Use correct grammar.

This is another piece of advice that is often misunderstood. Yes, your essay should use proper grammar, but I recommend that you don't let worries about grammatical structure hold you back. Part of what I'm saying is similar to what I thought about spelling, but there are other things I'll talk about later.

First, if you're not familiar with writing or speaking with a grammar book, don't let worrying about correct grammar get in the way of your creativity. Say what you want to say in your natural language, then go back and clean up your grammar. (Of course, you may want to ask a friend who knows more grammar to edit this text for you.)

The second reason is that the correct grammar is sometimes not very "natural." This is rare, and you should deviate from correct grammar after all attempts to be correct and "natural" have failed.

A classic example of how bad grammar can be better is Winston Churchill's (mis)quote about ending sentences with prepositions. As the apocryphal story unfolds, an aide edits something Churchill wrote, changing it so that the sentence doesn't end with the speech, to which Churchill replies, "That's pride I don't care about."" (This quote Some versions save you from looking up a dictionary and dismiss Churchill's words as "boring nonsense."

Thus, even if ending a sentence with the word "and" is grammatically incorrect, it is acceptable in all but most formal publications. And it looks more natural. (Bad! He started sentences with conjunctions! (No one noticed but the sixth grade English teacher.)

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All in all, I recommend that you use any idea, even this one, with caution. Let your thoughts flow as you write the text, incorporating all your thoughts and ideas into the overall structure of the text, then go back and refine the text when you're done—don't break it up.