Be a More Efficient Content Writer with these Simple Tips
At one point or another, most business owners find themselves creating content for a blog post, news article or website. After all, you know your business best and can offer fresh insight that other people might not have. While it’s ideal to have a dedicated content writer on hand for managing your blog and posting social content, it’s also important to be efficient in the writing that you do.
Below I share a few great tips for being a more efficient content writer. Whether you’re typing up a newsletter or filling out a social content calendar, you can use these tips to your advantage. Remember – work smarter, not harder.
Write Down All of Your Ideas
Ideas have a way of entering our minds at the worst times, such as when we’re trying to fall asleep at night. To ensure that these great ideas don’t go to waste, have a system for writing them down. Evernote is a great tool for this, but you can find your personal favorite note taking app. This way, you’ll always have fresh ideas to work with, supporting data to add to your posts and topics to prevent writer’s block.
Do Your Research First
Before writing anything, have a framework laid out. How many words do you want? What purpose does the content have? What supporting data or facts do you want to include?
There’s a chance that you may have to go back and add a few details, but the majority of your research should be done. Keep in mind that people like to skim over content. When creating posts, keep your paragraphs and sentences short, add subtitles and break up content using lists and bullet points.
Save the Editing for Later
It’s much faster when you type and let your creative brain do its thing. If you keep switching back to editing, then your brain has to think critically. Plus, this can stop you from writing some really great, thoughtful content. Type away, let the ideas flow through and save the editing for later when you can do it in one sweep.
Don’t Dwell on the Details
Even though a lot of your research will be done, there will probably be dates, statistics and facts that you’ll want to add in or double check. Don’t keep stopping to discover these exact figures. Put a placeholder in the copy and fill it out later. Same goes if you want to use a certain word but can’t think of it. Highlight the word and come back to it later. Keep your momentum going.
Keep Practicing
The more you write, the better you’ll become at it. You’ll get more comfortable with your writing style and spend less time second guessing yourself. Also, you’ll learn the tools that support your efforts, such as having a thesaurus and grammar check. You don’t have to take care of all your writing, of course, but it’s nice to have a hand in some.
WSI Star Web Solutions has content writing services available for all of your needs. Call us today for pricing and to see how we can further develop your current strategy.