Neither the search engines or potential customers pay much attention to big words that you may think makes you sound smart. The fact is big words in your online writing make you appear small.
Here are 5 ways you can start sounding brilliant and collect a crowd.
1. Have something to say
When you don’t know about the topic or the people you’re writing to, it’s hard to write anything. Knowing your topic and the questions people have who read the blogs and websites, makes writing easier and faster. When you have nothing to say, you are forced to write sentences that use all sorts of 3-syllable words but deliver nothing. Choose diverse media to read. Choose diverse topics. .Read widely. Take notes. Choose your subjects wisely. Then share your information with readers.
2. Be specific
Consider two sentences:
· I have lots of cooking books in my kitchen.
· I cook to the directions of 34 chefs, including local chefs, regional chefs, award winning American chefs and chefs from Europe.
Which is more interesting? Which helps you see my kitchen?
3. Choose simple words
Write use instead of utilize, near instead of close proximity, help instead of facilitate, for instead of in the amount of, start instead of commence. Use longer words only if your meaning is so specific no other words will do.
4. Write short sentences
I like to keep my sentences short for the same reason you keep paragraphs short: they’re easier to read and understand. Each sentence should have one simple thought. More than that invites confusion.
5. Use the active voice
In English, I write using the SVO sentence sequence: Subject, Verb, Object because that’s what readers like. .
When you reverse the active sequence, you have the OVS or passive sequence: Object, Verb, Subject.
For example: People are bored by passive sentences. You can’t always use the active voice, but most writers should use it more often.
6. Keep paragraphs short
Look at any newspaper and notice the short paragraphs. That’s done to make reading easier, because our brains take in information better when it’s broken into small chunks.In academic writing, each paragraph develops one idea and often includes many sentences. But in casual, everyday writing, the style is less formal and paragraphs may be as short as a single sentence or even a single word.
7. Eliminate fluff words
Qualifying words, such as very, little, and rather, add nothing to your meaning and suck the life out of your sentences.
For example: It is very important to basically avoid fluff words because they don’t give anything to the reader.
8. Try not to be redundant or repeat yourself
Also, don’t keep writing the same thing over and over and over. In other words, say something once rather than several times. When you repeat yourself or keep writing the same thing, your readers go to sleep.
9. Edit your work
Shorten, delete, and rewrite anything that does not add to the meaning. It’s okay to write in a casual style, but don’t inject extra words without good reason.
I prefer to write the entire article, take a break, and then return to my desk and start editing. I usually edit an article over a period of 8 to 12 hours. None of us can ever be perfect writers, and no one expects us to be. However, we can all improve our style and sound smarter by following these tips and writing naturally.
See www.copyblogger.com (Brian Clark) for more ideas about writing.
Much success with your writing.
Ruthan
Ruthan Brodsky
Copywriter and Content Creator
Health Writer
Aging Expertise
