Here's Why Good Writing is a Survival Skill
It's amazing how much mutilation of the cardinal writing rules we get away with on peer-to-peerexchanges.
We are eager to squeeze words into awkward abbreviations, add slang into the equation without a second thought, or have a train of fluid pieces of text with little to no punctuation.
Those sins are much less tolerable when communicating with an audience with infinite choices and competing on a global scale. You end up confusing your audience when you use words like 'irregardless' on a post, skip a coma on a compound sentence, or write a slew of redundancies. The knowledgeable readers may even deem you a communication rebel who can't communicate logically.
Let's delve into more reasons why good writing is a critical skill in your communications arsenal.
People Associate Quality Writing with Quality Services
This should be obvious, right? You can't tell customers why they need you if you can't write well. And customers squint at misspelled words on a product description and think it was made by quacks hiding away in an illegally operated go down.
Besides writing your product description, communication takes many forms: videos, speeches, phone calls, illustrations, texting, email, signage, advertising, blogging, etc. Hacking any of these communication forms demands good writing skills.
Good writing is essentially organized thoughts that follow a particular pattern, making it easy for the audience to understand and for you to put your point across effectively. You can persuade people, cause them to take action, inform them, and a dozen other goals that various communications are designed to meet.
Good Writing Skills Make You a Better Communicator
This should be obvious, right?
You can't tell customers why they need you if you can't write well. And customers squint at misspelled words on a product description and think it was made by quacks hiding away in an illegally operated go down.
Besides writing your product description, communication takes many forms: videos, speeches, phone calls, illustrations, texting, email, signage, advertising, blogging, etc. Hacking any of these communication forms demands good writing skills.
Good writing is essentially organized thoughts that follow a particular pattern, making it easy for the audience to understand and for you to put your point across effectively. You can persuade people, cause them to take action, inform them, and a dozen other goals that various communications are designed to meet.
The Ingredients of Good Writing
Writing is much like cooking. You have to have all the right ingredients in the right quantities and know how to mix them up for a tasty, tantalizing meal. Here are the elements of writing:
1. Grammar
Being a grammar nerd is vital in writing. Don't fill your writing with mismatched and wrongly placed words and phrases. While some have been accepted with time, it's best to err on the side of caution than join the bandwagon for sloppy writing.
For example, saying "2 A.M. in the morning" is redundant, and so is saying "depreciate in value." A.M. already tells the reader that it was before noon, making it morning. Depreciating means reducing in value. When you say "depreciating in value," you're lengthening your writing for nothing and displaying a lack of skill in communicating correctly. Long, windy sentences make reading tenuous.
2. Spelling
Typos are as bad for you as kitesurfing on a windy day. Think of when a typo caused you embarrassment that you still blush about. While that's excusable, you need to learn as much as you can about spelling to avoid embarrassing incidences ith people who don’t forget -bosses, colleagues, and first-time guests.
To illustrate, "you're" and "your" and "lose and loose" are some of the most interchanged words in English language history. "You're" 'is the short form for the phrase "you are." "Your," on the other hand, is the possessive form of the pronoun "you."
"Loose" means not firmly fixed in place or not fitting closely. "Lose means to cease to have something. People who interchange these words show a lack of skill in writing and make their texts a turn-off.
3. Punctuation
Punctuation involves a set of symbols used in writing, including:
- Period. A period is one of the standard ways to end a sentence that communicates a complete thought.
- Exclamation marks. An exclamation mark expresses excitement, shock or helps draw special attention to a particular point.
- Question mark. You guessed it; a question mark marks the end of a question.
- Commas, semicolons and colons. These pauses make sentences easy to read, follow, and apply in different scenarios. Commas connect two phrases while semicolons connect two complete and related sentences, and colons introduce a list or new point.
- Dashes and hyphens. Hyphens are shorter than dashes and help offset a phrase with additional information in the middle of a sentence. They also connect words to make them compound words that serve as an adjective for a noun –for example, "world-renowned." Dashes add a little more flair to the phrases that have been set apart.
Tip: For better brand consistency, opt to have a style guide defining all punctuation and spelling preferences.
4. Language
After you've prepared your meal, language is how you serve it. It refers to using certain verbiage and writing styles to create an engaging piece.
Consider different aspects of writing -for example how metaphors help make complex points easily digestible, how similies can communicate body language and mood, or how personal stories make a blog more engaging and relatable.
You could also use transition words to weave the story together instead of jumping from point to point. Transition words include words like also, similarly, additionally, with this in mind, alternatively, in a nutshell, etc.
Sometimes, replacing a common word with a less tired synonym makes your writing better. For example, use the word furious instead of angry, chilling instead of scary, or elated instead of happy.
Pro tip: If you’re a brand, be sure to clearly define your brand voice before you start creating content. This will ensure consistency an uniqueness in your content.
What Makes a Good Writer?
You could have a good grasp of every writing ingredient and still fail to deliver a good piece of writing. To write flawlessly, develop these qualities:
1. Clear Thinking
This important life skill helps you to convey ideas because you can't relay much coherently without thinking clearly first. It's a soft skill that gives you the ability to present your ideas clearly without digressing to irrelevant points.
2. Avid Reading
Spend time with great writers by reading their works to enrich your word library, writing style, and use of language. Every book you read is one more point in moving up from basic grammar skills and developing strong writing skills -and you'll build your comprehension skills in the process.
3. Curiosity
Commit to the curiosity that stirs lifelong learning so you can continually grow the intellectual and emotional capacities you need to be a good writer. In fact, the range of writing skills you can develop is limitless but you'll need to have more than just basic grammar skills.
4. Empathy
Empathy is a soft skill that enables you to step into the shoes of other people and watch someone's body language instead of just their verbal answer to gauge their true feelings. In writing, it helps you to write for the reader and not for you. It's the thin line that separates good writing from a pompous assemblage of words that only appeal to the writer.
5. Succinctness
Succinctness is part of your presentation skills. Don't use five words when three can do the job, don't repeat yourself in different words, and don't give the conclusion before you address the main point. Obey the rules that define sentence structures as well. If it reads awkward, it's probably broken one of the rules of sentence structures.
To Wrap it Up
These writing suggestions are not meant to put you in a box. Instead, they provide a guide to help you write clearly and effectively and develop the muscle for exceptional writing skills.
Remember, there are as many ways to write well as good writers. The idea is to stand on the foundation of the principal guidelines, find a writing style, and always write for the audience.
But even with an exhaustive writing guide, you may not have the luxury of keeping your audience waiting while you develop good writing skills.
How about you leave it to Zoey Writers?
Get error-free, concise, yet engaging pieces presented in a logical structure for all your writing needs without having to spend a fortune. Learn more by sending us a quick message today.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels. Thank you Pixabay
