How to get your writing mojo back
By Tony Spencer-Smith
Writing can be one of the most frustrating things. Words can be powerfully persuasive, but sometimes they refuse to perform for you. They shuffle about sullenly, then line up rigidly like bored soldiers. The good news is that you can supercharge your writing.
Here are five ways to set fire to your words and and the minds of others.
1. Develop a unique writing voice
Your writing will be boring if you try to use the same words as everyone else. This is a big problem in corporations, where people sometimes feel they must use those slick buzzwords to fit in. If you want to engage and influence, you need fresh ideas and words. Then you might even excite yourself.
2. Approach language as if it were music
Words don’t just have meanings. They buzz with connotations, images, sound play, rhythm. By varying sentence length; using powerful literary devices like alliteration (where words are chosen because they have similar consonants); or embracing metaphor (illuminating something through imaginatively comparing it with something else), you can make your words fizz like fireworks.
3. Win arguments with rhetoric
For thousands of years, people have been studying rhetoric to learn how to make language more persuasive. The result is a fantastic variety of ways to convince and impress. For instance, there is the cunning tricolon: when you list three things in a sentence, you are tapping into the magical and mysterious power of three. Perfect for blogs, speeches and even reports.
4, Drill down to rich details
In our absurdly data-rich world, people are drowning in the flood of information. Everyone is crying out for analysis and insight. Develop your skill to zero in on the key statistics, the revealing observation or the neat explanation that cuts to the chase. Then you will write short, sharp, insightful copy.
5. Transform content with editing
Nobody writes perfect first drafts. But your content can be perfected through editing. Let it all hang out when you write the first draft. Then come back to it later and set to work restructuring and copy editing it. You will be amazed how tweaking here and there, plus the injection of a great word choice or startling turn of phrase, can turn mundane into magnificent.
Want more handy writing tips, plus news and views on the eworld of words? Sign up now for our free newsletter Exclaim!
Writing can be one of the most frustrating things. Words can be powerfully persuasive, but sometimes they refuse to perform for you. They shuffle about sullenly, then line up rigidly like bored soldiers. The good news is that you can supercharge your writing.
Here are five ways to set fire to your words and and the minds of others.
1. Develop a unique writing voice
Your writing will be boring if you try to use the same words as everyone else. This is a big problem in corporations, where people sometimes feel they must use those slick buzzwords to fit in. If you want to engage and influence, you need fresh ideas and words. Then you might even excite yourself.
2. Approach language as if it were music
Words don’t just have meanings. They buzz with connotations, images, sound play, rhythm. By varying sentence length; using powerful literary devices like alliteration (where words are chosen because they have similar consonants); or embracing metaphor (illuminating something through imaginatively comparing it with something else), you can make your words fizz like fireworks.
3. Win arguments with rhetoric
For thousands of years, people have been studying rhetoric to learn how to make language more persuasive. The result is a fantastic variety of ways to convince and impress. For instance, there is the cunning tricolon: when you list three things in a sentence, you are tapping into the magical and mysterious power of three. Perfect for blogs, speeches and even reports.
4, Drill down to rich details
In our absurdly data-rich world, people are drowning in the flood of information. Everyone is crying out for analysis and insight. Develop your skill to zero in on the key statistics, the revealing observation or the neat explanation that cuts to the chase. Then you will write short, sharp, insightful copy.
5. Transform content with editing
Nobody writes perfect first drafts. But your content can be perfected through editing. Let it all hang out when you write the first draft. Then come back to it later and set to work restructuring and copy editing it. You will be amazed how tweaking here and there, plus the injection of a great word choice or startling turn of phrase, can turn mundane into magnificent.
Want more handy writing tips, plus news and views on the eworld of words? Sign up now for our free newsletter Exclaim!