12 Writing Tips to Help You Get Your Message Across without Being Stale

One of the biggest problems content marketers face every day is how to get their message across and make sure that each piece of content they provide is high-quality and relevant to their target audience. They want to make sure that their content is original and unique, especially when they’re tackling topics that have been covered hundreds of times already.

Writing about common topics can be challenging, because you want to provide something new that no one else has. You want your readers to be genuinely interested in what you have to say and not only to read through your entire content, but also to come back to check out what else you have in store for them.

However, in order to convey the right message, you need to think about your target audience and write about what they want to hear. You need to get to know them so you can tailor your content to their needs. The more you learn and adjust your content to them, the more likely it is that you’ll effectively communicate your message.

With that in mind, take a look at the following writing tips and tricks that professional writers apply, as they will help you consistently craft high-quality content and keep your readers interested and excited about what you have to say.

Conduct Research All the Time

When I say that you should conduct research “all the time,” I certainly don’t mean that research should be everything you do while you’re not writing.  When you’re checking out your favorite blogs and websites, or even when you’re scrolling through your news feed on Facebook or other social media networks, you certainly come across some interesting articles tackling topics you want to write about. That’s research as well.

While you’re doing that kind of “research” save URLs of those resources to use as reference materials, and make a list of the topics you find relevant and interesting, and write down every idea that comes to mind. That way, you’ll never run out of ideas and you’ll be able to publish fresh content consistently.

Jotting everything down as soon as it pops into your head will significantly improve the quality of your content, because you will have more time to craft your copy later and focus completely on the message you want to communicate.

Regular research is also crucial because trends change and, with them, people’s needs and preferences. In order to meet the needs of your readers, you have to follow the trends.

Find Your Unique Writing Voice

Your writing voice is very important, because it differentiates you from all the other writers in your niche. Whether you write novels or write content for your blog, you need to find your own style and writing voice that will speak your name and make people instantly recognize you.

The key is to write like you talk. Imagine yourself talking to your best friend about something you know, and start writing as if the two of you are actually talking face to face. That is exactly when your voice will come out to the surface and be truly heard.

Something that can significantly help you find your writing voice is focusing on the writers and bloggers that you like. Examine them and think about what it is exactly that drives you to them and makes you want to read what they write. Think about why they inspire you and how they manage to intrigue you. Really dive into the ways they write, because you will certainly be inspired.

Why is this so important? Because when you focus on the work of those whom you really admire, you will eventually start thinking a bit like them since, after all, you genuinely aspire to be like them, right? You shouldn’t copy them, but simply study their styles in order to develop your own.

One of the great practices is also going back to some of your previous writings and reading them again. Do they sound like you? Do they sound like something that you would want to read? Are you truly satisfied with them? If not, then you should change your voice.

Always Have a Unique Angle for Covering Topics

This is also very important when trying to get your message across. Having a unique angle will make you stand out from other writers in your niche, so you should always take the time to find it.

It is definitely not always easy to do so, especially when you want to write about a topic that has already been covered quite a lot of times. There may also be some trending topics that you want to tackle, either because you have a lot to say about them and you want to show that you follow the trends or because you think that they would bring you a surge in traffic.

However, do you have something new to say about those topics? Can you make a new point that other writers are missing? If you can make your content innovative and show a completely new perspective on things, then go for it. If you don’t manage to find a unique angle for covering a particular topic, then you should definitely find another topic to write about.

Write about One Point Only

You should always write about only one point, one major idea, instead of covering several ones, no matter how related to one another. If you are writing about more than one point, what you will accomplish is confuse your readers or, even worse, make them click back and leave before they actually read through your entire content piece.

Also, writing about two or more major ideas poses a problem for the title of your content. How will you make the title intriguing and compelling if you need to mention several points in it? On the other hand, if you exclude all the points that you cover in your piece of content, your readers will not know what to expect right from the start.

Therefore, in order to eliminate all the confusion and potential problems, make sure you always cover one point only. Following this rule will prevent you from zig-zagging and making your content look messy and unorganized. It will make you a professional and set you apart from a lot of content writers who are focusing on quantity over quality, which is a major issue that can make or break your content.

Make Sure Your Titles Are Intriguing

When writing your titles, you should spend as much time perfecting them and making them just right as you spend on actually writing your content. Why? Because your titles are precisely what will make people want to click through and find out what you have to say.

If you don’t make your titles catchy and enticing, people will simply keep scrolling until they find something that would really intrigue them and grab their attention. Therefore, try and capture their attention will amazing titles that will instantly connect with them and make them think that the content that follows will truly resonate with them and not make them regret that they clicked through. Of course, it goes without saying that you should deliver on that promise.

The best types of titles include words such as “why”, “how”, “how to”, “best” and “top”, and including numbers in your titles is also one great practice, as those titles show that the content includes a list of something interesting or useful.

Pull Your Readers in with the First Sentence

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. More often than not, first impressions are lasting impressions, because you rarely get a second chance to turn things around and make them better. Because of this, you need to make sure that your first sentence is as compelling and inviting as possible.

If you managed to grab someone’s attention with your title and make them click through, then it is your first sentence that is responsible for holding that attention and keeping them interested. You don’t have more than a few seconds to pull your readers in and make them want to stay and read through, so make sure you thoroughly think about it.

The key is never to mislead your readers, but rather slowly guide them towards your main point. For instance, if you want to write about some common mistakes that online marketers tend to make, you could start by stating that it is crucial for online marketers to avoid making some costly mistakes and, more importantly, to learn from them.

How would this capture your readers’ attention and make them want to stay? They would start questioning themselves, thinking about whether or not they are perhaps making some mistakes that they are not aware of, so they would be curious to find out what those particular mistakes are.

Make Your Introductions Compelling

Your introductions should always be as compelling as possible. Just like the first sentence is important for grabbing your readers’ attention, so is an introduction that will take your readers to the main point that you want to cover.

If you plan on creating a short piece of content, then one or two paragraphs should be enough for a good introduction. If you want to write a bit longer piece of content, then you should feel free to extend your introduction a bit, even reach around 500 words.

However, if you make it that long, make sure you stay on point. You should always focus on quality over quantity so, if you feel the need to write a longer introduction, make sure that it represents a perfect tease for the information that follows.

In order to make your introductions truly irresistible, you can include some lesser-known facts or interesting statistical facts related to your topic, provide some information that cannot be found someplace else, tackle some breaking news relevant to your major point, or even tell a compelling story that instantly hooks your readers and make them curious about what follows.

Always Tell the Truth

When you read a piece of content that doesn’t sound quite accurate, do you continue reading it or do you move on to some other, more trustworthy resource? Of course you stop reading it. That is exactly what your readers will do if you don’t provide them with accurate facts and information that doesn’t actually stretch the truth.

People don’t want to waste time on reading something that you wrote if they cannot actually trust you. This is precisely why it is absolutely crucial that you thoroughly research every single topic before you sit down to write about it. Only when you research them completely will you be able to provide accurate information that will turn you into a trustworthy resource.

But, how will your readers know that the information you provide is accurate? By seeing that you backed it up. Whenever you provide some statistical facts, make sure you link to the relevant source. The same goes for providing references or someone’s quotes. However, make sure that you thoroughly evaluate your sources first.

Also, steer clear of the hype. More often than not, it seems like a poor tactic for manipulating people so, if you find yourself unconsciously (or not) applying that tactic, turn it down a notch and craft content that provides your readers with real value.

Write Plainly and Concisely

No matter what topic you write about, your writing should always be plain and concise. Writing that way is exactly what will help you get your message across, because people will understand it much easier. This is especially important when you are covering complex topics, because writing plainly is precisely what will help people not see them as complex and truly comprehend everything that you are trying to explain.

Writing concisely and not using overly technical terms is also what will make your content more readable. Don’t write as if you are competing for some kind of an award (even if you perhaps are), because not only may you confuse your readers, who expect to get useful information quickly, but that is also when a writer’s block may come into play, and you certainly don’t want that to happen.

Instead, stick to short sentences, and break your content into short paragraphs, since you will make it not only more visually appealing, but also much easier for your readers to grasp everything that you tell them. Keep it simple and you can be sure that you will always hit the bullseye.

Make Summaries as Enticing as Your Introductions

Your summaries are just as important as your introductions. You should never stop putting an effort once you finish explaining your main point, because a summary is the point where you have an opportunity to keep your readers wanting more. You have the opportunity to make them want to come back again and see what else you have to say.

A summary is excellent for a great CTA (call-to-action) that can additionally engage your readers in what you do. For instance, you can offer a free download of your eBook, a discount or a free sample of your new product if they subscribe, or anything else regarding a particular action that you want them to take upon finishing the reading of your content piece.

However, the most important part of every summary should be telling your readers what benefits they will experience because of all the information that you provided them with. Telling them exactly how they will benefit from your content and what value it can add to their lives will make them appreciate it more. It will make you their go-to resource every time they have a problem that you can solve.

Match Your Content’s Depth with Its Length

When trying to communicate your message, some things that can prevent you from doing that effectively are either too many details crammed into small space, or not enough details to properly cover a particular topic, especially when it is a bit lengthy.

That being said, your content’s depth should always match its length. When you are writing a short piece of content, you should never go into too many details, because that way you will not be able to cover your major idea in a way that it would be easy to understand it.

Filling your short content piece with as much information as you can about a certain topic will only make it messy and prevent your readers from fully comprehending every single aspect of that topic that you include. Instead, you should either discuss only the most important aspects of a particular topic or choose only one aspect and discuss it in detail.

On the other hand, when you are writing lengthy pieces of content, you have more space to provide your readers with more detail. However, in such cases, be careful as to avoid going in circles and rewriting the same points over and over simply because you have very little to say concerning a topic but you wish to make your content lengthy. That’s never a good practice and all you would accomplish is lose your readers.

Never Underestimate the Editing Stage

Even the best writers don’t underestimate the editing part of their writing process. They don’t finish the last sentence and move on to their next piece of content. Rather, they take the time to edit their first draft, which a lot of them do several times before finally publishing it.

Why is this so important? Because writing usually happens really fast in order to keep up with all the ideas that come to mind, so that the right message can be properly communicated. During all that fast writing, it is more than common that some sentences don’t quite turn out sounding the way you intended.

Therefore, make sure you always put the best of your effort into editing every single piece of content that you create. Take the time to edit and re-edit, because that is when you will craft high-quality content and make sure that your ultimate message gets truly conveyed.

I sincerely hope that these writing tips have helped you gain a better insight into high-quality writing and that you will be able to craft amazing content not only the next time you sit down to write, but also for many years to come. The key is not to worry too much, but to get your creative juice flowing and simply tell your story. Engage your readers and they will love you.

Remember, no one is born a writer. Practice makes perfect, so keep honing your writing skills and you can be sure that you will reach the stars before you even know it.