2. Writing is one of man's creative abilities
to expose and express
the world in which he lives.
Unfortunately, we use words less to be heard
and more to be seen, like
#hashtags and acronyms.
9. YOU CAN WRITE
There are a million reasons why you
believe you “can’t” write.
• It’s not your job.
• You don’t like it.
• You haven’t done it in forever.
• It’s hard.
• You’re more of a math person.
10. There are courses you could take at
schools or online, books you could
read, and experts you could talk to
that would make you more “qualified”
to write.
But there’s no bigger step to take than
simply getting the inspiration and
the confidence you need to get
started.
11. GETTING OVER THE FEAR
“I’M NOT A WRITER” or
“MY WRITING IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.”
Perhaps. But if you want to get better,
you’ll need to sit down and just do it.
Again and again.
If you can start to enjoy writing, your
words will inform, entertain and inspire.
12. “I HAVEN’T WRITTEN
ANYTHING SINCE SCHOOL.”
University education has no bearing on
your ability to do what you’re doing
today, let alone write.
If you need proof, just go pull an old
term paper. You’d be astounded how
ridiculous spending $20,000 a year made
you sound.
13. “WRITING ANYTHING TAKES ME
FOREVER.”
The more you do it, the less time it will
take – because you’ll be over the fear.
(Or at least you’ll have learned to
suppress it deep, deep, deep down).
14. “I DON'T HAVE
ANYTHING TO SAY.”
You have value not only by being you but
also by what you do or offer. Let that
show through in your writing.
Be genuine. Be open. Show someone why you
care. That passion delivers value.
15. DETERMINE YOUR ‘SO WHAT?’
Your “so what?” is the reason you’re
writing a piece.
Take the time answer the “So What” to
yourself first- so you can articulate
that reason to your readers, and create
a purposeful piece of writing.
TIPS TO BECOMING A
READ WRITER
16. KNOW THE AUDIENCE AND FORMAT
FOR WHICH YOU ARE WRITING.
There are poems and short stories. Tweets
and manuscripts. Articles and cartoons.
Which one are you writing?
Choose a format that supports your
writing style, meets the need of your
audience and you enjoy working with.
17.
18. HAVE YOUR OWN VOICE.
You may enjoy and pattern someone else’s
style. But don’t try to adopt someone
else’s voice.
They’re better at being them than you are.
19. WRITING THE WORDS DOWN
CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORDS.
“The difference between the right word and the
almost right word is the difference between
lightning and a lightning bug.”
Mark Twain
Time spent thinking of the words that
best describe what you’re trying to say
is time well spent.
20. OVERCOMING THE
BLANK PAGE HURDLE.
The effort of writing is hard enough,
but coupled with the pain of putting
your work out into the world and
letting others judge it can be enough
to stop you from getting started at
all.
The trick?
21. Break every writing rule known to man and
give yourself permission to write badly.
Once you start, don’t stop to worry about:
•Sentence Structure
•Punctuation
•Spelling
22. DRAW FROM WHAT YOU READ OR
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID.
• Pull ideas from books magazine or
newspaper articles you read.
• Answer a question.
• Respond to an opinion.
23. WRITE LIKE YOU SPEAK.
Writing like you speak is harder than
it might sound.
So, imaging someone sitting in front of
you as you type, and write as if
you’re talking to them.
24. USE SHORT WORDS,
SHORTER SENTENCES.
For some reason, wordiness became an
indicator of skill. “Look how hard-
working and knowledgeable he is – his
story is so long!”
You know what’s harder? Brevity. It
forces you to make tough decisions –
what to change, what to cut, what to
keep.
25. FOCUS ON SUBSTANCE, NOT ART.
Don’t sacrifice clarity to show off a big
vocabulary. Hide the Thesaurus.
26. TELL A STORY.
USE YOUR EXPERIENCES.
It’s remarkable how much slack people
will cut you when they’re entertained
by you.
If you can transfix someone enough that
they read your writing from beginning
to end, you’ll find they forgive you
the occasional literary misstep.
27. Remember, the first pass at writing
something is called a draft.
And, as one of our greatest American
writers once said-
29. “I love sleep. My life has the tendency
to fall apart when I'm awake.”
30. “Every man's life ends the same way. It
is only the details of how he lived that
distinguish one man from another.”
31. “Always do sober what you said you'd
do drunk. That will teach you to
keep your mouth shut.”
32. BEING DONE
EDIT YOUR WRITING.
• Have someone else look over your work.
• Read your work aloud.
• Let it sit in-between edits.
33. FINALLY, JUST FINISH IT.
Don’t worry about what others will think
about your writing style, let alone
what you wrote. Send it.
At the very least, you wrote something
you hope inspired others.
What did they do to inspire you today?
34.
35. What’s Your Next Assignment?
Write a Testimonial on Linked-In or
Facebook.
Write an Article for online
publication like Ezine.
Develop a Blog.
Write an newsletter for your business.
Write someone a thank you note.
Send your child in college a written
letter.
37. Garry Polodna
SOAR Creative Group
Marketing, Communications and
Public Relations for Small Business and Franchise
Owners
www.soarcreativegroup.com
www.ownyourmarket.biz
@SOARCreative
