Been feeling a little distracted lately?
Struggling to focus at times and finding it tough to even get the basics done?
Among many other areas of expertise, creating content that’s written really well remains a core skill of the professional communicator.
But let’s face it. When we’re snowed under, it’s hard to either get started, cross the finish line or sometimes both can be a challenge!
The rather marvellous Helen Deverell ran a writing workshop for the IoIC and before it began she asked the comms community for their writing advice. They came back with some corkers. We think they might help to remind us all about how we can get the best from the copy we create.
So, in true Alive style, we took some of those top tips and put together a nice looking infographic that you can all enjoy…
3 steps to better comms copy
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given?
Comms pros came together to offer theirs and created this treasure trove of top tips.
We’ve broken them down into 3 simple steps
1 – Getting started
When struggling to start, write something, anything. Then at least you can say, “It’s not perfect, but I know what it needs to make it better&rdquo.
Understand your audience. Know who you’re writing for and why. Write for them. Not for you.
Top Tips
- Write without fear – your words don’t get weaponised until you publish!
- Start with drafting your key messages and build out from there.
2 – Getting started
Write drunk, edit sober: not literally, (unless you’re Ernest Hemingway) but write your first draft fearlessly and edit ruthlessly after that.
Structure your writing so it can be scan-read, dividing it up into chunks, with meaningful headings that describe the content accurately.
Leave writing the headline to the last thing you do. Only when you have written and edited the piece will you know what it’s really about.
Work backwards; readers should know everything they need by the end of the first sentence. They may never read to the end.
Top Tips
- Don’t try to be clever, try to be clear.
- Keep it simple. And less use of the word ‘that’!
- If in doubt, leave it out!
- Write so a nine-year-old can understand it.
- Remember that brevity is the soul of wit.
- Ten word sentences are a challenging discipline but they’re worth the effort.
3 – Refining and Revising
Use the “four eyes” rule – get another pair of eyes to look at it and provide some objective feedback. Sometimes they can spot an error, repetitious words that you’re blind to, despite multiple proof checks.
Vanity wastes words – cut for clarity.
Always use a printed version to proofread, never a digital one.
Top Tips
- Read it out loud.
- If it sounds like writing, re-write it.
- When finished read it backwards. Misspelled words will jump out.
Creating and curating content remains a fundamental skill for comms pros.
And this quality collection of smart tips and top advice gathered from some of the very best will help keep your writing spot on!
