Make a careful choice and make it early. Being careful about choosing writing for your career is essential. This wouldn’t have been the case if you had chosen, suppose, a lawyer’s profession. But unconventional professions like writing can sure raise eyebrows!
This is because the pitfalls in the profession are generally unknown. So is the strong career potential. But having made an informed decision, you need to prepare yourself, read alot and practice writing, by writing alot for yourself first.
Train Yourself For Skilled Writing
If you have a college education in literature, poetry or writing including journalism it really pays off here. You will learn a lot through education; otherwise learning how to write effectively takes years. However, there are steps you can adopt for writing good copy or fiction or whatever genre you have chosen.
1. Unless you are a ‘book worm’ from the beginning, you miss many things like the passing trends in different genres, which is the vital step for you to learn when you first start off. This helps you cut out your style.
2. Don’t restrict your reading to any particular subject throughout your career. This keeps you abreast with trends, plus you get updated regularly.
3. Watch movies, TV, Oprah and all of them. They are all extended forms of writing. In fact, you can think of them as creative voices of some form of writing only. When Oprah talks, she doesn’t appear to be following a script. Such is her fluency on any topic. But all of it is well-rehearsed and based on scripts.
4. Write your resumes and school papers yourself. They teach you presentation.
5. Develop interest in the subject in which you plan to write. Studying anything out of compulsion takes you nowhere.
How To Write
The art of writing is all about presenting your true beliefs about the subject. The presentation should stand out in the crowd so that it is not lost. Choose a different style (if possible each time) from the rest. Here are some helpful tips:
1. Having chosen what to write, decide on how to present it. It is the presentation which places your writing ahead of the pack and not the subject and facts alone. Some people adopt a hard-hitting style in short sentences for greater effect.
2. Structure your writing. Let the argument or the subject flow fluently. Don’t forget to check this point while you proof your writing. Readers can easily get confused if they think your writing is not for them because it is difficult to understand.
3. Writing is a one-way communication unlike public speeches. Readers will just put down your copy if they don’t get interested in the first paragraph. The first paragraph must tell readers your style, whether they can expect what they want, etc.
4. Keep the same tempo. Don’t let your complacency show. Always end the article on a softer note. An abrupt ending will let the reader down.
Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution’s Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.