How to make your writing suck less
What does sucky writing mean? How can you make your writing less sucky?
Sucking at your writing doesn’t mean you are a bad writer in terms of spelling and grammar.
You may craft perfect sentences. You may give the Queen’s English a complex.
As a copywriter you need to make an impact. You should be able to hook people to what you are saying. If they don’t pay attention to you, they won’t act upon your call-to-action.
Therefore, the dynamics of copywriting or professional content writing are different from usual writing. Here are 8 things you can do to make your writing suck less.
1. Vary sentence length
I’m a big fan of writing short sentences. If you have been following my blog posts, you will notice that I avoid writing big sentences. Not that I cannot write them, it’s just that, sometimes they become too complicated for readers to follow.
Short sentences are also good for your search engine rankings. Search engine algorithms are software bots. They can interpret words, but it is still hard for them to interpret nuances.
Therefore, when copywriting, keep your writing straightforward. Don’t hint at things. Algorithms don’t understand “wink wink nudge nudge”.
For example, if I want to tell the search engine algorithms that I provide copywriting and content writing services, then I actually need to say, “I provide copywriting and content writing services”.
Coming back to the topic, just because I like short sentences doesn’t mean I always stick with short sentences.
There needs to be a rhythm. Keep it and 80-20 ratio: 80% short sentences and 20% long sentences.
Here is an example of mixing short and long sentences:
Your first sentence can be short. Your second sentence can be short too. Let them be 5-6 words. Then write a longer sentence with 1-2 conjunctions to pack a bit more information in a single sentence to change the rhythm. Then write another short sentence.
Writing is like dancing. Sometimes there are simple movements. Some movements are complex. Simple and complex movements are interspersed to create a narrative.
Don’t make your writing monotonous.
2. Avoid adjectives and adverbs
In terms of grammar and adding modifiers to your nouns and verbs, there is nothing wrong in using adjectives and adverbs. But sometimes they needlessly make your sentences convoluted and pompous.
Instead of saying, “He is always on time.” you can say, “He was punctual.”
Instead of saying, “She was very angry.” you can say, “She was furious.”
3. Be concise
Concise writing grabs your reader’s attention. It helps them focus on the main point. If you ramble on and on with long sentences and unusual words, your readers get distracted.
Concise writing means using fewer words. You convey your ideas clearly.
Concise writing is useful when you’re sending text messages, emails or posting social media updates.
Example:
It has been brought to our notice that the project will be undertaken by our in-house team of programmers.
This can be written as
Our in-house team of programmers will work on the project.
4. Write with conviction
Get rid of expressions like “perhaps”, “we think that”, “it may be so”, and so on.
You can rewrite
This plan may be able to help you in your business.
in such a manner
This plan will help your business.
You can write
Sometimes it so happens that people buy these tickets.
in such a manner
People buy these tickets.
5. Write in the singular
I know when you are writing for a business website, especially on the homepage or the services page, using “I” may look odd because you are representing the entire organization and not just specifically “you”.
Nonetheless, during communications, and if possible, even when you are blogging, use “you” and “I” whenever possible.
You can write
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the campaign.
in this way
Thank you for contributing to the campaign.
You can write
We all know how important it is to complete the project within the deadline.
in this way
You know how important it is to complete the project within the deadline.
6. Be specific
For example, you can write
Very few people have attempted this so far.
in this manner
Just 3 people have attempted this so far.
You can write
Success is more about hard work and less about inspiration.
in this manner
Success is 99% hard work and 1% inspiration.
Clearly mentioned facts are more effective and give people a precise idea of what you’re conveying.
7. Avoid using big words
Ours is a revolutionary product that is going to transform the way you leverage contemporary technologies.
This can be simply written as
Our new product will help you use contemporary technologies better.
8. Use active voice
It has been scientifically proven that writing in passive voice tires people out and bores them (yes, the sentence is in passive voice).
It has been said that familiarity breeds contempt.
Can be written as
Familiarity breeds contempt.
The coding will be done by our team in-house.
Can be written as
Our team will do the coding in-house.
Extra remarks
Writing rules are not written in stone. Sometimes it makes sense to break them. You can do totally the opposite of what I have just suggested. That’s what makes you a unique writer.
Nonetheless, the suggestions can help you write engagingly and make it easier for your readers to feel connected with you.