Category Archives for Writing
5 Ways Bertrand Russell Can Help You Become a Better Writer
Feeling self-conscious, struggling to translate your thoughts into words, or just not being able to write consistently. If you’re a writer, you’ll be familiar with all of these issues.
The craft of writing is something we shape and hone over a long period of time. Often, the enormity of this task causes us to shudder. “How can I get to that level?” is what we often ask ourselves when reading the work of greats such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce.
While it’s incredibly difficult to hit such heights, striving to reach them is a noble task and gives us the potential to create great things.
Taking inspiration from the work of master thinkers can provide writing help to take us to the next level. Often, their musings can be applied to our writing in order to make it more thoughtful, more challenging, or simply better-written.
Take Bertrand Russell, for example: a British philosopher with an unconventional outlook on life. Growing up in Victorian England in the late 19th century, society was firmly entrenched in old-fashioned ideas of class and religion.
But the young Russell rebelled against such notions.
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8 Things in Your Writing That Make You Look Dumb (Even Though You’re Not)
Not everyone is an obsessive grammarian; that would be an absurd expectation. But we all have to write to communicate, and no one wants to look dumb, especially if you’re writing for work or self-promotion.
Some common habits in writing for social media, email, corporate communications, blog posts, and marketing materials can make you look like an amateur—even if they’re not technically incorrect.
Few readers are combing through your work for typos, misspelling, or forgotten commas. But most will notice traits that just make your voice feel off.
As an editor, I recognize these habits as non-writers’ efforts to write professionally—and I empathize. Readers, however, won’t think that far into it. They’ll take weak writing at its face and assume the ideas behind it—your ideas—are weak as well.
Here are some common issues I see in everyday content that make writers seem out of touch—and what to do instead to elevate your written communication.
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3 Ways To Write Authentic and Persuasive Business Content
Writing for a business seems simple … at first.
You hit publish and then, you wait. And you wait.
And then, you wait a little more.
Weeks go by without any response, until eventually you hit “delete” and start again.
It is shocking how little engagement we business owners get from all the hard work we put in when we don’t get it right.
Articles and experts advise that we outsource the work to professional copywriters; however, it’s an extra expense most small businesses want to avoid, if possible.
While hiring a professional to write copy for your site is proven in most cases to lead to more sales, you don’t have to break the bank in order to get good copy.
The good news is, you can avoid the expense of hiring someone altogether by writing it yourself.
In this post, I’ll share with you all the things I learned through my personal experience with writing for my business: what worked, what didn’t.
I’ll give you concrete tips on how to be authentic and persuasive and get tangible results from your efforts.
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7 Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Eyes as a Writer
As a writer, you probably ask yourself all sorts of questions, but now ask this:
Are you making mistakes that can hurt your eyes while using computers and other digital devices?
Admit it, you spend most of your daily working hours gazing at a desktop or laptop screen, writing and checking your emails at regular intervals. To relax after work, you play games on your computer, tablet, or phone, read books on your e-reader, or watch your favorite movie or television program for hours.
But you know what?
You can hurt your eyes and develop symptoms of digital eye strain when you make certain mistakes while staring at all those devices.
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