WRITE to be Read

If you want people to read what you have written, your writing should be simple, clear and concise. It should be easy to read and understand and relevant to your audience.

          To catch a fish you need to bait your hook. To get read you need to bait your writing to catch the attention of your reader.

Five of the best tips on how to get your writing read

* Get your reader’s attention

          Learn what your reader knows and understands about the topic.

          Arouse their interest and get them to keep on reading.        

          As you write, pretend you are talking to them.  Use words and language familiar to them.

          Are your ideas relevant to what they want to know?

          Will they gain from reading what you have written? 

          Try to tell them something new.

“If you don’t understand your reader, the reader will never understand you.”

* Plan interesting and logical articles

          Draft an outline and put your main points in a logical order.

          Rearrange until you are happy with the sequence.

          When finished relook at the introduction. It is like fishing. You must bait your article to catch people so they want to read more.

          Summarise your writing and finish with a memorable conclusion.   

          Use a catchy title to create interest.

* Write crisply

          Use simple words and short sentences to make it easy to read. Use strong positive words and active verbs.

          Make your writing lively.

          Chat to your readers and share your emotions and feelings with them.

* Break up large blocks of text

          Make your pages easy to read by leaving plenty of white space.

          Use different fonts and plenty of headings and sub-headings.

          Make it look interesting.

* Edit, edit, edit!

          Edit ruthlessly. Remove all unnecessary words, phrases, jargon and clichés.

          Make your meaning clear with no ambiguous statements.

          Explain unfamiliar terms.

          Check and recheck spelling, grammar and punctuations.

          Read your writing aloud until it sounds right. Write to express NOT to impress.

–Geoffrey Moss

“The shorter your words and sentences, the easier they are to read and heed.”

The author has written 26 books. Sixty-eight editions have been published in 18 countries and 11 languages.  Simple, clear writing has made these books easy to translate. See: “Rolling On: Work adventures in many lands”. Available FREE as an e-book from mossassociates.co.nz

SOURCE: “Persuasive Ways” published by Moss Associates Ltd, New Zealand and in Chinese by Shanghai People’s Publishing House and as “Secrets of Persuasion” by Cengage Learning Asia and in Hungarian by Bagolyvar Kft. Also available as an e-book from Amazon.com.