With the increase in blogging over the last 5 years, we have developed a new way of considering and thinking about writing content. It is no longer just about the traditional English that we were taught in school, it has evolved to open up a new world of freedom of speech, thought and ultimately fun! There are little rules and sometimes there are no conclusions; all there is, is freedom and I wouldn’t want it any other way. However, there are still tried and tested writing tricks and grammatical techniques that we can use to take our writing from the ordinary to the SUPER EXTRAORDINARY!
To add some flavour to your posts and reinvigorate your reviews, here are 3 writing tips you will know but may not use.
Don’t just write in your voice
The great artists all started somewhere, more often than not their first port of call was other great artists work. To truly know your own style we have to look at others. So for this first tip I implore you all to read; read anything, read aloud and don’t stop until you have covered as many bases as possible. Learn how to write for different audiences, one client will require a completely different tone from the next and it is important to be able to adapt and write for different sectors and genres.
Once you have a theme or title for your next post, see what others are saying and take notes on their style of writing. This is a tricky thing to do but it will give you a broader look at not only your subject matter but also your writing.
This way you can find your voice and be confident in your own style.
Analogies and Metaphors
Once you have developed your writing style and have a post in mind, consider how you are going to get your message across to your readers. Whether you are offering advice, sharing an experience or you simply want to shout out at the world, you will want your readers to walk away with a clear understanding.
One way to reach a wide audience is to add in a mixture of analogies and metaphors to help not only with understanding but also to promote your creativity.
An analogy is a figure of language that compares similarities between two things which are otherwise unlike, with the goal of showing how the two things are alike. Analogies are a great way to open up your personality to your readers and you can really get creative with your own. So for example,
“I feel like a fish out of water” – the oldies are the best aren’t they!
Try incorporating your own versions into your post based upon your subject matter and they will help to get your personality out of your writing.
Next is my personal favourite, the humble metaphor. Unlike an analogy, a metaphor is a figure of speech that is most often used by writers to promote a relaxed style to their posts.
As a writer, you will often hear that you need to refrain from writing as you speak, but why so? Ok, so using slang and “text speech” isn’t a good thing to do, but using language in a way that is natural and approachable should be our number one objective.
This is where metaphors come in. They are an easy way to use our everyday language within or writing to promote a product or tell a story. For example;
“He is the Light of my life” or “She is the apple of my eye” – Both these statements promote our voice and help to solidify our arguments, thus making metaphors perfect in my eyes.
Finally RELAX and enjoy!
One of the main things you need to do in order to get not only your writing seen, but more importantly your voice heard, is to relax. There are many tips out there on ways to have fun whilst writing, but you are never going to do this if you are worried, scared or simply thinking about the end goal. I like to write as if I was talking to my best friend or someone that has known me for years, thus coming back to the age old ‘writing as you speak argument’.
Whatever you are writing about, which may be your choice or not, the main emphasis has got to be on finding something fun to say. Trust me I have even found writing about washing machines fun in the past, there are always ways we can add a little humour or excitement into every subject!
