Writer

Showing posts with label Writer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writer. Show all posts

Thursday 15 May 2014

Rewrite Article Into A Masterpiece - Follow Steps


Rewrite Article Into A Masterpiece - Follow Steps

What sets the best writers apart is their redraft. They painstakingly chip away, smoothing and polishing, until they produce a sparkling diamond. Time and pressure my fiend.

Ordinary writers see redrafting as an inconvenience. They impatiently give their article a quick look over and move on to write something else. The redraft is the MOST important part of your writing. If you want to be an elite writer and gain a loyal following, then you should spend longer redrafting than writing. Take a few days if necessary. One amazing blog post will serve you better than 10 average ones. It’s worth spending the time.

I usually redraft several times. Each time I pick a specific thing to focus on. Here is what I generally do… 
  1. Basic redraft
  2. Slimming down
  3. Split things up
  4. Add emotion
  5. Add something to stimulate senses
  6. Redraft for a good flow
  7. Final thoughts

Basic redraft
My first redraft is a quick read through and correcting basic mistakes – which are plentiful. There are always silly grammar and vocabulary mistake, missed out words etc.

Slimming down
I go through it again and look for words, sentences and paragraphs that are not needed. If I can pull a word or two out, then I will. This can add up to hundreds of words over a whole article. This makes it feel more authoritative, professional and polished. It also reduces the work your readers to do to read your content. This is vital. People are not patient online, and don’t welcome slaving over excessive wordiness.

 Split things up
The visual of your article is also important. I’m sure you've looked at an article and thought “sod that” without reading a word. Some articles look hard work to read. Don’t let this happen to your content. Stand back and take a look at your article and ask yourself honestly whether you would want to read it. If a paragraph is long, split it up into 2 or 3 smaller ones. Use subheadings, pictures, capitals and bold for emphasis. This makes the prospect of reading it less daunting.

 Add emotion
People better remember something or someone that has made them feel an emotion. It doesn't matter what the emotion is. Make your reader feel something at some point in your article. Talk about how excited, delighted, exhilarated, disappointed, angry, frightened, disgusted you felt about something.

Add something to stimulate senses
You can stimulate senses with your words. You can liken an unpleasant experience to biting a lemon for example. This makes your text juicier and more interesting. No one wants to read a dried up shrivelled prune.  Use references to sight, sound, touch, smell, taste. This stimulates your readers brain and keeps them interested.

Redraft for a good flow
I then make sure my article has a good rhythm to it. The best way to do this is to read it out loud and imagine you’re reading it to a huge audience. If it doesn't sound right, change it until it does. Even little things like changing “does not” to “doesn't” makes a difference. Often sentences need shortening or splitting up. If your writing has a good flow, people are more likely to keep reading. 

Final thoughts
That’s 6 processes you can go through when redrafting your article. Try them and see what it does for your writing. I would love to hear your results in the comments. Leave me a link to your article and I’ll take a look.

Some Steps to Make Money as a Freelance Writer - Check it


Freelance writing has become a major source of employment for many people, take it or leave it. The era of depending completely on government to provide jobs for everyone is gradually phasing out. Many people are now making money through freelance writing. It will be very bad if we do not acknowledge the fact that the arrival of the internet has also made freelance writing a boosted part of the economy, which employs millions of people. Now, being a good writer and earning a lot of money does not only consummate in knowing how to write or being intelligent. There are things that will help you make money as a freelance writer.

However, there are two main ways of working as a freelance writer. You can be writing online for blogs and websites. Here, you will mostly be doing product reviews, articles, blog posts, eBooks, academic contents, essays, etc. You can also be an offline writer, and here you can write everything ranging from common letters, speeches, proposals, adverts, banners, resumes and business plans to a lot of books. Some might even combine both, so as to put more money in there.

  • Evolve as a writer
  • Be a good reader
  • Be a consistent writer
  • Accept complaints and make corrections
  • Get a proofreader



Evolve as a writer
The first way to make money as a freelance writer includes evolving as a writer. Just like I said, the fact that you have written some eBooks and some articles does not settle it. If you really want to make huge money writing, you have to evolve and learn the writing tips, strategies and methods that are in vogue. It is not just about the information you pass that pays you, but you earn good money if you pass the information the right way. The technicalities of writing must be learnt and applied by you all the time.

Be a good reader
You are what you write, and that means you cannot give what you don’t have. A good reader is always a very good writer. The truth that you must imbibe here is this: whenever you are not writing, get hold of works that are ad rem to the niche you normally write on and read. Constant reading will make you to be full of ideas, and thus ensure that you give the real information when writing. Now, when you are reading, you will notice that there are some works that influence you more than others. Get the works of successful writers and read not only their ideas, but their methods of writing.

Be a consistent writer
The next way to earn income doing freelance writing jobs is to write consistently. Yes, if you want your voice to be heard and the dollars to roll in, you don’t have to quit. Just keep writing. Even if the funds are not coming at the moment, time shall come when they will start rolling in. A friend of mine said that you must continue to write until your imagination fizzles out. One thing that comes to mind here is the fact that writing must be your passion, so that you will not grow weary soonest.

Accept complaints and make corrections
If you want to make cash as a freelancer, you must be disciplined and tamable. This is because when you are writing for clients online or offline, there will be loads and loads of corrections that they will point out. Lack of self discipline might make you fall out with your customers along the way. And when this happens, you will loose your customers. Remember, to gain one customer is very difficult, so you must not loose any of the ones you already have. Making money with home based jobs is not that easy; a lot of people are scrambling for the limited spaces. So you must learn to treat your precious customers with love, care and respect.

Get a proofreader
Another surefire way to work from home and make money as a freelance writer is by ensuring that you have a proofreader. Many people will regard this as a second or third eye. There are cases where you make mistakes that you cannot make consciously. There are slips, both of the eye, pen, etc. When you allow the second and third person to proofread and edit for you, you will be sure to present great works to your clients. And of course the more great works more money you make.

Another way is by letting people know what you do. Make use of the social media and many other advert tools to let people know that you are a freelance writer and you will experience a lot of people coming for your services through these. With this, you make a lot of money.

Don’t forget to add a little of your ad in form of your portfolio display on your personal blog. The more people visit your blog, the more they understand who you are and what you do for a living. This has a way of refreshing their memories no doubt.

Being smart and full of ideas is one sure way to win the competition and earn more dollars. Margaret Mcgriff wrote a post on how one fashion blogger wins freelance gigs with style. I have said much and should give you an opportunity to share your mind with us. What has contributed to your making more money online freelancing? Are you really making any cash? We want to hear from you; tell what you think is holding some freelance writers back from earning good income in their career.

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