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This is a guest post from Joshua Clanton, a freelance web designer who blogs about web design, creativity, and productivity.
Do you remember a few years ago when social commentators were talking about how the western world was quickly becoming a post-literate society? Though it may be a bit premature to say what will happen in the future, with the rise of blogging and the ubiquity of email, it seems that the death of writing has been greatly exaggerated. And for those who work online, writing is even more crucial than it is for brick and mortar businesses, since it often replaces face to face interaction.
The Why
In most businesses, face to face interaction is one of the most important communication channels that we have. Not only is it among the most important, it is also the one with the highest bandwidth. We are constantly sending physical signals about our trustworthiness, our commitment, whether we’re likable, etc. But online, for the most part, we have to do without that. Eliminating this high-bandwidth communication channel means that we have to find other ways of conveying the same information.
While phone calls and video chats may help, the most common way that we interact online is through writing. So the trick is to turn our writing from a low-bandwidth channel to a high bandwidth channel.
There are, of course, some people whose online business is writing. But even if that’s not your niche, there are still very practical benefits to writing well. Among them are:
- Clearer communication with clients and colleaguesWhile email and instant messaging don’t require great artistry, they do require clarity of language if you want to communicate effectively
- An engaging website and blogYou may hire someone to write copy for the static portions of your website, but more than likely you won’t want to pay for every article on your blog. If you can write articles that are both engaging and informative, it will make your website much more attractive.
- The ability to market yourself on other sitesIf you can write interesting and informative articles for your own site, that means that you can also write articles for other sites, extending your marketing further than it would reach otherwise.
- A more professional appearanceWhen forming an impression of someone’s professionalism, doesn’t the quality of the writing weight into that, at least a little? Of course, bad writing can be overcome by good ideas, but why put obstacles in the way of your ideas?
The How
The benefits are pretty straightforward, but how do you learn to transform your writing from low bandwidth to high bandwidth? My suggestions would be:
- Read good fiction and non-fiction books.Reading non-fiction is obvious. But why should you “waste” your time with fiction? Because fiction often has a higher bandwidth, using tools like storytelling, emotional involvement and suspense. And you can potentially learn more effectively from fiction than from non-fiction.
- Get a copy of The Elements of Style.This is the manual for brevity and clarity in writing. Once you get your copy, read it from cover to cover, and then reread it.
- Read blogs like Copyblogger, Write to Done, and Men With Pens.Having a constant stream of good writing tips is very helpful when writing is part of your daily life. Eventually, you’ll come up against a writing project that you just can’t seem to figure out. At times like that, just ask yourself, “How can I apply their latest tips to my writing?” If that doesn’t work, odds are that they’ve got helpful advice in their archives.
- Get friends and colleagues to critique your writing.This depends a bit on what your friends and colleagues are like. You don’t want people who just say that your writing is great, nor do you want people who just say that your writing stinks. You want people who will read thoroughly and then tell you what works for them and what doesn’t work. Of course, you also want to evaluate whether those who critique you have biases contrary to that of your target audience. (For instance, programmers may be unreliable judges of an article written for designers, and vice versa.)
- Analyze the best writing in your genre and figure out what makes it the best.If you’re a self-improvement blogger, this would mean looking at sites like Zen Habits and Steve Pavlina’s blog. You probably don’t want to do things exactly how they do, but you want to gain an understanding of why their way works. Once you have that understanding, you can apply it to your own writing.
Of course, the most important part of learning to write well is to actually sit down and write!
The You
Now it’s your turn. Has writing helped you and your business? Are you where you want to be with your writing? What are you doing to improve it?
***
Hey all, Skellie here. First, thanks to Joshua for the great guest post. I hope you enjoyed it! Secondly, in light of some of the concerned emails I’ve been receiving, I thought it worth stating that all is well with me. I’m not sick, or disenchanted, or uninspired — just a full-time final year university student with three big papers due in as many weeks. I’m almost over the hill and will do my best to make it up to you with some extra goodies when I can sit down and blog again — probably over the next few days, after I finish my last paper. Wish me luck!
(Trust me, I’d rather be blogging.)
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29 Comments, Comment or Ping
Rajaie
I find that reading books is the most helpful way. It’s a plus if you enjoy reading them.
May 2nd, 2008
mark @ mytropicalescape.com
Hi Joshua - Nice post!
As an idea person, and not necessarily a writer, I often find it quite difficult to translate my thoughts into well-written communication.
However, some of the sites that I run have been immeasurable in terms of ROI for my little business so the effort is definitely worth it.
All the best,
Mark H.
May 2nd, 2008
Kristen
As a former writing teacher, I get so frustrated with my lack of “voice”! I know I am a proficient writer (I had better be after 15 years in the classroom!), but I struggle to get my personality into my writing — probably because I’m on the introverted side.
Since I read great literature and create reading guides for book clubs, I think I have “voice” envy
I’ve read enough great writing to know that I am simply proficient… Sigh!
Interesting post — thank you!
May 2nd, 2008
Joshua Clanton
@ Mark: Thanks! I think you may underestimate your own writing, though. It can be quite captivating.
@ Kristen: I rather like the advice that CS Lewis gave people who wanted to be original, “Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. ”
I think that something similar is true of “voice.” Looking back over my writing it is the times that I was just trying to tell the truth that I really found my voice. I’m not sure that it’s really something that you learn, but something that emerges.
May 2nd, 2008
Kristen
Thank you! I love the idea of an emerging voice — focus on what’s important and trust that voice will follow… Great advice!
May 2nd, 2008
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
I’ve been trying to think of something incredibly brilliant to say that would add value to this post, but unfortunately, brilliance escapes me at the moment - you’ve said it all and you’ve said it well, Joshua.
And thank you for the mention - that’s flattering indeed!
May 2nd, 2008
Shauna @ Follow Your Path
Hi, Joshua;
Just wanted to throw my two cents in and say I’m of two minds about this issue…as a writer myself, I am very picky about grammar and punctuation, etc.. I write several blogs and websites, as well as having contributed to many others, and I consider proper English and eloquent (I hope!) expression to be important - key, actually - aspects of what I do…
That being said, I once co-authored a blog with a partner, and we were often squabbling about this issue, ie. I felt it was important and she didn’t, posting articles riddled with spelling and grammatical errors…BUT she had/has passion, and this makes a great impact as well. Her messages sparkled with her true personality, and in this way they had their own, unique effect on our readers.
So…the bottom line, I guess, is if you have something to say, say it! Or perhaps hire writers to express it for you. Many very affordable freelancers can be found online these days, at sites like gofreelance, digitalpointforums, etc..
Thanks, guys, for a great post, and good luck with your papers, Skellie!
Shauna
May 3rd, 2008
Raj
You are good at described points. Challange is to get an iginition at start.
Then flow of thoughts must flow smoothly….
Come on with more on that.
May 3rd, 2008
Sonia Simone
Joshua, I love this! (And that C.S. Lewis quote is fantastic.)
I remember all the way back to the 80s when the idea was very current that we were becoming a postliterate society. (We blamed it all on Reagan.)
I had recently gotten online, and I remember conversations with professors where I said, “no, really, there’s this new Internet thing, I don’t think writing is dead yet.” As you say, who knows what will happen next, but for now, writing is a very useful thing to learn how to do well.
May 4th, 2008
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
Yes. I agree wholeheartedly. Even if you’re not a great writer, you can develop the skills through practice to create a better impression and have a better business.
The Internet is still a text-based world - not caring about typos and writing poorly in the hopes that your idea is enough to bear the weight of people’s perception isn’t going to work.
I appreciate this post more than you know.
May 6th, 2008
J.D. Meier
@Joshua — do you schedule your results for writing or do you wait for inspiration or both? (for example, I think Hemmingway spent 2 hours each day — 1 hour editing and 1 hour writing something new.)
@Kristen — your voice comes through in your comments, you just need to trust it. If I was the Wizard of Oz, I’d give you a trinket to remind you that you had what you’ve been searching for all along.
@Skeillie — good luck on your last paper (… but luck’s when skill and opportunity come together)
May 6th, 2008
Lindy Asimus
Well said.
The other advantage of writing too, which is rarely mentioned, is that it allows us to encapsulate those stories that we use over and over with different clients, to illustrate a point that will by it’s nature arise in the course of our work together. By writing, we can refine that story, and make the most of the opportunity, and it is a reference that clients can revisit even after the discussion has passed.
May 6th, 2008
Gatt
Good tips on writing. For Online success, the information should be easy to use or easy to complete the transaction.
Better to review and get it reviewed with critics and friends, before publhising.
May 7th, 2008
Joshua Clanton
@ J.D. Meier: It depends on how much time I have available. When I have more time, I like to just wait on inspiration, since that generally produces my best work. But when I have less time, I will try to schedule things in. I may not have my best ideas then, but I can usually turn out some pretty solid work.
May 8th, 2008
Joshua Clanton
@ Kristen: Glad I could help!
@ James: You’ve been rendered speechless? Has the apocalypse arrived?
@ Shauna: I definitely agree that a love of your topic can shine through technical errors. But in general I think that the ability to write things that are technically well-constructed helps that love shine through even better.
May 10th, 2008
Princess
Good luck on your final papers. I am sure you’ll finish and pass those with a rainbow of beautiful colors.
Taking your tip, I better start looking for books to read.
Have a great weekend.
May 11th, 2008
Joshua Clanton
@ Sonia: *nods* I don’t really see a post-literate society coming any time soon. The one thing that I think may change is the exact form that literacy takes (online versus print).
@ Lindy Asimus: That’s a great point. Writing out those repeated stories could be pretty useful in making them as effective as possible.
May 14th, 2008
exfatguy
I use to be afraid to wrote my own articles. But i treat my blog as a diary for me. So i keep on writing and got some feedback from other’s. I started to learn how to write articles from other bloggers such as skellie, I learn a lot from it.
May 14th, 2008
Sumesh from Blog Creativity
Useful tips, Joshua. I’ve been following your blog for sometime, and I’ve always liked your thoughts on writing more than design
Sphinned and stumbled. Let’s see how this goes.
May 15th, 2008
Doc Kane
Right on the mark! Nice touch.
May 15th, 2008
VeraBradley
Very nicely written! I firmly believe that whenever we are trying to communicate online, we MUST ALWAYS imagine communicating with that person face to face. Even if we cant see the receiver, we should always communicate as if we are seeing each other. By doing that, we’ll less likely to send the wrong signals.
May 16th, 2008
zohai
Blog can really be a great way to start.. Make by creating small articles that friends and family can read to build confidence for the big stuff later on. =) Of course knowledge and inspiration is important as well.
May 16th, 2008
journey
HOW WHY and YOU the typical topics taught in school with a twist with the internet writing. practice makes perfect is the word
May 17th, 2008
jobbank
Everyone can write but whether they can write good content or not depends on their skills..
May 18th, 2008
Joshua Clanton
@ Sumesh: Hmm. Maybe I need to improve my design articles a bit?
I’m glad that you enjoyed this one, though!
@ Vera Bradley: Yes, visualizing the other person can be quite helpful in making sure we communicate well.
@ Journey: I thought they seemed appropriate for a post on the subject of writing.
May 20th, 2008
space code
Reading too much fiction books does have its disadvantages tho. I’m an avid reader and one comment that I always get about my writing is that its too ‘casual’ and unbusiness like.
May 21st, 2008
Joshua Clanton
@ Space Code: I’m not sure that’s actually related to reading fiction itself, as fiction varies between highly formal and highly informal. (For instance, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is quite formal.)
That said, if you’d like to up the formality of your writing a bit, consider getting a copy of The Elements of Style and follow it religiously for a while. That level of formality isn’t really suited to MySpace, but it is suited for for a more formal blog entry.
May 22nd, 2008
loans
thx…A more professional apperance really help me a lot. Ppl usually judge someone by the 1st image…
May 23rd, 2008
Bamboo Forest
I am subscribed to a few blogs that teach effective writing. I find it helpful, because it transmits a continuous and fresh flow of good writing advice, advice I want to constantly be the recipient of.
Jun 7th, 2008
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