Becoming a Better Writer
Categories: Advertising, Investor Relations, Journalism, Marketing, News Release, Press Release, Public Relations, Publicity, Writing, blogging.
What makes a good writer? What is it about a blog post, story, letter or column that makes it engaging, that makes someone want to continue reading? How can I become a better writer?
If you’re in the public relations, marketing, investor relations and/or strategic communications world, perhaps you’ve already asked yourself these or similar questions. I know I have.
The snap answer, of course, is to write. I’ve heard and read that answer more than 100 times — “If you want to be a better writer then you have to write.”
Okay, duh! But in my experience writing alone is not enough, especially if you’re not a particularly good writer to begin with.
I believe that the most important part of improving your skills as a writer, to becoming a better writer, is to have a good editor (or a good teacher, as the case may be).
In other words, I want someone who is better than me looking over my metaphorical shoulder prompting, prodding and pointing out specific examples of how and where I can improve my writing.
This point was brought back home to me this morning when a long-time friend asked me to review something he had written, and for the record, he told me I could “let him have it from every angle.” So here, in part, is what I wrote to my friend.
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new,
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unexpected,
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controversial,
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insightful,
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thought-provoking or
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out-of-the-ordinary.
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Are the items I mention above hard and fast rules? Of course not.
But I know they helped me to become a better writer - that and having a good editor. 
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