Comments on: 5 Killer Ways to Improve your Writing Right Now

By: The Baldchemist

The Baldchemist — Thu, 07 May 2009 08:50:01 +0000

The reason teachers teach is because they often have no idea how to create!
Following the same old rules and guidelines leads to dull, boring, mundane and expecteddrivel
Now, how about, MCing this years awards presentation Wink Martindale, instead of the boring Wink Martindale will emcee this year’s awards presentation.
Other than that keep up the work. Nice one. The Baldchemist

By: print capalaba

print capalaba — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:20:42 +0000

My problem, at least I believe it to be my problem. Is making sure I re-read over the text I’ve just typed. My brain seems to think ahead of my typing and when I look back I can see all the words i’ve skipped in the content :(

By: newblogger

newblogger — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:43:16 +0000

I like the idea of reading it back aloud. I read back to my dog. If it is dull enough to put him to sleep – needs rewrite. If it is lively enough to sound like play – its a winner.

By: Thomas Johnson

Thomas Johnson — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:08:21 +0000

Great article. There is some really useful advice in there.

In answer to your question (or statement) “And, after all, isn’t that the purpose of a sentence? To get people to read what comes next?”

No … I don’t think the purpose of a sentence is to get people to read what comes next. The purpose of a sentence is to communicate. If that communication is interesting, useful or humorous the reader will naturally want to read more.

By: Mohanraj Thangarasu

Mohanraj Thangarasu — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:12:09 +0000

NIce post by Rob Siders. After finishing a copy, i would slip to other work for a while and then read my finished one atleast twice to find for any errors. Then weekly once i read back all my written stuff to trace out my writing style. Later in my leisure time, give away a try for new style has been my pleasure these days.

I hate grammar books from my schooling until now. :)

By: Miguel Wickert (Pineiro)

Miguel Wickert (Pineiro) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:26:09 +0000

One tip I always found helpful was to step away the draft or written work for a while. This means finishing a rough draft ahead of time, meaning, all those last minute writers out there better not procrastinate.

By: chvnx

chvnx — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 05:31:04 +0000

I just took “that” out of one of my posts ELEVEN times. I also took out 2 words that end with -ly.

It reads much more fluid now. Who’d a thunk?

By: Jonathan Mead

Jonathan Mead — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:54:22 +0000

Poignant and timely advice.

Varied.

and interesting.

Thanks..

I needed this. =)

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:57:55 +0000

Thanks so much for the great ideas.

We all tend to butcher (is that akin to ‘killing’?…I hope not!) the English language more than we’d like to admit. I appreciate your help.

BTW: I edited this comment three (3) times before clicking the ‘submit’ button. Oy!

By: Rob in Denver

Rob in Denver — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:39:40 +0000

@Sonia: We may be on the verge of something…

By: Sonia Simone

Sonia Simone — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:44:20 +0000

As a fellow Denver copywriter who’s just written a big guest post about becoming a better writer (mine’s on copyblogger), I say: nice post!

From the timing you’d think I copied the idea, but no, just an odd coincidence. Either that or Denver has become the latest hotbed of great writing advice.

By: Shane: content writer

Shane: content writer — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:40:32 +0000

Its always nice Finding writing tips expressed with such a fun style.. Well done

By: Tj @ BareFly.com

Tj @ BareFly.com — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:44:30 +0000

Killer tips! Haven’t read anything like this for ages! I’m going to bookmark this page on my browsers for sure…

By: Bob Younce

Bob Younce — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:18:29 +0000

Excellent post, Rob!

By: Evolving Beings

Evolving Beings — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:09:55 +0000

Great Advice!
I always hated English class in secondary school as I felt it took the fun out of writing. I was so excited to get my ideas out and then had to follow this or that rule to make it “proper”. I find that coherent writing comes easily to me and hence I love having a blog and the chance to express my thoughts freely, (while of course still being lucid and using proper grammar and spelling as InfoDoorway said)

By: InfoDoorway

InfoDoorway — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:35:47 +0000

I’ve always found that when someone tries overly hard to write a blog entry that it comes off sounding too “scripted”. I think it’s always best to go with the flow and simply write what your thoughts are, but of course try to be lucid and use proper grammar and spelling! Readers can read or watch the news if they want perfect editorials, I go to the blogs to read others opinions in a different manner.

-Jim
http://www.infodoorway.com

By: The Modern Savage

The Modern Savage — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:19:05 +0000

I wish I had read this post a long time ago before I had to figure this stuff out the hard way:)

It’s interesting because ‘trimming the fat’ from my blog posts is always my first mission when I go into my editing phase. I usually spend twice the amount of time editing my posts and end up with half the amount of words but still conveying the same stories.

Using the Active voice is also a great tip. When I first discovered this and implemented it into my story posts, I noticed an incredibly large increase in my returning readers. They basically couldn’t get enough!

Every writer/blogger should have a copy of elements of style next to their computer. I have mine and often find myself going back to it again and again.

Excellent post, Rob!!

-Matt Savage

By: Rob in Denver

Rob in Denver — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:55:43 +0000

@Thrice and Wayne: So true. Another I like is: All writing is rewriting.

By: lawton chiles

lawton chiles — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:24:09 +0000

This post got me reading my work out loud before I hit the ‘Publish’ button.

Thanks for all the sweat that went into this- great job!

By: Thrice

Thrice — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:53:47 +0000

@Wayne – you said it! I had an English professor that used to say “You never finish what your writing. Your deadline just expires.” Amen, sister, amen.