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Characteristics of Good Writing
Anyone has the capacity to make their writings good and effective. All you have to do is to deal with its different characteristics. Therefore, you don’t have to blame yourself if you think that you don’t have the talents of writing effectively. They say that if you have a wide experience with writing contents – you’ve been writings for years and have experience the ups and downs of writings and meet other authors style in writing as well, then you can write better and faster.
They say that if you are intelligent enough to think about the concept of your topic and write it down in a piece paper can make your writing look good and factual. They say that a newbie could never be an expert author if you don’t have the brains and if you don’t have enough experience in writing.
That concept is indeed wrong. Anyone can write good and effectively regardless of your status as a writer. All you have to do is to know the things that you can apply when writing. As long as you have the determination to write successfully, I guess you will never fail to have a good and effective writing.
It’s never that easy to characterize good writing. For the most part, we know instinctively when something that we’re reading is of great quality. Similarly, we know it when a piece of writing is better pushed aside.
While it’s likely not possible to create a play-by-play list of all characteristics of great writing, certain things are present in almost every well-made piece of text:
?It has a clearly-defined purpose.
?It makes clear and focused points.
?It supports those points with details and accompanying facts.
?It presents varied points in a cohesive manner.
?It doesn’t waste the reader’s time by veering away from focus without reason.
Make your writings clear and direct to the point. Tell your readers about what your purpose is and for them to understand it better. Also, don’t make your content too long and not that short. It is should be concise rather than elaborating some parts of your content. These can really make your readers feel distracted. Observe your grammar and spellings. You are writing in order to influence people and therefore, your content must be appropriate and logical since there are different kinds of readers out there.
If you take account of all the well-made writing you’ve seen over the years, those points will inevitably be present. They are, for the most part, fundamental characteristics of what makes a piece of writing work.
Before you can get to good writing, though, you’ll have to get past the inevitable obstacles. Grammar errors and poor sentence construction are typically the bane that prevent beginning writers from progressing towards turning out good copy.
With modern tools, like English writing software, however, people are beginning to bridge the gap. Instead of spending their time worrying about the “correctness” of their words, they can simply leave that decision to the tools, focusing their attention instead on the elements that make writing stand out.
How to Write a Biography
Now that you’ve slaved for hours over writing the perfect manuscript, synopsis and query letter you can take it easy, right? The biography is just personal commentary that lets readers meet the real you. It’s time for you to take a bow and talk about how many dogs and cats you have at home. Not quite. It is true that author biographies do introduce you to your readers; however, it is still a business-oriented feature, and one that you should give serious thought to before you submit. Be aware that not all publishers even want to see a biography. They will have plenty to read with your proposal, synopsis and sample chapters. Some will request it, and you can rest assured that if they do, they want you to focus on relevant experience and education.
Obviously, if you possess special experience or knowledge on the subject that you are writing it would be a big mistake not to mention it! Additional qualifications may include previously published books or short stories (in major publications) and any college degrees. Some authors may get away with including personal information in their bio, though it usually written as an aspect of marketing. For instance, if you’re writing a book about a serial killer, it’s always a good idea to include a reminder saying that you’re a happily married family man or woman. Best selling authors obviously can put more personal detail into their biographies, since readers know who they are and enjoy reading new little details.
As for new writers? It’s great to write your own personal biography, but put it on your website! The only information you will be providing will be anything that directly relates to the theme of the book. If you work in publishing and are writing a book on common grammatical errors, then you might include that piece of information in your biography. If you are writing about mental illness and have a job working in a clinic, then this situation might also demand a biography mention. Listing general college degrees or non-graduate experience might not be such a great idea unless they directly apply to the subject at hand.
When you are citing publishing experience, give references and names that are Internet-searchable. Obviously, making up imaginary companies won’t do anyone a bit of good. Some amateur writers may confuse any and all literary achievements with professional experience. A self-published book is only impressive if you have garnered an exceptional number of sales. A short story published in an online magazine is not always a prestigious accomplishment. Writing web content is not the same thing as writing a detective novel. These are some logical points to keep in mind when writing a biography.
What should you do if you don’t have any past accomplishments to speak of? Then just don’t include anything. Most editors won’t even ask for a biography if they understand they are working with a new author. Every detail in publishing is related to marketing. Keep that perspective in mind as you work your way up in the ranks of this industry.
The Five C’s of Quality Writing
There are two components of any copy, whether it’s an article, a Web site, or a book: content and appearance.
Content means the words that actually appear on the page – your message. It can be serious, humorous, elegant, bold, technical, or conversational in tone. But the message is the words themselves. What you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Content includes grammar, spelling, jargon, acronyms, and the like.
Appearance relates to the way the words (content) look on the page.
These are things that affect the way the words look on the printed page (or monitor, for Web copy) – all of which goes in to making your copy easy to read.
Are your paragraphs all piled up, one on top of the other, with no graphics, subheadings, or other means of breaking them up? Are they manageable in size and easy to digest? A paragraph is supposed to contain one chunk of related information. Sometimes they can get fairly lengthy and still be in correct literary form . . . but keep your reader in mind. If there’s a way to break up one big, gigantic, one-and-a-half-page paragraph, DO IT!
THE 5 C’S OF CONTENT
Make you content CLEAR. Avoid the overuse of jargon and acronyms in your copy. Unless you are writing for a specialty Web site where only people intimately familiar with your industry and/or business will visit it, make sure your language is understandable to the broadest possible audience. Get someone objective (i.e., not in your industry) to read it for you. If they don’t get it, chances are some of your other readers won’t get it either.
Make it CONCISE – even for books and long-copy sales letters. Most people have a tendency to overwrite. Be precise with your language. Avoid run-on sentences. Avoid long, meandering phrases when one or two words will do.
Rule of thumb: Polish your written piece until it gleams. Get it to where you think it’s perfect. Then go back and cut it by 25 percent.
“Not possible!” you say.
Oh, but it is. Get rid of phrases like “of the” and all the extra instances of “that”. Delete redundancies like “simple, effortless, and easy-to-use.” Sometimes more is better. Other times, more is just more – and might actually work against ease of reading and understanding – which means it works against you.
Make your content COMPELLING. Use motivating language. In sales copy, for example, detail your features and benefits. Give people a reason to want to buy from you or use your service. An isolated product list probably is not going to compel anyone all by itself. However, whatever you do, do not ever lie or misrepresent yourself! This will only come back to harm you in the long (or not-so-long) run.
If you claim to have contacts who are producers at Warner Bros., you’d better be sure the person you know at Warner Bros. is not the sister of the assistant to the catering manager. Or if you offer 2-day delivery at no extra charge, you’d better be ready to fulfill that promise, even if you receive 1,000 orders in a day!
Also, tell stories. Don’t forget you’re the expert. If you’re writing a book about job hunting for baby boomers, and you’ve helped a lot of baby boomers get jobs, use those stories in your writing to illustrate your points. Stories are compelling because they help your readers relate to your material. They can be entertaining, offer lessons, or dramatize particular elements – but use stories in all of your writing to create and maintain interest.
Make sure your content is CONSISTENT. This is another place where you can tell a sloppy writer from one who takes time to double- and triple-check their work before they submit and/or publish it.
There is not necessarily a correct answer to these ones. Simply determine what your personal and/or company standard is, and stick with it. One of the worst offenses of inconsistency appears when there are several different spellings or phone number styles within a single document. Mistakes like these make your work – and by extension, you and your company – appear sloppy.
Is it on line, online, or on-line?
Is your style ABC Deli or A.B.C. Deli?
formatting phone numbers: Do you use 602.253.8463 or 602/253.8463 or (602) 253-8463?
Make your content CORRECT. Proper grammar and spelling are essential!!! There’s no way to state this strongly enough, particularly with respect to Web copy. There is so much competition for business on the Web – if you have sloppy copy that is badly spelled and riddled with grammatical mistakes, the next site is just one click away – and you won’t get a second chance to bring those lost visitors back.
Although everyone makes a mistake now and again, please do not underestimate the importance of correct grammar. If you don’t know whether it’s correct or not, ASK someone who knows, LOOK IT UP in a book or online resource, or PAY a professional editor/proofreader.
The most glaring grammatical errors:
Stupid spelling mistakes. Write your copy in Word and SPELLCHECK before you dump it into html (or Publisher, PowerPoint, or whatever other format you might use for delivery).
Missing and incorrectly used apostrophes. Again, there’s no excuse for this mistake – and it is one that will set you apart from the others in your industry. Apostrophes are NEVER used to create plurals – but you see this all the time. A ridiculous sign of sloppy writing and a complete lack of editing.
EXTREME EXAMPLE OF COMMON ERRORS:
In this writers opinion, dumb grammer mistake’s cost people more business than they reelize.
TIP: If you use ALL CAPS, change your text to lower case or initial caps to run SpellCheck. SpellCheck will not catch errors in text in ALL CAPS unless you set it to do so.
TIP: Use ALL CAPS sparingly. Text written in ALL CAPS is exceptionally difficult to read. The fact is that the shape of a word, as much as its spelling, facilitates quick reading. Words written exclusively in capital letters lose the shape differentiation caused by the ascenders (b, d, f, h, k, l, t) and descenders (g, j, p, q, y). As a result, words written in ALL CAPS take a great deal more effort to read.
Remember, it is virtually impossible to edit your own work. You’re too close to the material and have seen it too many times to even notice errors any longer. If you find yourself in a position where you must edit your own writing, take a significant break from it – two hours, at minimum, but two days is suggested. This will allow you to return to your work with “new eyes,” able to spot errors you would likely have missed had you not taken the break.
Technical Writers- A Must For Every Software Company
There has been a lot of speculation about the importance of the technical writers in the industry. However no matter how good software is, without a well documented help support it would fail to hit the right chord amongst the clients.
The technical writers are the people who write the help manuals and other support documentation so that the users are able to use the software in an easy and efficient manner. The online help is one of the major support tools which the various companies provide with their software so that the users can easily work with it.
A technical writer thus has to understand all the modules and segments of the software so that they can write proper instruction in a very precise and explanatory manner while writing the online help. The online help is generally presented in the compiled HTML format which is a collection of sequenced html pages bonded by a Table of contents and search able with the help of index keywords.
There are a lot of tools readily available in the market that helps you generate the CHM files without any hassle. These CHM files are independent and can be opened without any editor.
It is important to nicely structure your help topics and determine the order and segregation of chapters before you actually begins writing and filling in content. Once the layout is set, putting content becomes an easy task. A well structured help file definitely does a lot of good to the end user and thus the demand for technical writer is picking up readily in every software company.
Freelance Writing For You
The shifting technological tendencies have made freelance writing an thrilling career choice now-a-days. It is being taken in by numerous people every day and is looked at to be a good online income generator. You can opt to take up freelance writing either as full time or a part time job. This career necessitates good writing skills and you would be provided with an opportunity to research on projects in various subject disciplines. People with experience or/and qualification in the domains of lecturing, marketing and teaching make excellent freelance writers. Freelancing writing enables you to join the international group for writers, research workers, tutors and lecturers that is considered to be a rewarding and an elite position to hold. But do not break your head if you are not an academic. These freelance writing jobs are fit for everyone who has a love for writing. Below are a few leads that can help you become a victorious freelance writer.
What attributes can make you good freelance writer? Theories that say freelance writing can be simple is very common. But be aware that simple is not a synonym to success. You might be surprised to see that prosperous freelance writers write regularly. It can either be an assignment or just about updating private blogs, websites bills, or writing promotional articles in favour of the writing services that they extend. Survey the freelance markets on a regular basis. You can research freelance writing opportunities of numerous publications by doing a full research on its guideposts, editorial calendars, and browsing through its earlier publications. Design your book proposals and enquiry letters in a fashion that hooks the editors’ attention and must match your suggested article’s style. You must be aware of the techniques that can bring you good freelance writing jobs. Start browsing through the online job boards and job forums that can help you in this regard. Also begin subscribing to various article directories that give you valuable data on freelance writing jobs. Have a great promotional network that can help promote your writing services efficiently. It is better to have your merchandising plan reexamined every week that can aid you in this regard.
Do you wish to know how and where to access these freelance writing jobs? Well, subscribing to the newsletters has to be your first step in this respect. They can give you an insight into how to compose good query letters, finding job tips and writing niche. They will be delivered to your mailbox and is completely free. You can also check a few telecommute job boards such as Freelancewriting.com, JournalismJobs.com, Craigslist.com for this reason. You can also start submitting your articles to eHow.com that extends good earning potential depending upon the reputation of your article. Helium and Suite 101 are a few other freelance writing internet sites that you may come across. Suite 101 mandates the submission of a resume and so you might want to start making one. The best part of helium is that it will even accept poetry and short stories even though there are speculations on the low earning potential on this internet site.
What advanatges does freelance writing offer? Well, the listing is infinite. The first one in this respect would be the flexibility it provides for working or telecommuting from home. You have the autonomy of picking out the form of work that you can do. You can elaborate your knowledge base on massive range of subject disciplines and have the satisfaction that your well written and well researched work is aiding in further development and understanding of academics, or other global business professionals. Your revenue will now be under your mastery and can range from $20,000 – $30,000 if you are a consistent writer.
Which is the job that can focalise your mind along with supplying a great earning potential? It is freelance writing. They provide you with exciting challenges that can take your profession to greater hieghts. So stop thinking and make the right move towards your successful freelance writing profession today! All the very best!
Great Technical Writing: Tell your Users What to Expect
OVERVIEW
In your User Documentation, you direct your Reader to perform tasks with your product. If you don’t tell your Reader what to expect when performing those tasks, you will have a baffled Reader, resulting in dissatisfaction and expensive calls to technical support.
EXAMPLE: REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER FILTER
I bought and installed a Reverse Osmosis water filter. The instructions told me to fill, and then empty (the instructions foolishly used the term “dump,” which would have caused the destruction of the system) the tank.
The filter had a capacity of about 100 gallons per day. Thus I expected the initial fill (4.5 gallon tank) to take less than one hour. After about an hour the tank was still filling. Worried, I called the technical support. I was told that it takes about two hours for the tank to fill.
One line in the User Documentation would have eliminated that call: “The tank initially takes 2 hours to fill.” Not knowing what to expect I, and perhaps other Users, wasted the time and money to call the technical support line.
EXAMPLE: UPGRADING A ROUTER’S SOFTWARE
I had some problems with my Cable/DSL (Internet-Ethernet) router. The internal control panel made it easy to check for and download updates to the internal software. The system told me that it would take a few minutes to check for updates (good), but it did not tell me how long the update would take to perform once I downloaded the file.
Not telling the User what to expect in terms of time is a mistake. I started the update and after a few minutes of operation (was it working?) I canceled the process. I re-started it again, and decided to wait longer to see what happened. It took a few minutes longer, and successfully completed.
It would only take a simple phrase such as “the software update can take up to five minutes to complete” to reduce the User’s anxiety.
PROGRESS INDICATORS (as displayed in a windowing environment) are often useless. Some go beyond 100%, others are logarithmic: they move quickly in the early processing and wait, seemingly at the end, for a long time while processing is completing. Consider making progress indicators relate to the time of operation, not number of files.
Some progress/activity indicators have nothing to do with the program they are associated with. I have used virus checkers that have abnormally terminated, yet the activity indicator kept on moving. Make sure that progress/activity indicators do reflect activity of the associated program.
FILE DOWNLOADS DO IT
Telling the User what to expect is not a new concept. If you have ever downloaded files, the download site will often tell how long the file will take to download, based upon your Internet connection.
EXAMPLE: YOUR PRODUCT’S INDICATORS
While most examples of “telling the User what to expect” deals with the time needed to complete an activity, others can be related to the indicators and performance of the product.
I have a small smart battery charger that has a red light for each of the battery positions. Unfortunately, the operation of these lights is impossible to understand, and there is no description of how they work.
Here’s what happens. When you first insert the battery, the light illuminates. A short while later (the charging still has many hours to go), the light goes off. Sometime toward the end of the charging cycle the light may go on again.
This is clearly confusing to the User. The User’s expectation is that when the light goes out, the charging is completed. This would result in a lot of User frustration, as Users would try to use “charged” batteries that were not charged. The developers of the battery charger should explain the operation of these displays.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Tell the Users what to expect as they use your product. Often this information is the amount of time it will take for an operation to complete. For other products, you may have to tell the User what the indicators mean.
Don’t leave your document Readers confused or left to figure things out on their own. Doing so will reduce your Users’ comfort with your product, and increase your technical support costs.