New Writer — 5 Persuasive Writing Tips To Win More Readers in a Short Time Frame
#1 Write compelling stories.
Roughly 175,000 active writers publish on Medium.
I am assuming this number to be even higher as the data is from September 2020. Does this worry you about finding success as a new writer on medium?
Don’t be — I have got your back.
I am a new writer. Instead of giving you advice, I will share what’s working for me — my goal to find success as a content writer on medium and the digital marketing platform. Stay with me; you might learn a thing or two from this article.
Yesterday, I was reading articles by top writers on medium, which led me to the trending article by — Tim Denning, ‘Five pieces of writing wisdom most writers don’t learn until 5 years in.’
His opening sentence resonated with me — ‘Most writing wisdom is a dumpster fire.’ His second paragraph pulled me right into the story he wanted me to read — “It’s full of algorithm hacks and cheap tricks like you follow me, and I’ll follow you. Dahhh … sound good?” Yuck.”
Guess what? By his third short paragraph, Tim Denning has my attention and interest. I didn’t want to leave my screen until I finished reading the article.
Yes, this is the critical highlight of today’s article.
New Writer — 5 Persuasive Writing Tips To Win More Readers in a Short Time Frame
#1 Write compelling stories
I know, and you will agree with me whether you are a new bee like me or a seasoned writer— the secret to finding writing success and win more readers in a short time frame is by writing compelling stories.
To be persuasive, we must be believable, to be believable, we must be credible, to be credible, we must be truthful — Edward R. Murrow.
How to write engaging stories that are believable, credible, and tell the truth. Stories that bring readers to a standstill. You want to create a snowball effect with your content. Make sure there is a steady flow of followers who visit your website or blog for more interesting, helpful, and informative content.
This brings me to the most exciting part of the piece. How does one write compelling stories each time?
Read on as I share my method of writing a compelling story.
#2 A good introduction
A good introduction makes or breaks your essay. Get your audience interested in reading your article by making the first part of your introduction intriguing.
Next step. How?
The best way to do that is by using attention-grabbing essay hooks. So, what is a hook? It’s a piece of writing at the beginning of your essay that engages your reading audience. Usually, a hook is a sentence or group of sentences that draw people into reading your article. It sparks a reader’s curiosity. You want your reader to wonder what happens next. A hook is also a way to make an introduction that stands out.
- For instance, I have used a fact or statistic hook as the opening sentence in
this articleto grab my audience’s attention. - Whereas Tim Denning uses a strong statement hook to make me interested in his piece.
- Want to learn how to write a story hook? Check out my article on ‘Vulnerability,’ where I’m using a story hook at the beginning of the article.
#3 Promising (and delivering) solutions
Once you have a conceivable introduction, the next important step in writing a compelling or persuasive essay is to present a problem to your reader, followed by an actionable and achievable solution.
When you present a problem to your reader, you show your authority on the subject for which you are about to provide a solution.
“Tim Denning asserts his authority as a guru or leader in writing when he says, “Here’s the real wisdom I learned about writing after eight years. None of it is throwaway cliche platitudes either. This is real talk.”
You immediately know you want to read his article because he will give you a real solution to the problem.
On the other hand, in this article, I am helping new writers break into the online writing world by sharing the structure or method I use to write compelling stories.
Note that your article often fails to deliver the right message to your audience without a tested and proven method. Furthermore, it does not bring you the readership you are craving.
#4 A gripping title
The first element of your article that attracts the reader is the title or headline of your article or blog post.
As a rule, I deliberate over titles for 30–60 minutes before settling on one that works. And I often go back and change them. This is what it takes to write a good headline. (For this article, I changed the title after I finished writing the entire piece)
Are you wondering why I have placed writing a headline at 4th place in my structure of ‘New writer — 5 Persuasive Writing Tips To Win More Readers in a Short Time Frame?’ Ask a seasoned writer, and he would tell you that you only get clarity about your article’s headline once you are halfway through writing the piece.
Clarity is key to writing a strong headline — Simer Dhume
If you need some help concocting catchy headlines, here are a few simple tricks:
- Use numbers to give concrete takeaways.
- Use emotional objectives to describe your reader’s problem.
- Use a unique rationale to demonstrate what the reader will get from the article.
- Use what, why, how, or when.
- Make an audacious promise.
Consider David Ogilvy’s quote on copywriting to understand how crucial a gripping title is to the success of your article.
On average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar— David Ogilvy.
To learn more about writing attention-grabbing headlines read ‘5 Easy Tricks to Help You Write Catchy Headlines.’
#5 A strong audience relationship
Building strong relationships with your audience takes time and effort. The best way to consistently nurture a strong audience relationship on medium is by following, reading, liking, highlighting, and commenting on other writers’ articles. It might sound like a lot of work, but you have to play the rules to build a solid reader-writer relationship.
Pro tip — The two most important ways of engagement are highlighting and commenting. Commenting on other writers’ articles helps you establish an interpersonal relationship. It’s helpful to have meaningful conversations, applaud good writing and share your views about their work. This, in turn, would make them interested in reading your content.
I want to thank Gabby Gabs, Sarah Ott, The Sober Vegan Yogi, Ira Robinson, Winston, Morgan Blair, Indigo, Dr John Frederick Rose, Let’s Not Sugarcoat it with TNichol for sharing their views and supporting my work on medium.
Closing Thought
You are here because you want to write. Therefore, write everyday. To make writing a habit, enjoy the process. Make it fun by writing in a different environment each day, use techniques that work for you. Follow top writers to understand the dynamics of writing on medium. Don’t chase the money or the fame. Focus on the utmost important and singular goal — to become a better writer.
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Thanks for reading. ❤
