3 hacks to improve your writing

Save time and help your writing sparkle.

There was a time — long, long ago, in a galaxy far away — where the only people in a business who had to worry about written content were in advertising, design or PR.

Not anymore. In a post-digital world where the touch points between a business and their customers and prospects are numerous and interconnected, written communication has never been so important. More and more roles in the workplace — from sales to support — require a decent grasp of the content craft, a writerly appreciation of language, and a little creative eloquence on the page/screen.

In a post-digital world where the touch points between a business and their customers and prospects are numerous and interconnected, written communication has never been so important.

Some people naturally have a way with words, but for others writing can be a daunting task. That’s why I’ve decided to share my best “writing hacks” gleaned from writing professionally as a digital copywriter and content creator for almost 15 years (time flies when you’re planning puns).

My hope is these hacks will save you time and help your writing sparkle, no matter what context you’re in.

But one size doesn’t fit all, right?

Of course — there’s clearly a ton of different professional writing styles out there, which each require their own unique skill set and potentially years of experience to master.

I won’t list everything, but consider the differences between creative fiction, social content and ad copy. Or between blogs, eDMs and case studies. Different strokes for different folks, no doubt about it.

However, I believe there is a common principle tying great content together, regardless of context: the way in which we organise and present our ideas. No matter where or what you’re writing, this is crucial — and, therefore, you can employ a similar approach every time you write.

Hack 1: Structure it out

You’ve got the brief, or you know the topic you’re about to write about. It may be a piece of content marketing, a display ad concept, or a series of social posts. It doesn’t especially matter.

Think of this step as a distinctly left brain function — a structural, strategic process. This is where you want to organise your thoughts in a somewhat dispassionate or uncreative fashion.

Jot down your main section topics, the primary elements you wish to convey. You don’t necessarily need a ‘beginning, middle and end’, although that kind of organisation may well help you.

Once I have this down, I then tend to move my main points or section topics around until it feels like they’re in the right order. I may eliminate several section topics that seemed like a good idea at the time, but which now appear superfluous.

Hack 2: Let it flow

Here comes the fun part! The beauty of the first hack is you’ve now got your guiding structure in place, and when it comes to writing, structure equals confidence.

Now you can really put pen to paper and let your ideas tumble out. Don’t be concerned about perfection at this stage, just let it flow, get creative, and worry about fine-tuning things later. Hopefully, you can get on a roll here and let your framework give you the confidence needed to get some cracking content down on the page.

After this process is more or less complete, I’m likely to take a break, and then return to each section to delete, edit and polish. If I lose the flow during the more creative period, I will return to earlier sections to edit as I go along — it’s often tempting to glance back at one’s handiwork! But mostly, the idea is to get everything down first.

In fairness to everyone’s way of working, I don’t think there’s a “right or wrong” in terms of when you should edit each section, as long as you follow the principles of a creative writing flow based on a pre-determined structure. Clearly short copy can be polished and refined fairly quickly, whereas long copy edits, I’ve found, can often wait until the piece is close to finished.

Hack 3: Speak it out loud

Do you work in a quiet space where everyone listens to your every spoken word? If so, this step could be a little tricky. But this hack works wonders, and it may not be the first time you’ve heard this advice.

By actually speaking your copy out loud, it becomes quickly apparent whether or not you’ve achieved an attractive rhythm in your writing. Ask yourself: does my copy feel natural, conversational, and easy to understand?

Ask yourself: does my copy feel natural, conversational, and easy to understand?

Sure, we don’t always write exactly how we speak. But the very best writing — from award-winning ads to industry-changing Harvard Business Review articles — almost always displays a beautiful, engaging flow when spoken out loud. This step is a great final opportunity to polish your words so the copy can really shine.

I use these hacks every time I write — I even used them to write this article. Hopefully they serve you well!

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