Find your voice.

While styles grow and mature over time, there should always be some continuity in your writing. The way you set up your ideas and interact with them as well as the words you choose to use all make up your “voice.”

Write to your audience.

Not only does what you write matter but also how you write matters. You may a write a fabulous technical brief, but if it informal and uses too much slang it will not be given the attention it deserves. This applies to everything, if you write about informal things, be informal. Grammar is important, but it is not more important than keeping the readers interest. Writing to your audience means that you will write about nature and wildlife very differently compared to how you write about mobile broadband providers or furniture stores. You need to be flexible, and adapt your style accordingly.

Don’t go so far as to always write the same way as you speak — there are too many idiosyncrasies in speech for them to translate intelligibly to writing — but don’t worry so much about the little things like having a preposition at the end of the sentence.

Choose a title that is interesting and closely related to the main idea.

Constantly people claim that your first paragraph and your title need to be full of keywords. This is true to an extent, but even more importantly, you need to make it interesting. As more and more readers use RSS readers to keep track of a lot of blogs, this is even more important to stand out when they are scrolling down the list of titles.

Be Coherent!

Many times coherency is assumed to mean writing about only one topic but it isn’t. Coherency within a larger essay or post generally requires one main topic, but inside of each smaller block of text coherency means writing in a logical and aesthetically pleasing manner.

Keep your audience in mind.

This applies to both how you write and what you write. If you usually write about technical issues, don’t suddenly start a series of posts about toilet training cats. In general, people have a certain tolerance about how often a writer can go off-topic. Some websites I read are for the person, but most are for the topic. if a writer goes off topic too many times, or spends too much time posting things that aren’t useful — like a new contest every week — I unsubscribe from the feed without looking back.

Good grammar is a good thing.

You don’t have to write like a grammarian and obsess over each comma and independent clause, but too many mistakes in too small of an area will leave even the most profound prose twisted, convoluted and unreadable. Using good grammar does not make your text boring. For most people the purposeful use of bad grammar isn’t artistic or trendy, so there really isn’t a good reason to not put in the little extra effort to make sure your commas are in the right places.

Write what you know.

Too many times I’ve read posts by people who obviously have no actual idea what they are talking about, they just regurgitate information they found elsewhere or are trying to make money off of the latest hot topics.

Write real content not linkbait.

Linkbait is okay once and a while, but too much of it and your writing style can be corrupted and you will lose all those links you gained. Remember, you are writing for people not search engines. Writing convoluted posts just so you can stuff in a few more keywords is not helping anyone. it may make you a little more money, but it won’t gain you real readers.

For every “linkbait” should be balanced by several real posts about whatever interests you. This will keep your hard-earned voice from being corrupted by the lazy, keyword stuffing style of linkbait writing.

Grow an ego

Talk to any English professor and even they will tell you if you want to hear the most self-centered BS you should go to a gathering of English teachers. These people are some of the best writers in the world. Their control of language is supreme and they can cut to the core of a person without even trying. Why? Because they know their voice, and they allow themselves to trust in it.

Part of being a good writer is being sure of yourself. It doesn’t matter if you are write or wrong as long as you are sure of the words you are writing. I used to advise my students that if they want their essays to sound the best, they should start from the assumption they are right and everyone else is wrong. All they had to do then was to prove it.

Image credit: margolove

As a writer, the thoughts and ideas that flit around your head are the most important things you own. Random thoughts become great works of art … or posts, and with your skill the most esoteric and specialist topic can bring knowledge to the masses. For every thought you have, there is a blog post or story to go with it. Sure you may not write a post about how it would be cool to play shuffle puck with superconductors, but it could be — and it would be such a good idea, and whoever invents it needs to invite me over to play. The worst enemy to a writer is not not having ideas, but losing them — you can always get more ideas, but there is no recycle bin in the sky where lost ideas go.

As a self-proclaimed writer and programmer, I always need new ideas, and as someone who has an insatiable need to know, my curiosity piques itself on the most esoteric of topics, but for years these ideas and desires would come, but they would be pushed aside if I had something more important to do; thus, countless golden ideas vaporized into the abyss as my mind moved from each “ooh shiny” thought to another. But I’m a writer, and my ideas are the most important part of me.

It was a losing battle for me. The evil empire of forgetfulness and sloth frequently defeated the kingdom of the idea in battle, but I decided to fight unfairly: I started carrying a notebook — specifically a moleskin one (caution: amazon referral link) — with me everywhere I go. Suddenly, I didn’t have to worry about forgetting my most ingenious ideas because I could just write them down. I no longer lay awake for hours at night just thinking about a thousand things because I can now just write them down and go to sleep secure in the knowledge that I can continue composing them in the morning.

Today these notebooks have been filled several times over, and their pages are filled with everything from website designs and programs to code, topics to research, movies to watch, recipes to cook, ideas for posts on my website, and to-do lists. My notebook has never let me down — although my pen often does. Now that you are officially a writer, do what a writer does and keep your thoughts alive. It doesn’t have to be a shiny new Moleskin notebook, even a $0.30 one from a corner store will work perfectly — although it will disintegrate from use, so go buy one, and you will see what a notebook means to you, and you will find that it truly is the most important writing tool you will ever own.

1. The introduction should be helpful and interesting.

   The first thing people will see in any type of writing is the introduction, and most people won’t read any further if the first couple sentences don’t interest them. Think about your first sentence this way: you just searched Google for something and this sentence is the first thing you read about a website. Would you click to read more?

2. The main point, or thesis, should be stated in the introduction or at least clearly implied.

   This hearkens back to what your teachers told you in school: have a thesis because it makes it easier for the reader to figure out what you are trying to say, and if you are writing anything even close to an essay, it is polite to let people know what your 1000 word post is going to be about. This not only makes your position clearer, but it makes it easier for the reader to decide if they are interested.

3. Paragraphs should be arranged logically and effectively.

   Don’t put the cart before the horse…unless you are in Communist Russia, in which case, don’t put the horse before the cart.

   While there is a stylistic argument to presenting a dozen loosely related ideas and connecting them together in a final paragraph, this method does not give the reader a good reason to continue reading unless there is a strong introduction. However, even if this method is used, it must not be used too frequently nor should it be used carelessly because in the right hands this method is attractive and impressive, but it can also make the writer look unintelligent and call into question their ability to write.

4. The paragraphs should flow together both internally and externally.

   An easy trick to determine if your paragraphs are connected well is to read only the first and last sentences of all paragraphs in your essay or post: a well-crafted essay will have transitions that flow seamlessly together and the topic and conclusion sentences of each paragraph will be closely related.

5. Conclusions should conclude what was previously stated.

   Your conclusion is your opportunity to tie up loose ends and to resolve any dangling thoughts. Rather than treating your conclusion as a high and lofty examination of the topic overall, remember to connect it with what you already said. If it doesn’t make sense starting your conclusion with “In conclusion” then you may need to rework it.

6. The conclusion should be strong and resolute.

   Assuming your readers got to the bottom of your post, don’t disappoint them by making the ending wishy washy. Make it firm and make them think. Yes, they read your entire post, but they will remember your conclusion best.

   Some writers habitually leave the conclusion open ended (or worse end with a question) just to solicit comments. However, it is far better to make a strong conclusion that allows for dissenting or even complimentary opinions than taking the easy way out. Most times this method does not work because it leaves the reader dissatisfied.

7. When writing for the web, use appropriate formatting methods.

   By using the right HTML tags and styling then correctly, you can make your writing far easier and more attractive to read. It takes a little effort, but if you can, add CSS to your website so you can use tags like <blockquote>, <strong> and <em> to format your posts attractively. By styling these formatting marks correctly, your readers can quickly determine your main points and the different elements in your writing. It may help to add CSS to your website that will allow you to easily format your posts as you would if writing a formal essay.

   The same goes for writing in the real world. Structuring your writing correctly will make it far more attractive and easy-to-read. It is heavily suggested that you research the various formatting methods (MLA, CMA, APA) and incorporate some of their elements into your writing regardless of whether or not you are required to.

8. Lists are great on the web, but not on paper.

   A list should be used when listing things and not when writing a paper. This post makes a perfect list be cause it contains 8 loosely connected ideas. However, in papers and essays never make it sound like it is just a list. (Although, you can get away with it in a paper about Walt Whitman. ((Okay, like three people just got that reference.)))

   A list on a piece of paper is bad, but on the web they are good. You can use lists two ways: to set off separate items as done her or to replace headings. For the latter, it would be better to use actual header tags, but for the former the list structure makes it easier for the average reader to pick out the information and decide if they want to read the explanations.

1. Pick an an interesting, significant topic.

   Too many times posts are done on something insignificant or unoriginal. It doesn’t really matter if you write a gorgeous tutorial or a powerful, inspiring and riveting essay if it just explains something most people already know about. Similarly, it doesn’t help to write about issues that very few people have an interest in unless you are writing it solely for your pleasure.

   The biggest problem though is when people write about general topics that they have no real knowledge of and don’t say anything new about. Most people don’t care what your position is on abortion, religion or politics if all you are going to do is repeat mainstream thoughts and party lines, so if you must rehash well-covered ground, make sure you do it better or more in-depth than what others have already done.

2. Pick a topic that isn’t too general.

   Unless you are writing a top 10 list, you need to make sure you don’t pick a topic that is so broad that you end up just making comments about a dozen different topics rather than a detailed discussion of one or two. The internet is full of broad and general information, so by focusing on specific topics you will be able to carve out your own niche.

   This is not to say you can only write about one topic, but you should only write about one topic in any given essay or post.

3. Once you pick a topic, stick to it.

   I beat this one like a dead horse. Don’t ramble. The law of averages suggests that you are probably are not good enough at manipulating prose to do it in such a way that people will enjoy reading it.

4. Introductions should suggest a purpose.

   If you aren’t writing for a diary, then you are trying to say something. Make sure you at least allude to this in your first paragraph. Don’t forget that the introduction is a sales pitch: it is where you show what you are going to talk about and demonstrate most of the points and conclusions that you will make. If the reader is interested after reading the introduction, they will read the rest where you explain everything in greater detail. Remember you are not writing a mystery novel, so don’t make your reader guess, and don’t go too far and explain everything in the introduction. Try to find a nice balance between giving it all way and keeping some mystery.

5. Each paragraph should be well developed with vivid and concrete details.

   On the internet, generalities are worthless because there are lots of other places where people can get specific facts about whatever they want. See what I mean? That last sentence was worthless because it was too general and stated the obvious.

   For other hints for working with individual paragraphs you can read about paragraph structure and paragraph style elsewhere on this website.

6. Use supporting evidence (facts, figures, examples, illustrations, and other details) to prove both the main point and all subpoints.

   Most likely you are writing for the internet, so while some people will take everything at face value, most will have learned that the internet is full of worthless and incorrect information.

7. Is the supporting material appropriate and have I named all of my sources?

   Never, never, never use photos, videos or quotes without attribution. It is just rude. Even if you just get pointed to something through another website is is nice to give them a little hat tip (literally just say “hat tip” and then link to the website) to show that you appreciate what they did.

   Also, make sure that the websites, photos and videos you link to are actually relevant to the topic and don’t “betray” any true feelings: if you are making a political post where you are taking a centrist point of view, make sure you link to both conservative and liberal sources.

8. Write for a realistic goal.

   This only applies to writings that deal with larger widespread issues. Unless your post is meant to be satirical, hyperbole will just make you sound unintelligent.

The Basics:

1. They join sentences and ideas.
   • I am going on vacation for the summer, and I hope it doesn’t end up like last year.
   • If you are happy person, life seems much better.
   • However, it is best to just do it.
2. They aid reading and offset less important information.
   • Members, welcome! — If this does not have the comma then literally it is a command to the members to welcome.
   • However, no matter what your excuse is, it doesn’t change the fact that you were late.
3. They separate adjectives and list items.
   • I was attacked by a big, angry dog.
   • Tom, Fredrick, Negussie and Andy play football every day.
   • I am going to the grocer, butcher and florist.
4. They format numbers, dates, titles, and places.
   • 39,552,923
   • I was born on August, 22 1967 in Columbus, Ohio.
   • James Pratt, M.D., won the Nobel prize in medicine.

Usage

Below are sentences that one may find in normal writing, and not all of the commas are used correctly. Try to find these errors before reading the explanations.

1. Applications to AFA Charitable Foundation, Inc. must be received by March, 22, 2008.
2. In the 1990′s movie studio’s realized that people will be far more likely to read a movies’ credits, if they add extra things like bloopers at the end.
3. I have been to all the countries of the world except, Nigeria, Singapore, and Taiwan.
4. The students who didn’t do their homework failed the class.
5. I ran two miles on Tuesday, so I could stay home on Thursday.

1. Incorrect:Applications to AFA Charitable Foundation, Inc. must be received by March, 22, 2008.

   The “Inc” falls under the same rules as “M.D.”; thus, it is correct; however, there should be no comma between the word March and the number 22.

   Correct:Applications to AFA Charitable Foundation, Inc. must be received by March 22, 2008.

2. Incorrect: In the 1990′s movie studios realized that people will be far more likely to read a movies’ credits, if they add extra things like bloopers at the end.

   “In the 1990′s” is a parenthetical phrase — it doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence it if is moved.

   “if they add extra things like bloopers at the end” is not a parenthetical phrase — if it is removed or moved the sentence makes no sense.

   Correct: In the 1990′s, movie studios realized that people will be far more likely to read a movies’ credits if they add extra things like bloopers at the end.

3. Incorrect:I have been to all the countries of the world except, Nigeria, Singapore, and Taiwan.

   The “except,” is completely wrong because the listed names are extremely important to the sentence.

   The last comma in the list is a stylistic comma called a serial, Oxford or Harvard comma. While not strictly necessary, some people include it while other people believe it is the bane of comma kind.

   Correct:I have been to all the countries of the world except Nigeria, Singapore, and Taiwan.

4. This sentence is either completely wrong or perfectly correct depending on the meaning you want the sentence to have.

   If you want the sentence to suggest that the students who failed to do their homework also failed the class, it is correct; however, if you meant to say that all the students failed the class because they didn’t do their homework, it would have to be rewritten as “The students, who didn’t do their homework, failed the class.”

   This sentence is a very good demonstration of how commas aid reading and clarify information.

5. Correct:I ran two miles on Tuesday, so I could stay home on Thursday.

   This sentence alternatively seems correct and incorrect depending on how you read it. The short answer is it is correct, the longer answer is it looks like it is something that it is not. The comma with a coordinating conjunction (so) is not connecting two separate ideas. We can see this because “I ran two miles on Tuesday. I could stay home on Thursday.”

   However, “so I could stay home on Thursday” is a parenthetical phrase. We know this because “I, so I could stay home on Thursday, ran two miles on Tuesday” makes just as much sense.

A story is the perfect way to handle controversial issues. In the U.S.S.R., stories set in the time of the Czars were hailed as great examples of why communism was better, but what the communist leaders didn’t realize was these great Russian writers were using their stories to poke holes in communism itself — a story about modern times and issues but set in the past is one of the best ways to get controversial ideas out into the open.

A story that is both a good yarn and a stirring thought provoker are the best examples of the art. Saying things on many levels is the reason behind stories, from the parables of the Bible, to Aesop’s fables, to the Homeric epics all were meant to use a story to help ideas take flight and form. Truly understanding a story does not come from Cliff Notes or what a friend tells you in the hall, it comes from reading and quite possibly re-reading each and every word. Not from just reading the story, but also reading the moral; not reading what the author says, but what the author is saying. This is the key to reading not just the story or the moral, but into the very enlightenment and wisdom the author is trying to convey.

Of course this is not to say that every tawdry beach novel is equivalent with the works of Dante, or Shakespeare but every good author who writes for the love of it — rather than the money or fame — leaves a little piece of themselves in every book. That little piece is the key to the understanding of not just the story but also the meaning behind the story.

A well crafted story takes one of two forms those that are thought and those that create thought. Those that are thought are those were the author is kind enough to tell you the story and then tell you the meaning. Those that create thought are far superior, the author does not presume to tell you what to think but instead allows you to realize it on your own, and in the process achieving far more than those who read and do not understand.