The ingredients to a successful writer

Writing is an integral part of PR and is crucial to a firm’s success.  I’m pretty sure as PR professionals we spend more time writing in our lives than we probably imagined we would back in school.

Becoming a good writer is no easy task, but trust me it’s worth the effort. Personally, I’m very passionate about writing but there’s always room for improvement – here are some simple tips that have helped me a lot to hone my writing skills:

1. Observation – This is the most powerful tool that every writer should learn to use. As a writer it’s extremely important to be observant of different types of people, places and things.  Using these observations carefully in your stories will keep your readers engaged. As it is rightly said that one of the qualities of successful people in all walks of life is keen observation of things around them.
2. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes – Read your story over and over again and ask yourself if this is something that you would want to read? If this is interesting enough?  Do you want to read more or are you bored after the first paragraph?  This will not only help you improve but it’s also an easier way to identify grammatical errors.
3. Hook your reader from the beginning – This is the key to an effective story. Keep it simple, effective and to the point. It’s pointless to beat around the bush. A powerful beginning will keep your readers wanting to read more and a good ending will leave them interested in more of your writing.
4. Get a second opinion – Get someone to read over your stuff as they can give you honest and intelligent feedback.  Learn to accept criticism in a positive way – remember it will only help you improve.
5. Practice makes perfect – There’s no better way to improve your writing than to keep writing.