5 Tips For Becoming A Better Writer...

For those who know me well, I read a lot. Ramya developed the habit in me, I think. Be it The Harvard Business Review magazine, mainstream or unconventional insights, books of aspiring authors or established ones, or simple blog posts... I read everything.

One thing evident, though, about us amateur bloggers and authors is our quality of writing. Our language leaves a lot wanting. There is a glaring valley (the Grand Canyon in fact) between us and established writers. 

As usual, I've been reading about it and pondering. Here are 5 tips I've come up with to improve our writing skills:

1. Number of words: Keep your sentences below 12 words. When possible, make them really short. Research shows that a reader pays 100% attention to a sentence which comprises of 10 words. Thereafter, the reader’s attention span drops 10% per word. So if your sentence has 18 words, you've already lost your reader long back. Also avoid writing two or more sentences meaning the same thing. I remember reading a short story which went like ‘I was apoplectic. I was annoyed. I was hopping mad. My anger knew no bounds.’ OK, we get it. You were angry. But you don’t need to write 4 sentences to state the same thing, do you?
2. Active Voice: Write in active voice. We Indians especially have the habit of adding the gerund (‘ing’) to our verbs. Constructing (see, I just did it) a sentence in active voice takes care of that concern. Also, it shortens your sentence. Writing in active voice significantly reduces the size of your post, allowing you to pack more content.
   
3. Reduce adverbs: As far as possible, get rid of adverbs like ‘a little’, ‘very’ and the likes. There is no person who is ‘a little’ sad – he’s sad. No person is very humble – are you indicating that he’s more humble than a humble person by using the term ‘very’? Brian Clark (of Copyblogger) goes to the extent of asking us to replace each adverb with damn. If you can skip using damn before the verb or noun, then you can make do without the words it replaces. There is no difference in a person being polite and very polite. If he’s very polite, you can probably use ‘submissive’.
4. Simple language: Using the word ‘coquette’ when you mean flirt or ‘agnostic’ in place of cynic will make few readers revere you. Most won’t enjoy opening a dictionary along with your post/book. Simple words which people can understand are easily accepted. Remember, a person thinks in images and pictures; not words. When she reads, you want her to create the image in her mind which you have sketched. And that can be done by using simple, yet effective words. Also, refrain from ambiguous sentences. Make sure your matter tells the reader exactly what you want to say.
5. Grammar is King: No! Not content, grammar is king. Grammar comes first, then content. Nothing turns readers off more than poor grammar. Not knowing the difference between ‘its’ and ‘it’s’, ‘there’ or ‘their’ or missing out on pronouns like ‘a, the, an’ really puts readers off. If you want to be taken seriously as a writer/blogger, make sure your grammar rules are in place. This point doesn't need elaboration, does it?

Thus, you have 5 tips for writing better. What about you? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.

All You Wanted to Know About WriteUp Cafe...

Binoy Karan - founder of WriteUpCafe

This post is about the blog sharing platform many bloggers are aware of - WriteUp Cafe. Most of us merely use the website to share our posts and links. But this platform offers so much more than we know. This article is to make us bloggers (and aspiring ones too) aware of the very purpose that drives WriteupCafe (WUC).

The founder and owner, Binoy Karan, designed and launched the website in 2009. He tirelessly and selflessly toils at developing this not-for-profit venture to boost bloggers' reach. I am enthralled by many ideas he has for improving not only the reach of us bloggers but also our quality of writing.

I won't spoil things further. Here is a tête-à-tête with Binoy about the past, present and future of WUC:

Vishal Kataria (VK). What is WriteUpCafe all about?

Binoy Karan (BK). WriteUpCafe.com is a social network of writers offering a wide range of features for the users like posting writeups directly on the site, submiting links to blog posts, showcasing their personal blogs as well as provide a platform for them to interact with each other.

VK. When did you launch the site?

BK. The site was launched in March, 2009.

VK. Why did you think of launching WUC?

BK. I was introduced into the world of blogging sometime in 2006. But soon realized that writing alone is not enough, I need to get people to read what I write. I also realized there were thousands like me writing millions of things under the sun on their blogs but not being able to reach out to fellow readers. I came to know many fellow bloggers who were trying hard to get genuine readers. Back then every time we published a new article we posted the links on the several blogging communities on Orkut. It was then I thought why not create a site where people can directly write and comment and interact with each other. In the beginning there were just a few of us who regularly wrote, read and commented on each other's writeups. But soon it picked up and there were many others who joined in and today we have a community of thousands of members.

WriteUpCafe - A Social Network of Writers

VK. What differentiates WriteUpCafe from other blog sharing platforms?

BK. WriteUpCafe caters to anybody who has a desire to write and is not restricted to people who have their own blogs. We have introduced several features keeping in mind the requirements of the different category of members - bloggers and non bloggers. Members can post writeups directly on the site or submit links to their blog posts. We have regular contests which are purely based on creativity. Though commercialization is necessary and important for sustenance , we are trying to come up with a model wherein the creativity is not sacrificed in the name of commercialization. Our primary target will always be to foster the spirit of writing and to provide a literary environment to budding writers.

VK. What does WUC help bloggers achieve?

BK. WriteUpCafe like any other site provides a platform to reach out to readers. Every writeup or link posted on the site is automatically submitted to our facebook page having more than 11000 members. But traffic is not the be all and end all for a writer. Here you get a chance to know other writers, add them as friends, interact and learn from them, make your own groups and have your own internal contests.

VK. What are your future plans for the website?

BK. We would like to hold as many literary events as possible on WriteUpCafe. Recently, we successfully concluded the second season of the Indian Bloggers' League (IBL) and would like to come up with more such contests  which would help the writers in discovering their own talents and at the same time get to know fellow writers from around the country. In future we also plan to hold regular workshops for budding writers where participating members can collaborate and learn from each other.

So there we are! Thanks, Binoy, for all that you are doing for us. It must be quite difficult to handle this liability (responsibility wise and monetary wise) along with your family (including your new born daughter).

We use WUC for posting our articles and for IBL. With our collective involvement, Binoy will be able to achieve his dreams of making WUC one of the best sites which bloggers will use for improving not only their rankings but their quality also. We wish Binoy all the best and hope he can achieve all his goals.

Follow WriteUpCafe on Google+ and on Twitter

The Flipside of Blogging...

Why do we blog? To make our voices heard, to connect with people and of course, for the feeling of satisfaction when others read what we write. The final write up makes us feel proud of our work; we love publishing our articles and publicizing them on Facebook and Twitter. And someday, someday we will have 20-30 genuine comments on our articles (this is strictly for men. Many women bloggers end up with 50-60 comments on their blogs).

The flipside is the pressure – the pressure of writing articles which people enjoy reading... constantly coming up with new topics. See I’m no poet or story teller. I don’t often write on conventional topics. I relate incidents that catch our eye to daily life. Sometimes this leads to a problem that I’m currently facing – Writer’s Block! I’m sure most bloggers face it. It’s that phase when a writer can’t think of what to write; he feels like he’s staring at a brick wall. No inspiration, no ideas, nothing. Yet, the pressure to keep writing so that his blog doesn’t stagnate.

But that’s ok I guess. It’s all part of the package. You can’t always write good articles. Some will be average, others crappy. So I keep writing, like we keep moving in life even if we have bad days.

I keep reading articles and books. The brain isn’t pressurized to come up with inspiration. Ideas are allowed to crop up anytime – in sleep, while driving, cooking or reading. The important thing is that one keeps writing. Too often we’re guilty of wanting to do something so well that we skip deadlines. The same happens in blogging. It’s not necessary that each article be a masterpiece. So keep writing. Traffic, visits, comments and followers will follow. Cheers!

Your turn now. What do you do when you suffer from Writer’s Block?

10 Steps To Becoming A Better Writer...

1. Write.
2. Write more.
3. Write even more.
4. Write even more than that.
5. Write when you don’t want to.
6. Write when you do.
7. Write when you have something to say.
8. Write when you don’t.
9. Write every day.
10. Keep writing.

(courtesy - www.copyblogger.com)