In a crowded market, clients will be seeking personality as they read what you've written -- they'll click right past pages that feel "been there, read that." They're looking for a voice that says, "Hey, client, this is me!"
They want to know not just what you deliver -- but how. Will you be funny or serious? A perky cheerleader or a sardonic commentator? Will your view of life be based on "believe and it happens" or "what you see is what you get?"
Here are some tips to add your own voice to your writing.
1. Write from the heart.
Too excited, passionate or angry to sit still? Best time to connect with your voice. Grab a pencil and scribble ideas as you jump around the room.
2. Say something new.
After forty articles on time management, your readers know about cutting projects into manageable chunks and setting priorities. Ho hum. Try "better than zero" or "turn your life into a time warp."
3. Tape yourself talking to a good friend about a product.
Do your words sound different when you speak than when you write? Transcribe the tape into an article for easy reading.
4. Picture your ideal client (you do have one, don't you?). Imagine that she is gushing about your service to a friend -- highly recommending you. What words does she use to describe your services? What emotions come through?
5. Cut. Then cut again.
When you have to trim your piece to meet a word count requirement, notice that you're left with the most essential words -- all yours.
6. Write fast. Get the words down before your inner critic has a chance to participate. Edit later.
7. Reveal yourself: family, mistakes, secret dreams. When you feel just a bit embarrassed, or feel your private persona has become more public, you've probably just touched your audience's heart.
8. Be concrete -- not abstract. As writing guru Natalie Goldberg would say, "It's a geranium, not a flower."
9. If you've had voice training, be especially alert to creating the bland and the blah.
Julia Roberts could hold an audience while she reads the telephone directory. Your copy has to stand alone, without dramatic oratory.
10. Don't be afraid to break the rules: use slang and contractions. And it's okay to begin a sentence with "and" or "but."
Just tread carefully on the rules of grammar and spelling. "Your about to head off for you're great adventure" can be a credibility-buster.
About The Author
Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an author, speaker and career/business consultant, helping midlife professionals take their First step to a Second Career. http://www.cathygoodwin.com.
"Ten secrets of mastering a major life change" http://www.cathygoodwin.com
Contact: http://www.cathygoodwin.com 505-534-4294
cheap limo service Lombard .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareThink of writing like karate...it's about DISCIPLINE.Writing, like other forms... Read More
If you're getting rejections from your submissions, please don't quit... Read More
Obtaining the skills for writing good business correpondence is important;... Read More
As you set out to create your first niche non-fiction... Read More
A UK based freelance proofreader should be able to provide... Read More
(Skip directly to ten for the fastest shortcut!)Like any field,... Read More
Far too many inexperienced writers create flat, stereotypical characters: the... Read More
DEFINITIONSRetail margin is basically the difference between your book's wholesale... Read More
Why is it that so many people don't take writing-as-a-job... Read More
Building a new website can be extremely exciting. Seeing your... Read More
You are the only one who knows what being a... Read More
My bookcase take up one whole wall in the family... Read More
How to Start Your Story with a BangThe purpose of... Read More
Good writing requires self-examination. Why is one writing? What part... Read More
I hate to admit this, but I rarely get an... Read More
Writers are notorious collectors of slips of paper. They tear... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?How we usually begin the preparation stage... Read More
Riding on the fumes of potential, you take pen to... Read More
Beginner's Blues: How to Collect Samples, Testimonials, and References as... Read More
Prolific authors write; they don't just dream about it. A... Read More
Mindmapping is better than linear outlining because authors can use... Read More
There's a little known secret we writers like to keep... Read More
Originality emerges from structure. Once you have a story idea,... Read More
Editorial guidelines, also known as writer's guidelines, are the rules... Read More
I have added a new word to my vocabulary. Logorrhea.... Read More
limo O'Hare Glen Ellyn ..Part 1 of this article discussed the experience you need... Read More
There are three ways to write a first draft. One... Read More
I just finished to read a book. A story for... Read More
Last week I was having a quick browse on eBay... Read More
When the writing bug hits you, get out your pencil,... Read More
Writers are an insecure lot.It's easy to understand why. You... Read More
Names are important. Names give clues about us, where we... Read More
Anyone who has read any of my articles on the... Read More
LATER, LATTERLater means afterwards; latter is the second of two... Read More
At some point, every serious writer is forced to sit... Read More
FIVE MINUTES ... Is All You Need ........to phone a... Read More
"If you're like me, than I'm sure you're pretty familiar... Read More
|| Graphology & Graphotherapy ||Everybody wants to know more about... Read More
Questions and answers on writing life experiences for ourselves and... Read More
The Hottest Word on the WebDid you know marketing people... Read More
Open any book on 'how to write,' and somewhere you... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?What a plot is and what a... Read More
First, let's tackle the question that is uppermost in many... Read More
For many years, I've been a tutor for students undertaking... Read More
1) Can you summarize the story in about a sentence... Read More
You are far more likely to successfully write and publish... Read More
Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury,England in 1965.... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?When an idea comes to us for... Read More
There is no doubt that a staff writer enjoys advantages... Read More
If you want to be a writer, you must write... Read More
Writing |