Do you believe that you sound smarter when you use big words and heavy vocabulary? According to several studies, the answer is a BIG NO. In fact, complex writing and big words make you sound small-minded and egoistic. Some time ago, a study was published in Applied Cognitive Psychology with the title – “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly”. Don’t you think it would sound better if it was titled something along the lines of ‘The Effects of Using Big Words When You Actually Don’t Need Them?’
When you want to create something amazing, you have to focus on writing naturally with a clearly and directly delivered idea. Here are some useful tips for brilliant writing to help you get started:
Tip 1: Keep Your Ideas Clear
Having a clear idea of what you want to convey will make it easy for you to write. When you are not sure of what you want to say, you will write words that may deliver nothing to the reader. So, create an outline or, at the very least, take out notes and only then you should start writing.
Tip 2: Be Specific.
We will not explain this point much, just see the following two sentences:
- I grow lots of vegetables in my backyard.
- I grow 20 varieties of vegetables including onions, potatoes, cucumbers and tomatoes.
Which one sounds better? Which seems more interesting? Which one helps you see or visualise my backyard better?
The idea is to be specific to give your readers a clearer picture of the subject or topic you are writing about.
Tip 3: Use Simple Words
This is really important if you want to make your content effective. For instance, write ‘near’ instead of ‘close proximity’, ‘use’ instead of ‘utilise’, and ‘help’ instead of ‘facilitate’. Use words that better explain your idea instead of trying to find words that make you sound intelligent or well-read. Using words that most people (your potential readers) do not know about just makes your readers lose interest in your content or worse misunderstand your content.
Tip 4: Keep your Sentences and Paragraphs short
There is a simple reason behind this tip. Short sentences and paragraphs are easy to read and understand. Each sentence in your content should have one clear and simple thought. Do not make your sentences long as they create unnecessary complexity. Long sentences can invite confusion for no reason. Break down longer sentences whenever you can.
Tip 5: Give Priority to Writing inActive Voice
In English, plenty of readers prefer the Subject – Verb – Object (SVO) sequence. This sequence is called an active voice. For instance, ‘passive sentences bore people’. When you reverse it, you get a passive voice or Object – Verb – Subject (OVS) sequence. Understand this with the following example – ‘people are bored by passive sentences’. It is true that you cannot always use the active voice but can give priority to it to make your sentences easy to read.
Tip 6: Say Goodbye to Fluff
Qualifying words in this category are very, rather and little. Eliminate these words completely as they add nothing to your content but suck the life out of a sentence. For instance – it is very important to avoid fluff words as they are rather meaningless and many times a little distracting. Your writing will sound crisp if you remove the fluff.
Tip 7: Be Concise
This is a clear indication of having too much to say. There is a simple formula to tackle this issue – put your targeted readers first to focus on the message. Be clear about what you actually want to say to your targeted audience. And stop when you think you have conveyed the idea. The next step is to keep editing until all the extra words, useless information and superfluous words have been removed.
None of us can ever be as perfect as we would like to be. But there are so many opportunities to improve our writing style and present our ideas effectively. If you need help with writing content for your website, consider connecting with us for our SEO and content writing services now.
This post originally appeared on our earlier website: ihusresearch.com