7 tips for an authentic and productive writing process - copyblogger

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7 Tips for an Authentic and Productive

Writing Process

byLogan Zanelli 63 Comments

Does this sound familiar?

Youre sitting in front of y our laptop, staring at a blank screen.

The deadline for the article you need to write is approaching, and youre struggling to get started when you

should be in the final editing stages.

As you sit there trying to put your expertise in writing, a strange insecurity creeps up your spine. You see

yourself changing before your own eyes, transforming from a confident expert into a self-conscious amateur.

Its your own Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde transformation experience.

Ive been there.

I used to hate writing

Well, actually, it was more like loathing than hating.

Anytime I needed to write anything Id procrastinate, pretending that avoiding the project would make it go

s for an Authentic and Productive Writing Process | Copyblogger http://www.copyblogger.com/authentic-writer/?utm_source=fee

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away. Needless to say, the procrastination led to a flurry of rushed writing at the last minute to meet my

deadlines, resulting in less than my best work.

But my real problem wasnt the act of writing. It was fear. Fear of making mistakes, fear that what I wrote

would sound stupid, fear that my writing wouldnt make sense to the reader, etc.

My insecurities were turning me into a monster

So there I was, a guy with more than 15 years of experience, who has won some awards and is even a judge

for three international design competitions, worried about sounding stupid.

It sounds ridiculous, but my fear of screwing up made writing a miserable experience for me.

I even used to try to compensate for my fears. Id use stiff, formal sentences and large, important-sounding

words to try to prove I knew what I was talking about. Unfortunately, all that did was make me sound like

a pretentious jerk.

It was like I was changing from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde anytime I had to write something.

Then one sentence from my college professor changed everything

I had a job that offered tuition reimbursement benefits, so I decided to take some college classes. One of my

classes was a composition class, and the p rofessor gave me the best writing advice Id ever heard.

Write the way you talk.

Wait. What?

It cant be that easy! Seriously? What a liberating idea! That one piece of advice helped me break free of my

fears and relaxed my writing sty le. No more procrastination. No more using large, unnecessary words to try

and impress the reader. I could just relax, be myself, and write.

Now before you get the wrong impression, let me explain something: writing the way you talk does not give

you permission to write poorly, or to publish content that sucks.

What it does is help break down the mental barriers of fear and procrastination that keep you from being a

more engaging, and more productive writer.

Heres how to use write the way you talk to squash your insecurities and avoid sounding like a pompousidiot:

1. Imagine yourself having a chat with a trusted friend

Good writing is like a conversation between the writer and the reader. So when y oure writing, think about

how you would explain your topic to a close friend who was sitting next to you.

If you were having a conversation with that person, what words would you use? What would you talk about

first? What examples would you give to help them understand your topic? What questions might they ask?


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Approaching your writing this way will help you write copy thats more informal and conversational in tone,

that better engages your audience. As it happens, its also the best way to write sales copy.

2. Record yourself talking about your topic.

Not sure what you sound like in a conversation? Try recording yourself talking about your topic.

This is especially helpful for people who have clients they talk to on the phone regularly. The next timeyoure explaining something to a client on the p hone, record the call and listen to it later (Be sure to check the

laws in your state first. Some states require you get the other partys permission before you record). The

easiest way to do this is with one of the many available plugins for Skype that do call recording.

3. Take a deep breath, relax, and just be yourself

By writing the way you talk, you cant help injecting a little of your personality into what you write. After

all, youll be writing in your own voice, using plain English everyone can understand, and a tone that makes

you seem more human than textbook.

Combine that with a few relevant, well-placed personal stories and you have the makings of some irresistible

content.

4. Use the same words that you do in your everyday life.

If you write the way you talk, youll be more inclined to use common, everyday words that you would

normally use in conversation.

This prevents you from sounding like Captain Jack Sparrow using (in my best Johnny Depp impersonation)

obtuse and generally confoundingspeech that makes your readers wish they were drinking rum.

So keep your writing simple and clearwithout artificially inflated language. A good rule of thumb is: if the

average person would need a dictionary to know what your word means, then you need a different word.

5. Toss out the rule book and just start writing

If all the rules about grammar, writing styles, active versus passive voice, and punctuation are adding to your

insecurities about writing, toss out the rule book for awhile and just write.

Focus on getting the main points of your idea down in your first draft, and dont worry about anything else.

Once youve done that, you can go back and edit the heck out of what you wrote.

Do you notice any obvious errors? Is there anything that could be rearranged to bring more clarity to what

you wrote? If so, nows the t ime to fix it along with any grammatical, spelling, or other writing problems.

After youve made those corrections, leave the article to sit overnight and look at it again in the morning with

fresh eyes. Is there anything you can do to make it even better?


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6. Enlist the help of a close friend to keep you honest

Want to make sure that what you write actually sounds like you and not someone else?

Enlist the help of a close friend. Have them read what you write, and tell you if it sounds like someone else

wrote it. This will help keep you true to yourself, and will force you to be authentic with your writing.

7. Read what you write out loud

One of the first editing tests I put my writing through is reading it out loud. Doing that makes awkward

sentences and bad punctuation become obvious, because as you read, youll naturally stumble over the

parts that need to be fixed.

So as you read your writing aloud, pay attention to those places that tend to trip you up they may need

some additional work.

The moral of the story

Get over the fears of messing up or sounding stupid. Just write the way you talk and youll be able to knock

out your first draft in no time.

If youre willing to do that, y oull find that y oull dread writing a lot less and be able to get more writing done

because youre working on it instead of fearing it.

Ive been using these t ips to guide my writing for several years now, and today I got the best evidence yet

that they work.

I was talking with one of my clients on the phone about blogging, and as we were discussing the content forher blog she told me, Whenever I read something you wrote, you always sound like such an expert. Like you

really know what youre talking about.

Need I say more?

So go ahead. Dive in. Who knows? You may even start to like writing.

About the Author: Logan Zanelli is a business stylistwho helps entrepreneurs get found, stand out, and sell

more. You can follow him on Twitteror get more from him on his blog.

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Comments

Jane@Find All Answers says:

October 11, 2010 at 9:57 am

Oh, just so wonderful. You have spoken out the mind of so many bloggers. The writers block rules

the blogosphere and no one can escape it- even the A-listers. And you have given a comprehensive list

of tips to get over that. Thanks for the tips.

By the way, I like this tip the most: Use the same words that you do in your everyday life.

Reply

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Raul Sim says:

October 11, 2010 at 1:19 pm

There is no writers block, its only fear You cant write because you keep thinking of

something else than what is coming to you. Perfection is impossible to reach. Just do it

WRITE!

Reply

Eddie Gearsays:


Very true Raul. I completly agree with you.

Reply

dotCOMreport.com says:


Agreed. Using the same words makes it feel more like just talking to friends and takes off a lot of

pressure.

Reply

Jane@Find All Answers says:


Using the same words as we sp eak also makes writing quick. Otherwise we have to look

for new words, their meanings, examples and so on (if we dont want to publish stuff with

grammatical errors ). But once in a while it will be good to try new words and writing

styles.

Reply

Mark Wolfingersays:October 11, 2010 at 10:16 am

I know someone who writes as he speaks, and the result is horrible.

Grammatical rules are ignored: sentences have no ending, commas and apostrop hes dont count. He

ends many sentences with prepositions and split infinities are the rule, not the exception.

My question to you: How is this a good thing?

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I dont object to the p rinciples mentioned, but I believe the writing must be corrected for grammar.

Reply

Sonia Simone says:

October 11, 2010 at 10:40 am

Mark, Logan covered that.

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:17 am

Mark, that is indeed the danger with writing the way you talk which is why you need to be

ruthless in your editing to catch those mistakes. But if you let yourself relax and just write the

way you would talk about your topic for your first draft, it will help y ou get past the writersblock so you can get your ideas down and then edit from there.

Thanks for the comment!

Reply

Seth Ettersays:

October 11, 2010 at 10:25 am

Awesome advice. This is an issue I ran into quite a bit early on. The internet has this way of doing thatto people once they know that their online communications entirely make up the persona that people

perceive on the internet.

So the tendency is to try really hard to impress those people on the interwebs by talking in big words

and not being yourself. But nobody wants to see someone try and be someone else, it never turns out

right.

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:18 am

..nobody wants to see someone try and be someone else, it never turns out right.

So true Seth!

Reply

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Shane Arthursays:

October 11, 2010 at 10:34 am

I agree. Write like you talkbut edit like someones charging you per word. Be yourself, but cut the

flab afterward.

Id also advise turning off your monitor during the 1st pass. Just type. You know the words are there.

You dont need to see them, and your inner editor wont have anything to gripe over until its his turn.

Reply

4.

Karen Everett Watson says:

October 11, 2010 at 10:34 am

Great article! I had the same advice from one of my J-p rofessors. I always brainstorm on a blank piece

of paper before beginning my computer work. I start with writing down the main idea and all the detailsas quickly as possible. It gives me a road map to begin. Thanks for the article!

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:22 am

Thats a great brainstorming technique Karen! I once heard one thats similar involving notecards.

The idea was to jot each idea on a 35 note card, then you could arrange them in the order you

wanted to cover the ideas in your article.

Thanks for sharing that great tip!

Reply

5.

MarVeena says:

October 11, 2010 at 10:48 am

Thanks for sharing your ideas! I do procrastinate on my blog. Sometimes it flows very nice and

sometimes it feels so sticky.

I am just getting into blogging more and gaining a better respect for the bloggers who really have it going

on. Thanks again!

Peace

MarVeena

Reply

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Carol Tice says:

October 11, 2010 at 10:54 am

Great post your #5 reminds me of a writing trick I learned years ago at a seminar put on by the

Reynolds Center for Business Journalism if youre writing a reported story and youre boggled by

trying to weave together your interviews into a coherent whole, just put all your notes aside and write a

draft without notes, quotes or attribution.

Dont worry about who said what or exactly what it was. Just spit out a dummy draft based on what

you remember. The most interesting and important stuff will naturally rise to the top. Then you can go

back and clean up your quotes to be precisely what was said and find out how to spell that guys name,

and all that administrivia. Take that junk out of y our writing flow, and its a lot easier to create a

compelling story.

Reply

7.

Andrea Pokorny says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:01 am

Thank You! That frees up a lot of tension and apprehension Ive had with writing. Ill have to print

this and keep it handy as good reminder for mesome of my English p rofs have really messed with my

head when it comes to writing.

it keeps things uncomplicated, just the way I like it!

Thank You Again,

Andrea Pokorny

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:51 am

I was the same way Andrea. Isnt it amazing how all the learning we do can trip us up

sometimes? Glad these tips helped you as much as they have me!

Reply

8.

Samuelsays:

October 11, 2010 at 11:02 am

Awesome post! Yea the best solution is to write the way y ou talk. Thats how y ou can keep the sp irit

of writing in you to keep flowing. And its also good to tell a friend to help y ou read your article.

Thanks for sharin. Have fun.

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Reply

Stacy says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:04 am

Awesome tips!

I have been trying to add a nice story to my photo blog posts and these writing tips and your whole

blog in general hav been a gold mine for me.

Thanks!

Reply

10.

David Lgersays:

October 11, 2010 at 11:07 am

Thanks for sharing. As a newbie to blogging, I was a litt le nervous about not only how my content

sounded, but I was also stressing that it would slow me down to a point that it would take a long time

between posts.

Reply

11.

Kirsten Cross says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:11 am

Mind if I chime in with the thoughts of an Editor? While writing how you speak may work for theBlogosphere, it doesnt work so well for article writing or web content. In these cases, you will find

that your clients give you guidelines about the tone they want (if youve designed your briefing

procedure properly, that is), what audience they want to reach and how they want to portray their

business and their message. As a writer, you have to take these instructions into account when creating

content, otherwise you will find your chatty, friendly, having a goss with a mate style roundly

rejected.

A more relaxed, informal style is what is expected in Bloggerverse, but in the commercial world there is

a clear definition between this particular sty le and more business-orientated copy writing.

However, in blogs this more informal style does work, but my advice would be not to take it to

extremes. Dont shy away from using big words credit your audience with a level of intelligence.

Peoples use of language is much more complex than we often assume, so dont be afraid to use der big

words from time to time. It wont necessarily make you sound like a pompous ass it can give you an

air of authority that promotes a level of trust in your expertise amongst your readers. The most

important questions to ask are does it convey the message effectively and are my readers engaged?

And p lease, for the love of GOD, sp ellcheck before posting! Nothing will scream amateur faster than

a blog or any other p iece of writing that is peppered with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors or even

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colloquialisms. (On that point, also remember that not everyone speaks the same version of English

either)

Reply

Christi Reedsays:

October 11, 2010 at 11:32 am

I agree with you to a point, but for your rough draft is should still be ok to write as if you were

having a conversation. This allows you to get the basic ideas you want to cover down on the page

and gives you a place to start from.

After you have that, you can go back and fine tune it to fit what the customer ordered. The

audience you are writing for is always important to take into consideration. If you are writing for

experts on a topic, then using words that they understand is fine.

I do agree with you on the spell check, I love to read, and there is nothing more likely to p ut me

off than finding simple spelling errors in the material. I immediately, begin to wonder if the

material is worth reading at that point.

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:

October 11, 2010 at 12:14 pm

Hi Kirsten! Thanks for the comment, and I do agree with you that journalism, copywriting, and

blogging are different genres of writing.

Choosing which style to use should be based on what will engage and connect with your audience

the best.

However Ive seen many articles and instances of web content that use a relaxed, informal sty le

that works great and generates a higher conversion rate than more formal-sounding text.

Again, it all comes back to whos the audience and writing in a style that connects with them.

Reply

Aqif Azizan says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:12 am

Hi there Logan,

First of all, I would like to thank you for this post. I really mean it. Because right now Im having some

kind of mental block and I really need a medicine to cure this thingy.

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Guess what, your post is the medicine that Im talking about!

I totally agree with y our ideas about Write the way you talk. It is what Ive done again and again in

blogging atmosphere and the best thing is it creates more loyal readers because weve communicate as

friend.

Thanks once again for this post. Looking forward to read your upcoming post with Copyblogger.

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:


Take two doses of write the way you talk and call me in the morning.

So glad you found this helpful Aqif! I have no doubt it will help unleash your inner

awesomeness!

Reply

Andrew Nhem says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:24 am

This is a great post. Im try ing to hash out a piece for my site and came across a few of the insecurities

that y ou mention.

Its so easy to fall into that vacuum when the writing engine isnt firing on all cylinders.

Im glad I read this today , before tackling the project again. Thanks so much!

-nd

Reply

14.

Kathy Condon says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:37 am

When writing my book, I got so much advice about what voice I should use, what I should say or notsay that confusion was rampant in my my brain.

Gave it all up wrote the book in simple language- the way I talk- AND won USA Book Finalist

Award..

Living proof that straight talk works.

http://www.kathycondon.info

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Reply

Santhosh says:

October 11, 2010 at 12:17 pm

Excellent. Very helpful.

Reply

16.

Joseph says:

October 11, 2010 at 12:21 pm

Logan,

The one thing that has helped my writing the most is learning that its best to write conversationally

and not academically. Its also incredibly liberating.

I learned this in a book called:Writing with Style by John Trimble. If you havent read it yet, I highly

recommend it. Hes a professor at UT in Austin, and the book is incredible. One of his biggest points is

that writing is a conversation between writers and readers, and good writers treat writing like a

conversation. He also includes 7 rules that good writers should break. They are:

1) Never begin a sentence with But or And.

2) Never use contractions.

3) Never refer to the reader as you.

4) Never use the first-person pronoun I.

5) Never end a sentence with a preposition.

6) Never sp lit an infinitive.

7) Never write a paragraph containing only a single sentence.

If you think any of this sounds helpful, youll definitely want to check out this book. Its more helpful

than ten college English classes and a whole lot cheaper.

Great post Logan! Thanks!

Reply

Brian Clarksays:

October 11, 2010 at 12:42 pm

The fact that those 7 things were rules in the first place just shows you why so much

corporate writing is so bad. Really, never refer to the reader as you? Thats just Psychology

101 bad if you want someones attention and action.

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Joseph says:


Very true. In a public speaking class I learned that the most important word in public

speaking is you. Why wouldnt this also be true for writing?

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:


Ditto what Brian said.

Actually, when Im writing, I cant help referring to the reader as y ou because in my

mind, its almost like Im writing a letter to an individual reader not just assembling

words on a page.

As you can tell, I broke a lot of those rules in school.

Reply

Stacy Hawkins Adams says:

October 11, 2010 at 12:39 pm

Great post! Thanks for the practical and helpful advice.

Im forwarding this to my group coaching students and recommending that they subscribe to your blog.

Stacy

Reply

18.

Karen says:

October 11, 2010 at 12:52 pm

Hi Logan,

Oh, do I know that feeling of staring in front of the computer and being scared to start writing. You

know intellectually that you do have something worthwhile to say and yet fear rears its ugly head,

time and again. Im glad to read that someone with 15 y ears experience (and who won awards yet!)

feels the same way. Youve offered some great tips in overcoming the fear and I especially like the

write the way you talk approach. I often get stuck in the pretentious writing patterns because thats

what Im used to during the y ears and years of being in school taught me, even though Ive been out of

school for longer than I had been in it. Its definitely a shift in mindset and approach which is needed

for the net than for written papers. Funny enough, when I do write off-the-cuff articles they go over

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better with my readers than something that I spent hours researching.

A very helpful post, so thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom.

Karen

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:


Karen,

I think you hit the nail on the head with this:

when I do write off-the-cuff articles they go over better with my readers than something that

I spent hours researching.

Its amazing how people connect with what you write when youre letting your humanness

show. Those parts of you that some people see as chinks in your armor are in fact

vulnerabilities that endear you to your audience in most cases.

Thanks for the comment, and keep stepping out of that comfort zone to be authentic. Your

readers will love you for it as youve noticed.

Reply

Jasmine says:October 11, 2010 at 1:02 pm

Fantastic tip to write the way you talk. I am definitely guilty of struggling to sound literary when all

I really need to do is say it!

Reply

20.

Kristi Bernardsays:


This is a great post. I find that I have the same fear of writing because I spend too much time looking

through the Thesaurus for a better word. Thanks.

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:


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Glad you liked it Kristi! I also used to dig through the Thesaurus like I was on a scavenger hunt

for the right word until I realized the perfect word I was looking for was the same one I

would use when I was talking.

Thanks for the comment!

Reply

JoCarolsays:


It was Stephen King who said, Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong

word. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Reply

Matthew says:October 11, 2010 at 2:06 pm

Thank you, Logan. This is a very helpful post.

Reply

22.

Petula says:


Excellent post. I definitely see myself in that post. I waiver back and forth between the experiencedwriter and the frazzled newbie. Procrastination definitely makes it worse and it makes me fearful

regardless of whether I was or not in the beginning.

I wish someone had given me that advice long ago. I started doing that as I became more experienced,

but when I first started out editors would say to minimize my voice in so many words it wasnt til

I learned to make it sound natural, like me, that I finally got it all wrapped up in one bundle. Im not

sure if that comes out in my blog (LOL!) as far as magazine or newsp aper writing goes, but my voice is

all over the p lace in everything I write.

Reply

23.

Jonan Castillon says:


Magnificent seven writing tips, which I believe would help carry me through any writing task. Indeed it

is very liberating to just write the way that one talks and in doing this I would really talk to myself

while writing just like dictating to my writing hand or fingers tapping the keyboard keys what ideas to

bring out in writing. It really helps to let your draft stay overnight because on the following morning

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you will be able to review and revise your copy to improve it more. For those who might be writing on

a difficult top ic, may I share a technique that is really working great for me. I would think about the

top ic and storm my brain how to go about it while I am about to sleep. In fact I would fall asleep

thinking how I would write about the topic, imagining the outline and even the introductory sentence.

The following morning you would be surprised that words and ideas flow as you write. Thanks for the

tips!

Reply

Fran Civile says:


I definitely agree with your advice Logan and read every one of the comments with great interest too

while at the same time wondering who would be the first one to mention that so many people, men

mostly, need to p epper their conversation with swear words for emphasis!

So I ask, with tongue in cheek, would applying your method of writing the way you talk lead that

particular group to start talking the way they write? In a conversation with a friend would they learn to

put their point across using only cleaned-up language?

Just saying

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:


I think the warning signs would be if you started opening your everyday conversations with 52

ways to or The Zen of and everything you said was coming out in bulleted lists, after

which you paused for comments.

Glad you liked the post !

Reply

25.

Betty Suarezsays:


Hi Logan,

Your tips are wonderful. When people get anxious or fearful, it is when we can see their lowest level of

performance. Writing is not the exception. A relax and simple communication will give us run to focus

on the content. Thank you for that reminder.

Reply

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Jeff Johnston says:


How many t imes do you have to hear the same message before it finally sinks in? It seems like

everywhere I turn lately, and every post I read, the author slips in something along the lines of, Get

over the fears of messing up or sounding stupid. I realize that wasnt necessarily the heart of your

article, but I think Im starting to notice that is the message that always sticks out to me. I guess I know

what I need to change about the way I write! Thanks a million for continuing to write and making an

effort to inspire.

Reply

27.

John Sheridan says:


Hi Logan,

One of the most well written and informative articles Ive read in a long time. Keep them coming.

Reply

28.

Nin says:


I;ve never been much for writing, but there are some great tips in here that will help me keep on

truckin. Thanks!

Reply

29.

Anthony Karl Harris says:


I use to looooath writing with a passion, but then one day I bought a voice recorder and lapel clip-on

mic and the words flowed.

Reply

30.

Jef Menguin says:


Write the way you talk. I follow this.

So, one of my readers who heard me giving an inspirational speech said, I like the way you write. You

write the way you talk. I like to attend your next talk.

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Write the way you talk. if your talk sucks, improve your talk. Then you can improve your writing.

Reply

Steph says:


Thanks for that post, Logan. I am the queen of procrastination and I often struggle with being able to

articulate my thoughts. Great t ips the idea of writing like you talk is great and such a liberating one at

that!

Reply

32.

Renee Hoekstra says:


Something about this is very intuitive and I love it! I started thinking about how I engage my audience,or my group members, and what it is I actually say to them. This helped me write my blog- and Ive

found that creatively writing for the intended audience is much more fun and less tedious than those

papers I cranked out in graduate school.

I had a conversation with someone last weekend about the fact that I used the words a whole nother

in my blog post, cause I would definitely say thatdont know how kosher it was but it was fun.

Reply

Logan Zanelli says:October 11, 2010 at 9:13 pm

and Ive found that creatively writing for the intended audience is much more fun and less

tedious than those papers I cranked out in graduate school.

Youre so right Renee! Its amazing how much you can enjoy writing when you relax and focus

on being yourself.

Thanks for the feedback!

Reply

33.

J.D. Meiersays:


> Write the way you talk.

So true.

When somebody on my team gets stuck, I tell them just write an email to them self or to a friend and

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that busts through their block in no time.

Reply

Vee Sweeney says:

October 11, 2010 at 10:43 pm

In order to get over my writing blocks, I use what I like to call dirty writing. Essentially I simply

type whatever comes to mind no matter how sloppy, how poorly written it is or how irrelevant it is. I

keep on writing until I am done with the article and I do not read any of it until I am done. In the end,

the article or writing only usually needs small revisions even though I paid no attention to the writing

process when I was actually writing. The point is that I simply go in with a carefree attitude and I fully

expect to end up with a major revision at the end. Having a lesser expectation seems to make me jump

over my writers block. The advice your Professor gave you is spot on though; write like you are

writing to a friend is some of the best advice that I have ever received as well.

Reply

35.

Andrea Mercado says:

October 11, 2010 at 11:08 pm

I love it! It feels so much more natural and honest when I write the way I speak and I feel like it

definitely makes the writing flow. The people that are supposed to connect with you will resonate with

your writing style and your p ersonality.

Reply

36.

Mark Scottsays:


Absolutely! And beautifully put Logan.

Reply

37.

Roy Sinai says:


Absolutely! I sometimes like to think of it as writing a letter to my mom or grand mom when

confronted with trying to explain layered ideas and complex processes. It forces simplicity and getting

to the core of the idea. And then can be fleshed out as needed, once the heart of the matter is on the

page/screen.

Reply

38.


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Philippa Anderson says:


I wish I wasnt such a perfectionist, it would make my life so much easier! Great tips thanks.

Reply

39.

Solomon says:


When experts like you endorse that writing is hard and difficult task it feels great. Your techniques

are all great and very very useful. Thanks!

Reply

40.

Carolee says:October 12, 2010 at 6:01 am

LOL- I was a great English student in my day and have even been published before, but I love blogging!

It is so liberating to be yourself!

Although, like mentioned above by Mark W, you do need to end sentences properly, spell correctly,

etc..

Josephs advice is also pretty good, but its hard not to use you or I- I speak to my readers about my

experiences(that would be the I)

And occasionally, I start a sentence with and . Its not grammatically correct, but its me!

Reply

41.

Devin Eldersays:


Great post Logan, thanks for sharing.

I like #2, and for some of my sites Ive taken it a step further by doing video recordings. You can get a

video for YouTube, a transcribed article, and a podcast all in one shot.

Reply

42.

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