How To Produce Compelling Written Content

There is more to producing a great piece of content than being able to string a few sentences together. Creating content that people want to keep reading is harder than most people think and creating content that has a lasting impact on the reader can be even more challenging. There are many steps involved when it comes to producing high-quality content, no matter whether it is a blog post, an article or content for your website. This doesn’t mean writing content has to be a lengthy process but it does have to be a well-thought process. If you sit down and rush through an article, without taking time to consider your objective in writing the piece, it will show. Here is how to produce compelling written content, every time you write.

Know What You’re Trying To Achieve

Every piece of writing has a purpose. The purpose may be personal, for the writer to express themselves, or the purpose may be more complex, to foster brand loyalty and convince an audience of something. Before you write anything, think about what you hope to achieve with your piece of content because this will inform how you structure what you’re writing, the language you use and ultimately how effective the end result will be. When it comes to content marketing, there is a very specific and trackable aim to be achieved. This is what you must keep in your mind above anything else because it can be easy as a writer to get caught up in writing a piece that you like when you need to be writing something that will resonate with the audience. One helpful way to start this process is by writing down in one sentence what your objective is so that you can reflect on this while you write.

Be Adaptable

Being a good content writer means being adaptable and having the ability to create all forms of content for all types of audiences. This means that you can’t get stuck in your writing style or too attached to certain phrases. You need to be able to recognise the power of tone and style in defining a piece of content and attracting the attention of certain demographics. For example, an article on aged care is going to be directed to a certain group and the language should reflect that. Discussing whether to put a loved one into an aged care is a sensitive issue, fraught with complexities, for many families and a joking, light-hearted tone is not going to match the content. In contrast, if you’re writing about where to go on a summer holiday, you want the style to elicit feelings of excitement and happiness. For this reason, producing compelling content is about knowing how to adapt to the needs of others and knowing how to use the objective discussed above to shape the tone and style that you use.

Do Your Research

Before great written content comes good research on the topic you’re writing about. Research is essential to give your writing the credibility it needs to be considered a valuable piece of content. Writing, regardless of the format, is about showing not telling and in order to be able to show your audience something you need research that will back up what you’re trying to say. Don’t try and write an article and then inject pieces of research or facts and figures into afterwards. This kind of data needs to come first and shape your content. Articles that have incorrect information can be extremely damaging and negatively impact how trustworthy a brand is seen to be.

Say What You Mean

Too often when people write they become so focused on writing something that seems sophisticated that they can forget the purpose of why they are writing and the text loses meaning. With writing, you should always go for quality over quantity. The best type of written content isn’t the longest or the content with the biggest words, it is content that has an impact and creates an emotional response in its readers. The way you can do this is by saying what you mean in a powerful, direct and provocative way. If you find yourself struggling to put a sentence together, take a deep breath and think about what exactly it is you’re trying to say. Don’t worry about it sounding too simple – overcomplicated sentences will undermine what you’re trying to do with your writing.

 Remember Editing Is As Important As Writing

Editing is often seen as a secondary process to writing but it is just as important when it comes to creating quality content. A lot of good writing is content that has been rewritten, edited and honed to perfection and good editing skills are often harder to come by than good writing skills. Editing is more than being able to weed out spelling mistakes and correct grammatical errors. Editing is about ensuring that your aim matches what you are saying and improves the overall efficiency of the writing. It is making sure there is a flow to the content and that every point being made is relevant. You should never publish your first draft of something. Ideally, once you’ve looked through your work and got it to a point you’re happy with, you should give it someone else to read or wait a day and read it again. Fresh eyes can see things that you missed and having someone else proofread your work provides you with a great learning opportunity to see where your writing could be improved. This will only lead to you being more adept at creating compelling content in the future.

Creating compelling content is no easy feat. It takes practice, precision and a lot of thought. Learning what is behind a great piece of writing can help you to develop strategies that allow you to efficiently produce publishable pieces of writing on a daily basis. Above all, remember why you are writing and you will be able to craft content that speaks to readers on a deeper level.