If you want to become a better writer, write for your reader and read your words out loud
Even if you’re not a professional writer, chances are you have to write emails, reports, cover letters, tweets, more. And I, my friend, have to read them. In 2019, 293 billion emails were sent daily, there were 473,400 tweets per minute, and I think I read the phrase “do you have five minutes to jump on a call later this week?” between seventy and eighty trillion times (my stats haven’t come in yet). There is a ton of content out there. And a lot of it is poorly written, boring, and leaves readers thinking, what did I just do with the last X minutes of my life?
Less-than-stellar writers usually make two mistakes
One, they write for themselves and not for their readers. Two, what they’re writing is not something a human person would or should ever say. I wrote about making sure you don’t sound like a robot, telling a story, and other email tips in this post, but getting better at writing anything can really be boiled down to these two tips:
To become a better writer, write for your reader, not yourself
So often, we only concentrate on what we want to say in a communication. What is our message? But if you intend for your writing to be read by another person, it matters less what you want to say and more what the reader needs to hear. Your writing should provide value to them. It’s fine to draft an outline of the points you need to get across so you don’t leave important information out, but after you get your draft down, switch to reader mode. Did you load the opening paragraph with info only you care about? Would your reader be able to repeat your thesis back to you or did you muddle your messages? Is there a story arc that compels the reader to move forward? Even in fiction, when we’re told to tell our story because it’s art, you have to think: should I stop describing the sound of the waves on the sand because it’s a personal memory I want to see immortalized on the page and just have the protagonist witness the murder she’s going to solve, or what? Before you hit send or publish, set your agenda aside and read your work as a reader would.
To hear your work like a reader would, read it out loud
I don’t know how many times I’ve said this in my life. I don’t care if it’s a tweet, a cover letter, or a book, read it out loud. While writing for your reader and not yourself takes a bit of practice and thought, this tip is just...talking. You can do it quietly, under your breath, so you don’t drive your coworkers crazy or scare your cat (although maybe muttering under your breath would actually scare your coworkers), but if you want to be a better writer, this is my number one piece of advice. It’s the best editing tip in the world.
When you read your work out loud, you will hear mistakes, sentences that make no sense but looked great on paper, and other things that will confuse or bore your reader. I do it all the time. Am I babbling in my intro paragraph? Is this description of the weather in my novel dragging on and should my character say something instead? Is there a “the the” in my tweet? Did I thank a candidate for applying to a “party time” position instead of a part time position? Are my directions to my employees telling them how to access their tax documents needlessly convoluted and formal? All of this will be revealed by simply reading your work out loud.
At the rate we’re going, we can only expect more tweets, emails, articles, and posts in the coming years. So do us all a favor and be the best writer you can be.