I’ve been a copywriter for two and a half years now and it’s been a really exciting journey. Writing came easily to me and jumping on a full-time opportunity that allowed me to do what I love seemed a match made in heaven.
Reflecting on my time as a writer so far, I’ve come up with a few lessons that can help you embark on your own writing journey, which you can find below:
1. Start by putting in the work
Assuming you already have writing skills, the first step is to get started. The blank page is intimidating, but word by word, you get to tame it. Give yourself the time and the grace to do so. In my experience, you can do it if you try.
2. Read others’ work daily
Balance out writing with reading. You need to replenish your writer’s well with others’ writing. Read anything. Novels, magazines, newspapers, cereal box copy. Basically, help your brain process words, ideas and turns of phrases that can become a sort of mind repository for all things writing. It keeps you in touch with the trends in the world and it will eventually better inform your own copy.
3. Keep your audience in mind
Your purpose in writing is to reach your audience. Keep this goal in mind before you start researching. Ask yourself questions about your audience from likes, dislikes and how your copy can help. Once you establish a clear picture of your reader and how you can help them, you can get started.
4. Create a writing process to alleviate the blank page jitters
Do you research first and outline later? Always do that. Or perhaps you outline as you research. Either way, every writer has a personal work style. Find yours and streamline it. It basically creates a habit that will eventually help be a better writer. You’ll feel less nervous every time you start a new project because you already know which steps you’ll take.
5. Research before and during drafting
Research is a very step of your writing process. It helps you not only to get acquainted with your topic, but it’s the best way to know your topic inside out so that you can select which information to use for the purpose of your copy. Keep research in mind as you start drafting, as fact checking is important in making sure the information presented is accurate. This help to build trust with your audience.
6. Draft freely
Write freely to get the first draft out. It’s easy to get caught on wondering whether an idea or a turn of phrase is perfect. It’s counterproductive to do that. Instead, get all ideas out on paper to produce that first draft. You can always edit out the rough edges.
7. Self-edit
Once you finished writing, read your work out loud. Hearing yourself read is a great way to see whether there’s a natural flow to your copy. Additionally, it will help you catch errors that you’d otherwise miss. Change to font to trick your brain into thinking it’s reading new material for the same purpose. Finally, use Grammarly to further check for anything wrong, but be aware that it’s not a perfect tool. Grammarly can’t catch misspellings of a word that also happen to spell another word.
8. Send your work to a proofreader
You already self-edited your work so it should be ready for publishing, right? Not quite. A different pair of trained eyes can catch mistakes you’re likely to miss. Making sure your copy is error-free is the best way to publish and keep your credibility as a writer.
9. Have a support system
Join writers’ groups to connect with other writers in order to share your thoughts about the craft. It’s a great opportunity to meet like-minded people who also share a passion for writing. You could learn a lot from more experienced writers, and it helps you too to share the wins and the challenges of the day.
10. Connecting ideas is fun
Last but not least, writing is all about connecting ideas that seem disparate. Putting copy together is a lot like solving a puzzle. You get immense satisfaction from shifting ideas around to see how they could fit together. And when they make sense in a certain arrangement, it’s like seeing a Christmas tree light up for the first time.
What is your writing experience like? Let us know in the comments section below.
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