Two things writers can learn
Thoughts from my experience
Instead of another content marketing tip that you have come to expect (don’t worry, I still got you)…
I wanted to share two lessons from my experience as a content marketer over the last couple of years. Who knows, someone out there probably needs this too.
To the first lesson….
Learn to be comfortable in your own ink
Towards the end of last year, I struggled with my writing.
You know when words are flying around in your head, but putting them into logical sentences and paragraphs is just too difficult? Yeah, that was where I found myself.
Almost everything I wrote had jumbled sentences. Fluff. Sentences and paragraphs with illogical flow. Hours staring at blank pages. And frustration.
To get out of the mess, I turned to the writing greats I knew, went through their work, and noted their word choices, sentence structure, and so on.
However, I became frustrated every time I strayed away from my idea of perfection based on their writing style. Even worse, I subconsciously compared my writing with theirs. And if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s pretty hard to write when you’re unhappy or frustrated.
This continued until I learnt this:
We all have unique writing abilities and voices we must discover, develop, and learn to be comfortable and confident with. Exploring works from the greats only helps to polish those abilities and voices to professional standards.
Don’t get me wrong.
You can aim to write like your heroes. The important thing is that as you go through their work, acknowledge you’re not there yet and strip away every iota of pride that would keep you from learning.
Then, take it one article at a time, implementing what you learn from reading their work until your style blossoms and finally presents itself.
On to my next discovery:
Your articles will rarely be perfect: and that’s okay
Open the document.
Damn...several red lines, corrections, and comments everywhere.
Every writer’s nightmare.
At this point, you’re stuck with two options: pushback or shut down the PC and take a nap.
But what if you could reframe your mindset from “this editor is being excessive” to “they only want to make the content better”? Such a mindset shift would make a difference because you would cease to personalize and internalize the feedback.
You start to see the bigger picture—how each comment, red line, and correction enhances the content and reveals some blindspots you never knew existed.
Here’s how I arrived at this mindset (and how you can do so too):
I accepted that I’m not perfect (read the last point to balance this). Like the painter who’s always trying to outdo themselves, I’m a writer who wants to keep growing. The illusion of having achieved perfection stifles every creative’s growth.
I saw every edit from the article’s context. Who is the target audience? What’s the overall business objective? Does the edit increase the reader’s comprehension of the idea and help achieve the business objective?
I discovered I had to let go of my emotional connection to the piece. No more self-esteem nose-diving with each revision! After all, the best artists aren't afraid to refine their work, even if it means admitting it's not perfect yet.
I approached content writing as a revenue-generating exercise rather than an opportunity to flex my literary muscles.
From my experience, arriving at this mindset is a slow and gradual process that yields results in the long term.
Summarily, find and love your writing voice. Reframe your mindset to recognize feedback as the editor’s contribution to producing a great article. And look forward to my next newsletter next week.
Some interesting stuff I found….
Customer Testimonials: How to Use Them Effectively
Customer testimonials are a great tool for turning cautious prospects into customers. Custify explains how to use them to grow conversions.
This is one of the three books I’m currently reading. Every page has justified my decision to purchase it. You should check it out.
Podcast: Lashay Lewis on building a BOFU content strategy
BOFU content are like cooking spices: everyone knows they add flavor to a content strategy and generate revenue, but few know how to write them correctly to appeal to and convert readers. Check out this podcast from Lashay Lewis to learn how to create BOFU content strategies.