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Know this First Rule for Effective Writing (…before you start writing)

Posted in: Writing Tips by Lance on November 14, 2011

When I was in college I wrote a lot of essays. I thought some of them weren’t that good and was always mentally prepared for negative feedback from the instructor. To my surprise, my papers consistently received praise and high marks. At first I was stunned by this (and relieved to have escaped a verbal thrashing), but I began to wonder why I was getting the good grades. It seemed that I was surrounded by other students who were better writers than I.  What was I doing differently from them? Who else was getting good grades? Was their writing similar to mine?

Pass or Fail? Know the First Decision Your Reader (or Professor) Makes

It didn’t take me long to figure out what the difference was.

Those of us who were getting the highest grades weren’t necessarily the “best” or most naturally-talented writers. We weren’t necessarily the most creative, the most concise, or the most grammatically correct.

The difference was that those getting high marks knew how to follow the instructions of our professors.

We knew what the teachers wanted–what they expected of us–and we knew how to produce it. In short, we knew our “market” (in this case, our college professors). We knew what they wanted and we consistently provided it to them.

This may seem obvious but the truth is, most writing out there on the Web is called “bad writing” simply because it doesn’t deliver what it promises. It fails to address or satisfy its target audience.  We’ve all seen articles on technology, Web design, copywriting, etc. that don’t do what they claim to. They provide information that is either out of date, inaccurate or sometimes completely off topic. I don’t know about you, but if I’m desperately searching for information on, say, SEO optimization techniques, I can easily forgive a few errors in spelling or grammar as long as the article tells me what I want to know!

Your article might be flawless from a technical or grammatical perspective but if it fails to deliver what it promises to its target market (in this case, me) then I’ll probably feel deceived. Your writing will certainly have failed to impress me.

This simple rule is true no matter what type of writing you’re doing. It holds true offline as well as online and is just as important in writing for entertainment as it is in writing to instruct. Whether you’re writing an essay, a novel, or a blog entry on what you had for dinner last night, the success of your writing depends in large part on keeping in mind who you’re writing for and what they expect, then seeking to meet that expectation. To that end there are a couple of things to remember.

What is Your Reader Looking For?

First, understand what is expected of you (know your market). If you don’t understand what’s expected of you than meeting that expectation is the literary equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack. If you want to write on the subject of online marketing and you expect what you write to be taken seriously, you need to know who would be interested in your topic, what they need and what they’re searching for. If you don’t target your writing to the expectations of your envisioned market then it may not matter how clever and concise your prose is. It’ll never be seen by anyone who might appreciate it!

Now you know what your market is looking for. The next step is to produce something that meets those expectations.

Do Your Research or Your Reader Will Think You’re Full of BS

If you don’t know much about the subject you’ve chosen or been assigned, take time to research it. Your readers can usually tell if you’ve done your homework or not and you’ll have broadened your own knowledge in the process. Also, check and re-check your writing at every stage to make sure you’re still on target. Don’t go off on tangents or allow yourself to drift off topic. If you’re writing for a particular format then keep the rules governing that format in mind. When you’re finished take a moment to put yourself in your target readers’ shoes and ask, “Would this satisfy me?”

Of course there’s much more involved (including knowing how to reach your target audience once you’ve written effectively for it), and grammar and spelling are important, etc., but you’ve mastered one of the most basic–and overlooked–rules of effective writing. I’d say you’re off to a great start!