Men discussing report

Write your way to success

Welcome
city scene from multi-storey office

Write your way to success

in business, management and banking

Welcome
science laboratory work

Write your way to success

in science and research

Welcome
wind turbine technology

Write your way to success

in engineering and technology

Welcome
rainforest for better environment

Write you way to success

in environment and climate change

Welcome

How to be a powerful writer - 4 smart tips

Powerful writing hits the bull eyes
Powerful writers use these 4 smart tips to ensure they score.

Secretly envy colleagues who can write a paper with seemingly no effort? We all do! The good news is you can become a powerful writer.

You just have to know how. It’s not rocket science!

One of the greatest assets in business and the professions, if not the greatest, is the skill to write for easy reading and clear understanding by your target audience. It’s a skill you can’t do without if you are a scientist, researcher, engineer, lawyer, economist, technical specialist or business manager.

And you can easily learn how.

To get started, here are 4 smart tips guaranteed to bring your writing to a new level. And to put you on the road to becoming a more powerful writer.

1. Don’t rely on perfect grammar to be a powerful writer.

There’s no question, correct grammar is essential. But power writing is more than the sum of grammatically correct sentences. Correct grammar is just the starting point.

You have a big advantage if you learned English as your second or even third language. Because the chances are you have a sound knowledge of grammar, spelling and syntax.

But you need a sound knowledge of the techniques, tips and tricks of clear, concise, coherent writing for your target readers.

2. Powerful writers connect directly with their readers.

The next tip might sound obvious, but power writing focuses on your intended readers, first and last.

Not everyone is interested in what you write, so before you put fingers to the keyboard, be clear about your target reader, and your writing purpose. To inform, to explain, to convince, or to entertain about a specific subject or point of view.

Once you are clear about your target audience and why you are addressing them, work out what to tell them. Be bold, leave out the stuff that’s not relevant.

Consider how best to write to capture reader interest and to ensure their understanding. For instance, you may decide on a formal writing style, or perhaps, a conversational style will do the trick.

3. Powerful writers think, write, revise.

For most of us, it’s not possible to go to the computer and write a ‘masterpiece’. The masterpiece is the product of the tried and tested writing recipe: think – write – revise.

Powerful writers follow these three steps as second nature. But this is not the case for most of us working under pressure of deadlines.

We go to the computer and type, type, type, anxious to get our information and ideas on paper, well, in the computer.

The result is a first rough draft of the ideas and information. But this is only the first step in the writing process – think – focusing on what to write, focusing on the content.

The next step – write – is the actual writing. In this step, the rough draft is reviewed, refined and polished to ensure the writing is clear, concise and coherent for the intended readers.

 Most writers know they need to revise and polish their written draft at least once or twice to ensure the writing is powerful and convincing. 

Finally, the draft needs to be checked and proofread to ensure it’s free of errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation.

With experience, you can move quickly and easily through these three steps.

4. Powerful writers use tried and tested writing techniques.

As I’ve already said, correct grammar and spelling are essential. But powerful writing depends on tried and tested techniques, tips and tricks of clear, concise, coherent writing.

Yet, most people have never learned these advanced writing skills at school or university, even though they are essential to successful business and professional writing.

The good news is you can learn these skills. All that’s required is some one-to-one coaching, focusing on your writing and showing you how to make easy adjustments to increase your writing impact.

What now

If you’re already following these tips, that’s great! You’re well on the way to being a powerful writer.

If these four tips are new to you, why not give them a try. You’ll see a great improvement in your writing in a very short time.

The quickest, surest way to becoming a more powerful writer is some coaching. Just a few coaching sessions will do the trick. The best results come from working with your coach to analyse your writing and to discover techniques, tips and tricks to write with greater impact.

If this sounds like you, take a look at  writing coach and contact me at west@englishcom.nl.

Good luck!