Fiction writers and content managers share the desire to write something beautiful and truthful. Beautiful content marketing fascinates readers for years; It is always relevant and included in the best results of Google. This is equivalent to a beautiful and true piece of art listed on the National Book Award. What writer would not like to receive these awards?
What can you learn from the most popular authors of artistic works? These classic writers know how to attract the attention of readers and make them turn the pages. We have selected 10 favorite authors' tips that may be most important to your content marketing. (A few tips are taken from Stephen King's book Writing: A Memoir on the Craft, which is an excellent resource for all authors.)
1. Remove everything that is not part of the story - advice from John Gould to Stephen King
If the text adds nothing to the knowledge or understanding of your readers, you need to ruthlessly cut it out.
2. More to read
To write well, learn to read a lot. Read posts and articles from authors who constantly publish content that attracts an audience.
Do not limit yourself to reading texts about your industry or subject. Read different genres and styles. You can learn a lot from the way different writers attract and attract their audience.
3. Substitute the "hell" every time you want to write "very." Mark Twain
Mark Twain gives his advice to writers who use the word "very" as an amplifier, often to support weak verbs. Check your text carefully and replace “very” or delete it. Fortunately, there are many services for searching synonyms on the Internet.
4. Using simple and clear words will make your text more understandable. Ernest Hemingway
Whatever you call it - corporate speech, business jargon, prose - the use of simple and understandable words makes your content more attractive. If a high school student can understand your point of view, all your readers will spend less time to figure out what you are saying. Instead, they will easily understand and share your content.
Perhaps one of the smartest people in the world said it best: “If you cannot explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough” - Albert Einstein.
5. The road to hell is paved with adverbs. Stephen King
Just as succinctly, Kingsley Amis said: "If you use an adverb, you have an incorrect verb." Anton Chekhov said: "Cross out as many adjectives and adverbs as you can." And Elmore Leonard said: "The use of adverbs is a mortal sin."
Replace adverbs with more precise and strong verbs.
Do not attach adverbs to the tags of the dialogue, "he said excitedly," or "she answered exclaimingly." Use description, not adverbs, to convey emotions.
6. Never use a passive voice where you can use an active one. George Orwell
Some politicians like to use the passive voice, because it allows them to avoid responsibility: “Errors were made.” By whom? Writers should not do that, because it means that readers need to think too hard to understand what is happening and with whom.
Look at these two sentences to see the difference between the passive and active voice:
• A ban on hunting elephants was lifted this week in Botswana.
• This week, Botswana lifted the ban on hunting for elephants.
Whenever possible, place the performer of your actions at the beginning of a sentence to make it easier for the reader to follow your thought.