NCC Blog
How to focus your writing for better results
What if article writing could be easier for you? Would you do more of it? A simple trick is to stop trying to write the article of a lifetime! Let me explain…
When you’re excited and passionate about the ideas you have to share, it’s easy to go overboard and try to capture your many thoughts about a particular subject all at once. After all, you want to help and you know people need you.
Unfortunately, if you try to encapsulate your life’s work in one single article you risk overwhelming your reader. They may click away and you’ve lost your chance to help them at all.
Instead, focus in on one main idea in every article, supporting that idea with a few sub-points, definitions or explanations. Close the article with a clear call-to-action to help your reader apply what they’ve read, whether that’s to follow up with you for more resources, implement the tips in their life, think about things in a different way or a combination of all three.
Now, your reader is left with one clear new idea, a way to make use of it, and deeper trust in you as someone who will deliver more great content in the future. And with all of that editing and paring down you just did, you’ll have plenty of content to give them.
So stop trying to write the article of a lifetime, and remember that you have a lifetime to write articles!
Note: This article is an update of a 2007 post on the Idea Generator blog.
Linda Dessau is the founder of You Talk, I’ll Write and the Idea Generator blog. She ghostwrites and edits content for newsletters, blogs and social media. Her clients are coaches and others who want to build trust, relationships and credibility while growing a service-based business. Focusing your content is only one of her 7 Secrets of Content Marketing Success—you can discover them all when you sign up for the free video at www.ContentCreationCapsule.com.
Merci
Simple but so true.
Now want I start to write I have to tie a rope around my first idea to prevent me to shot every where and I arrived at the end completely confused and many it impossible to conclude.
Thx
Sorry for my writing I am french.
Hello Pierre,
Thank you so much for your comment. A string around the finger would be a great reminder to stick to one point in your articles!
Happy writing,
Linda
Linda what a great piece of advice. I do a lot of business and technical writing and it occurred to me as read your post that the ‘one idea/subject’ at a time is and always has been the ideal way to write anything.
Saying It With Words!!
Viv
Hi Viv,
Thanks so much for your comments, and I couldn’t agree more! I’m glad to know you’re out there helping people with their business and technical writing.
Best wishes,
Linda
When I have “too much to say” in an article, I’ll often break it into multiple articles. Sometimes I just stop after the first main point and wait until later to write about the next bit. Other times, I just keep writing until I’ve said everything I want and then go back to break it up into multiple articles (with intros and conclusions for each.)
I hate to lose great article ideas, and this can give me a backlog of articles to publish for some weeks into the future. It’s good to go with the creative flow while it’s flowing!
Peggy
Hi Peggy,
Thanks for your comments!
That’s a fantastic practice. What a great way to keep your “idea catcher” (http://solopreneur.biz/2010/02/content-marketing-for-solopreneurs-solve-writers-block-with-an-idea-catcher/) full and never be faced with an empty screen when it’s time to publish your next newsletter or blog post.
Best wishes,
Linda
Great article Linda.
I also find it easier to write article titles when they are more focused. Good work.
Thanks so much, Kenn, and that’s a great point about article titles. Being focused helps with pretty much any piece of writing you’re doing!