Traits of a Good Writer
Not everyone can become a master writer, it takes a certain set of traits for someone to be able to master the art of storytelling. Although, everyone can write, becoming a good writer takes certain skills or traits that need to mastered.
Writers have the art of storytelling, from making you cry to making you cringe they have to paint a picture for their readers using nothing but words. Now, that every individual, company and business has a story to tell, writers have become essential to the success of a business. The search for copywriters and content writers are at an all time high, with companies shelling out a good amount of money for hiring writers. So, for anyone looking to make a career can also load up on these brilliant tactics.
If you want to become a good writer – any kind of writer – then here are list of some traits that you should start practicing.
Patience – A writer must have patience. Writing is a grueling task of researching, writing, proofreading, editing and rewriting. There might be days that you will find you won’t be able to write, some days you won’t like anything you write, whereas some days you’ll be writing pages with no finish line in sight. Writing requires taking one day and one page at a time.
Good Language – This is definitely a must, but don’t worry if your grammar is not on point or your sentence structure is a little off, or you haven’t yet learned how to write captivating content pieces yet. All of this comes with practice, lots of it. So, don’t worry so much that if the language that you are writing is not your strongest. Just keep practicing and get help from someone whose language is better than yours – any writer will be more than happy to lend a hand to someone who is just learning the ropes.
Attention to Detail – A writer must be able to pay attention to detail. When you write, your job is to paint a picture with words, which means for it to blow someone’s mind, it must be very detail oriented. The reader must be able to visualize the image you are trying to create. Attention to detail also helps spot errors when editing, or proofreading a copy, as well as with finding continuity errors in the story.
Clarity – Just like speaking, when you write, your words must be clear. You must be able to take even the most complex theory and put it in words as simple as the ABC. Complex thoughts? Invigorating ideas? Technical details? Nothing shouldn’t be too hard for you to simplify and put down to paper.
Passion for Reading – This has become a must for anyone who is looking to become a writer and can often be found in almost all blogs and articles about becoming a writer. However, because of its importance, it deserves mentioning multiple times. A writer must have a burning fire for books. Books should excite them and enamor them.
Imaginative – Quick! Think your most absurd thought. Got it? Good! Now, write it down. This is raw imagination, it’s the most crazy, kooky and crazy thought you can come up. As wild as your imagination is, the better your content will be. But, do remember that it must be relevant to your topic. A flying lobster stranded in Times Square won’t help you write your story on tax deficits.
Now that you understand the different traits it takes to become a writer, there are a few things you can do to practice writing.
Things To Do Before You Start Writing
Now, I know you can always just start writing, but when it comes down to writing content for an article, a blog or even a book, there are a few steps you must take to ensure that you get the most out of your writing session. For many writers, they sit down to write and end up with writer’s block or worse, paragraphs of content that disagree with each other. So, here are a few tips that you should keep in mind before you sit down and start writing.
Decide your direction – What is the type of content that you are writing? Who are you writing for? A book, a magazine, a blogging website, so on.
Select a topic, and a back-up topic – You should definitely have an extra topic on hand in case the first one does not yield the results you want it to.
Research – Ensure you do your research. Jot down notes separately if you have to, but make sure that you use the right resources to get your information.
Make a rough framework – A lot of newbie writers avoid this step and just ‘wing it’, but they usually end up with a piece of content that has a horrible flow and doesn’t express what the reader wants it to. A rough framework gives you a guideline to follow and ensure that your content says what you want it to. Of course, the framework is flexible and you can definitely shift things around or add something as you see fit.
Write – If you’ve followed all the steps above, writing should come easy. You now know what you want to say and how you want to say it. However, now that you have started writing, there are two things you should keep in mind: grammar and spelling. Make sure your writing does not suffer because of poor grammar or spelling. These two components are the building blocks of good writing.
The guidelines mentioned above are a great framework that you can follow, but keep in mind that it doesn’t always work for every writer. Each writer builds their own process of writing, some write require quite, some chaos and some writer can simply write without requiring any of the proposed tips.
However, for newbie writers who have yet to build their own schedule or figure out their writing kicks, this general frameworks offers a great opportunity for start somewhere. If you have any other tips or any other traits which you think are important, please feel free to drop a message in the comments section below.
Quite Informative, thanks