Visionary Writing Techniques #001
by John Onorato
I’m going to start by sharing a tidbit about writing that positively rocked my world. I learned this at the beginning of my freelance writing career, in 2013.
I’d been writing for years before that, but my words weren’t that effective. Sure, I had a certain facility, but wasn’t everyone taught how to write in school? Was I really that different than everyone else?
Turns out, I was.
It would be fairly accurate to say that “Writing is my life.” And if you were to say that to my face, I’d follow it up with “And my life is writing.”
But when I learned this one thing, my writing changed forever. It became immeasurably better.
What is that wisdom, you ask?
It’s super simple.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
That’s it. Just know your audience.
Are you writing for yourself? Great! Let it all hang out. Do what you’re gonna do and don’t think too much about it. You can always re-read your work later and pull it into a piece meant for public consumption.
Are you writing for clients? Then use their language. Use the same words you hear them using. So doing gets you inside their heads.
Are you writing to share knowledge or wisdom? Then make your best guess as to what language will be most effective. Use words and phrases that will be accessible to the largest segment of your intended audience.
Avoid using “jargon,” or language that’s used by smaller segments of the population. If you feel that’s the best way of getting your message across, then explain your use of the terms.
Here’s another tip, closely related to that one: Know your subject matter (as much as you can, anyway). Do your research.
Writing about anything positions you as an “expert” on that thing. But you don’t have to actually possess expertise in that subject — you have to know just a little more than your audience.
In other words, don’t “wing it.” If you do that, your reader will figure it out. It might be super subtle, but it’s easily seen by a person who knows about the subject.
It’s the same as when my daughter was 14, and I tried to “be cool.” I would use terms I didn’t fully know the meaning of, and I looked a fool to her friends.
So that’s about it for today. Just to let you know, I’m planning on releasing these short pieces about writing periodically. I’m envisioning 2-3 times a week. I’ll keep the pieces short, for easy digestion.
But I want to front-load this process with the tip that moved the needle the most for me.
Know your audience.
That’s all. Just know your audience.
As you write here, in the Visionary Group, your audience is a lot like you. But when you start messaging for clients, when you start writing for others with the intent to be read … that’s when you really have to know your audience.
Stay tuned to this bat-channel for more tips and tricks!
