by Ruth Belena

Created on: June 20, 2009

You will achieve more writing success when you write to maximize impact, whether you write for publication in print, or you get paid to write web content.

The first rule is to write strictly according to any guidelines, instructions or editorial requests provided. Publishers, agents or clients will not be impressed if you fail to meet their basic requirements.

* Begin with a powerful opening

Write an opening paragraph that has an immediate impact. Make it attention grabbing and enticing, compelling or fascinating. Whatever follows may never be read if your opening is weak or uninteresting.

* Make an impact with your style of writing

Be creative in your use of language. Invent some apt metaphors and fill descriptive passages with vivid images. Make your narrative distinctive. You will not make an impact by using common parlance and everyday cliches, unless you are writing dialogue for a character who speaks that way.

Be illustrative when you want to make a point. Be expressive when you want to build up the action, excitement or humor, depending on what you are writing.

* Write convincingly and persuasively

Whether you write a novel, an opinion based polemic, an informational article or promotional web content, write it with conviction. When you believe in what you write, your writing will have a stronger impact.

Factual information should be firmly based on research, knowledge or personal experience. Verify your sources, add an acknowledgement or show a list of resources at the end.

Informative or instructional writing should have an authoritative tone. Avoid using phrases that suggest you are uncertain. Use firm and direct language that leaves little room for doubt.

* Be concise and to the point

Make your meaning very clear. Avoid using abbreviations or colloquial expressions.

If you write freely, or dictate what you intend to write, edit out any unnecessary phrases or excessive wording that may creep into your prose. Remove any phrase that adds little to the meaning, such as "by the way" or "as a matter of fact".

* Use the correct format for your writing

Maximize the impact of your writing on the page. Make it easier to read, and to comprehend, by avoiding run-on sentences and long unbroken passages.

Whatever you post online will have more impact when broken into short segments, using subheadings or bullet points. Text needs to grab the attention of anyone quickly scanning through the page, or searching for information. Stick to the point using short sentences, and remember that long paragraphs will appear as solid blocks of text.

* Provide a satisfactory ending

When you finish a piece of writing your story may be over, you may have made your point or presented some important facts, but you should still make an impression in your conclusion.

An article or review should sum up precisely what has been established. Fiction requires a plot to be fully resolved. Most of all, you want to end in a way that will make any reader, editor or publisher, take note of your name and want to read more of what you write.

Be sure to write in a style that is suitable and most efficacious, with a powerful opening and an impressive finish, and you will maximize the impact of everything you write.

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