by Glenn Magas

Created on: April 21, 2010

Do you want to improve writing skills in order to maximize the impact of your writing? Do you want to become a writer that turns heads - where people say ‘wow’, or where readers think they just learned something incredibly new? Do you want to be the writer that informs but is entertaining and effectively makes a few ideas stick with a reader for a lifetime? If you want to be ‘that writer’  read on.

If you don’t care about your writing skills, stop reading now because the following are three writing tips on how to maximize impact of your writing.

1. Make every word count, but don’t count every word.
2. Write from the gut and not from the head
3. Get to the point and stop

Okay, so you decided to get past the crazy tips. Each tip will maximize the impact of your writing and get readers from the first paragraph to ‘the end’ so-to-speak.

You’ve heard the saying, “Just write and keep on writing”. And if you haven’t heard the saying, then go back and read some of Julia Cameron’s books.

1. Make every word count, but don’t count every word.

Every word needs to count. Not just a few words you are using, but every word you type on the page must count. They have to have meaning. They have to provide all the impact you need to get your point across.

Wait, wait, wait… this does not mean every word makes perfect grammatical sense. This writer just used ‘wait’ three times in a row – but it made you realize there was a sidetracked point to the writer’s point.

Do you want to be a boring schoolteacher where your readers zone out after rigid, uptight words? Or do you want your readers to feel like their best friend in the whole world is talking to them about something interesting and great?

Make your words count – don’t be bound by the count.

2. Write from the gut and not from the head

From technical writing to prose, write with passion. Not from the analytical point of view.

Huh? Writing something technical can be passionate?  Yes, it sure can.

Example: If you are interested in something like SEO, go to the bookstore and open up every SEO book on the shelf. There are ones that are boring and lack impact. There are some that speak out to you, as if your buddy is telling you what he did to be successful at SEO. “For Dummies” books are written with passion and not written from the head. There is a difference. Just read the manual of your DVD player. You won’t get past the first paragraph. But a “DVD Player for Dummies”, its like a novel on a cold winter night and it’s a technical ‘how to’ book!

3. Get to the point and stop

Who needs a never ending list on “How to write to maximize impact”? Nobody. Get to the point and stop. If you want to be a better writer, make every word,paragraph or page count, because anything more is fluff. If every paragraph carries specific ‘trigger’ words to the point you are trying to make, you are an efficient writer and are getting to the point.

Once you’ve established your point, move on to the next. Once you’ve exhausted your points, then its time to stop.

There are so many articles that you can find online (or here at Helium.com) that never end. Even if they are 400 words long! One thing is for sure, if you can’t make your point in the first couple of paragraphs, you are not writing with impact.

If you want to improve writing skills then make sure you make every word count, make sure you are writing for you and not for anyone else, and stop when you are done. Hope you get the point because this writer is done.

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