10 Ways To Make Writing Easier if You Hate Writing
I know what you’re thinking…
Who’s this crazy person who actually writes for a living telling ME how to write?
Yes, I write stuff for other people, so they don’t have to. I also teach people simple tricks to make writing less painful — if they’d rather be doing other things.
When you’re getting started in your business it makes a ton of sense to write your own copy. I see business owners try to skip this step all the time, outsource to a copywriter (sometimes for $12,000 or more) and then they get vanilla results.
Hiring a copywriter can help you get clear on your message, and I usually only recommend hiring someone once you’ve done the work yourself for a while.
And if you wanna just get through the pain quickly and get to the other side, this article has your name on it.
Copywriting is a skill and you can learn it.
I wasn’t born a copywriter. I wrote boring corporate-speak for more than a decade.
Even if writing is your least favorite thing to do in your business, you’re going to need some writing skills. Those emails, proposals, DMs, client emails — they’ll all be more effective when you write well.
Here are some ways to get down to business and write so you can get on with your day:
1. Know who you’re writing to. Before you start writing, can you describe who you’re writing to? What do they do for a living? How old are they? Do they have a family? What wakes them up at 2 am? When you’re writing with one person in mind, words come out easier.
2. Start with the truth, then edit. This is my favorite piece of writing advice when I have hard things to write. Whether it’s crisis communication, a change, bad news, or something technical that might put readers to sleep. Start by writing the facts, then go back and edit to make it into something you want to read. Which brings me to my next point.
3. Write what you want to read. Sick of reading the same old blog posts, the same opening lines in an email, the same email autoresponders? Write what you want to read
Write like a human, to a human.
4. Put it on your calendar. You know you need to make more time for writing, but can’t ever seem to find the time. Put it on your calendar, close everything else, and write. Friendly kick in the pants — this community does this for you.
5. What’s the point? Why are you even writing this thing? Decide what you want your reader to know or do after reading what you wrote whether it’s an email newsletter, social media post or blog post.
6. Create a big ass list of topics. Writer's block is bullshit. Starting right now, create a folder on your computer, in Evernote, Google Docs, or a notebook, and write down three things you want (or need) to write about. Whenever you get a new idea, add to this list. When you sit down at your scheduled time to write — you did schedule time on your calendar right? You now have a list of topics to choose from.
7. Become an expert in something. We write what we know. What are you constantly talking about? What are your biz buddies always asking for your advice on? Write about that.
8. Read. Truth—reading makes you a better writer. I don’t care what you read, just read something. Check out my book, or some of the books on my love list for inspiration.
9. Keep in mind that people reading your writing aren’t professional writers. And even if they are — they’re not judging you! Move forward confidently in the direction of your keyboard. I’m a writer and I don’t give a shit about most grammar rules. I hired an editor to edit my book, and I don’t even know most of the rules. Writing for the online world is about writing to connect. And anyone who corrects you online is a douche-canoe — block them.
10. Talk it out. Are you an external processor? As in, do you find you just need to talk things out to get to an answer on something? Do that! My favorite tool for this is Otter.ai. Talking it out will give you a transcript with the words you’d naturally use. This is the easiest way to make the writing you do in your head sound as good as your words on the page.
Write Like a MOFO community members love having dedicated blocks of 2 hours to write. We do this in the community at least twice a week. The time and space are ready for you — come and get your writing done. I promise it will suck so much less with friends. Best of all, you’ll actually finish it.
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