Introduction
Becoming an expert content writer is not easy, but it is definitely rewarding. It is a lucrative field nowadays, gaining expertise in which can open up the avenues of excellent career paths and even business ventures.
But as we said, it’s not easy. There is a lot that you have to do, and there are several things that you have to improve so that you can be called an expert.
In this post, we’re going to be looking at the main things that you can do to become adroit at content writing.
1. Master the rules of grammar
The first thing that you need to get down if you are looking to become an expert content writer is your grammar. If you struggle with grammar, you will not be able to make error-free content. There would be all sorts of mistakes in the content – which would, in turn – make the content look amateurish.
You need to make sure that you know the basics, such as the correct use of commas, the correct tenses, and their respective noun and verb usage, etc. After the basics, you can move on to the finer details (which are equally as important), such as avoiding issues like incorrect parallelism and incorrect sentence fragmentation.
There are a lot of things in grammar, and we can’t really encompass them here in these types of brief examples. We can, however, talk about some things that you can do to master the rules of grammar.
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First off, you can take a crash course online. There are plenty of those that you can find on the Internet, and if you take care to pick a reliable and renowned one, it will be effective, too.
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Another way to work on your grammar is to read up on reliable and professional articles talking about things like common grammatical issues and grammatical misconceptions, etc. The good thing about reading up on this type of content is that you get a two-fold benefit. You can a) learn about grammar itself and b) improve your understanding by looking at the correct use of grammar in action.
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Another somewhat lesser-known way of improving grammar is to use an online grammar checker. Grammar-checking tools serve the simple function of checking for grammar errors in the content that is provided to them. They also give the correct suggestions for those errors and provide explanations on why those errors are pointed out, to begin with. Using these tools can come in handy by indicating the errors in your writing that you are wont to make but are unaware of.
2. Learn how to perform proper research
As a content writer, there will be times when you will be tasked with writing about things that you won’t have a lot of knowledge about. You will, in these cases, have to perform effective research to learn about the topic in question.
Research is one of the places where a lot of writers can face trouble. When research is not done right, it has a lot of different consequences. It not only means that the writer would be left without the right information for their content. Rather, improper research can lead to plagiarism.
2.1 How? We’ll explain.
One way in which research can become improper is when it is done from an inadequate number of sources. For example, if research is just done from one or two sources, it would lead to the writer inadvertently copying the style and tone of the source(s). This would, in turn, lead to the writer committing accidental plagiarism.
This is one way in which research can become improper. Other definitions of “improper research” can include:
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The type of research that is not done from reliable and credible sources. The resultant content, in this case, would likewise not be reliable or credible.
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The type of research in which the information is too closely taken from the source. This again leads to plagiarism issues. While researching, the maxim of “taking ideas, not content” should be kept in mind.
As an expert content writer, you will be expected to conduct thorough and proper research on the topics that require it. Considering what we’ve mentioned above, this type of research would be characterized by:
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Being performed across a multitude of sources
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Being performed on sources that are reliable and credible
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Involving the taking of ideas and abstract concepts rather than words verbatim
3. Learn how to write clearly and engagingly
Contrary to what a lot of beginner writers can infer, good writing is not defined by the use of difficult words and convoluted sentences. Rather, it is defined by the use of clear, precise, and engaging language that makes the reader feel at home and helps them understand the core material with ease.
If you want to become an expert in content writing, you have to learn to shed the habit (if you still have it) of writing complex stuff. Some actionable tips that you can follow in this regard are:
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Learn to keep your sentences short. The sentences you write should contain 20 words at the maximum. Any longer than this, and they will become too difficult to read.
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Learn to use descriptive words and phrases for brevity. Consider the example of writing the words “polysyllabic” or “sesquipedalian” as compared to the phrase “containing many syllables.” The former is more reader-friendly.
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Use active voice in your content. Passive voice can make your content look weaker.
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Organize the content you write properly in passages and paragraphs. The ideal length for paragraphs is 3 to 5 lines.
Adjusting the length of the content and the sentences is something you can actively keep an eye on and manage. However, using descriptive words and making the sentences flow nicely are some of the things that aren’t that easy to figure out.
A good way to learn this is to use an online AI-based paraphrasing tool. It’s a little unorthodox, sure, but it can be helpful. We’ll explain why.
When you paraphrase online using these tools, you are able to get a much better version of your content from it. The tool can paraphrase the content – and since it utilizes AI – the final version is better in most cases in terms of being readable and engaging.
You can compare the two versions, note down the changes, and then implement them yourself the next time you write content.
Conclusion
There are finer details that you have to tune to become an expert content writer. But, we talked about discussing the main things, and that is what we’ve done in the post above.
Although they may not look like much, the ability to write grammatically perfect content, to research well, and to make your writing come off as readable is more or less what you need to do here.