In order to fix something, you need to ascertain that something isn’t right. That takes courage and a keen eye. This becomes even more difficult if you are trying to edit written work and usually writers tend to overlook this because, well, it’s hard to admit that something’s wrong.
What follows is a list of 10 basic edits that will help you in improving your writing and bringing it to a compelling new level of profoundness, much to your reader’s delight. So, here we go folks!
10. Amend your call-to-action to be a call-to-value.
Instead of making your call-to-action seem like a boring line, make it interesting by assigning value and some mystery to it. It has to be compelling and it should make the reader want to check it out.
Click here and get a free quote is not as compelling as click now and let the journey begin.
9. Count your adverbs and then cut that number in half.
Stephen King wrote, “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Instead of using adverbs to sabotage your writing, make use of a strong verb. Instead of saying, she’s very mad; say she’s furious.
8. Rewrite everything in the second person.
You should write in second person because pronouns such as ‘you’, ‘your’ and ‘yours’ resonate with the reader better, thus letting them imagine themselves in the setting you’re writing about.
7. Convert sentences to active voice.
Do NOT go passive voice. Always use active voice and the best way to edit this is to search for ‘by’ and then noticing what action is being described passively. Check out the following example.
- Active: Usain Bolt broke the world record.
- Passive: The world record was broken by Usain Bolt
6. Incorporate the word “because” as often as possible.
Why? Because it provides them with a reason. See what we did there? Dr. Robert Cialdini says, “A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.”
5. Start sentences with “Imagine,” “Remember,” or “Picture this …”
Trigger words! People love these trigger words. Any word that can cause them to relate or think or imagine is welcomed by readers. Imagine if you could ignite someone’s interest in what you were saying – see what we did there?
4. Isolate important information using bullet points.
Make use of the fact that readers are looking for concise information and if you can provide it, they are hooked to your writing. Bullets and numbered lists will
- Help in organizing text thus making it more digestible.
- Bring key points and important pieces of information to limelight.
- Grab reader’s attention and direct it to your headlines and subheads.
3. Bold your key benefits.
Bolding the benefits will allow readers to better connect with the information. Human minds are hardwired to notice change and that’s exactly what happens when you bold out key benefit; the reader will notice the fact that there’s information that is available in highlighted form and voila.
2. Double tap the “Enter” button every 1-3 sentences.
Leaving space between paragraphs has quite an important impact. It helps in creating emphasis and bringing attention to the intended point.
White space will also make the writing appear to be less intimidating and far more readable thus igniting reader’s interest.
1. Open with questions that get the reader to say “yes.”
Inertia is important and inertia keeps things going. So you want to start with questions that the reader answers in yes. This ‘yes, yes, yes’ approach gets the reader’s mind set for agreeing with the writer. This approach helps the reader feel like the writer can relate to them and it is an important feeling if you want them to harmonize with your message. You get them to say yes enough and they will feel like your product can actually solve their problem.