Writing or content creation is always a challenge, especially if you are just starting. It can be a daunting task. However, there are a few ground rules and tools that can be followed and used to alleviate the pressure and give you a head start.
It is always nice to prepare yourself before you start writing. Make sure you have your plan laid out before you delve into the writing process. It’s very interesting how you just get carried away once you start writing.
To get started just dump your thoughts on paper and forget about the spelling, punctuation and grammar. You will have time for that.
You will come back to do the editing after you have finished dumping your thoughts on paper. Don’t interrupt your writing to correct the errors, because this will make you will break the flow of thinking.
There is always time for everything. Aim to write a minimum of about 500 words per article or per shot. I usually aim for 1000 as a minimum. This way I am able to explain myself more logically and it also gives the article more meat to feed on.
Remember the more words the better for the search engines as well. It’s not an easy fit but with practice, it is achievable. They say practice makes room for improvement.
You improve your writing muscle by practising every day. Just write on anything even if you are not going to publish the article. Write for the sake of it.
There is so much to write about and you will be amazed at what can flow from within you. But this can only be known if you set down and gave it a try.
There are many writing tools that can help you with content creation and sometimes, choosing the right tools can be very overwhelming.
I find that getting ideas from people who are already in the writing business can cut down on the learning process of finding good tools.
The use of the following tools could greatly increase and improve your writing skills and hence your production of content.
Google Docs
This is perhaps the most important tool for me. The good thing is that it is free and comes as part of the Google package.
To know that I can write from anywhere without worrying about translating my document or retyping it is a wonderful thing.
All you need to have is a Google account and you are good to go. Better still Google Docs is a word processor. Some corrections will be done on the fly as you are typing. Again don’t worry about them just transfer your thoughts on paper.
Using google docs I can type my articles on my mobile phone and continue the editing process on my desktop or laptop. All I need is to sync gadgets online.
If you do not have a google account and you are a content creator I highly recommend that you register for one. It could just be a game changer for you. Besides, it’s free for goodness sake.
Headline Studio
Now, I have not been using this for long but hey, how I wished I had known about it sometime. This is one tool that helps you create smashing headlines that will stand out.
Headline Studio will analyse your heading and make suggestions for improvement. It will score your heading on a scale of 1 – 100. One being the lowest and a hundred being the highest score.
You see, there is no use in creating content that cannot be found or read by people. What you want is content that will be found by both human beings and search engines. Not only being found but being read.
The tool will help you create catchy headlines that will compel people to read your articles when they come across them. This then will grow your readership and following.
Again am very comfortable with the free version though you can upgrade to the full version and enjoy more options. You are given full access rights to the full version for a limited time when you first subscribe.
Writing Dot Com
I use this tool to improve my typing skills. I feel it is very important to keep improving your typing skills, especially your typing speed. Look, the quicker you type the more productive you are.
I use both my laptop and mobile phone to write articles. I used to find it easier to use my mobile phone because it is less destructive and I can type using two fingers yet faster than when typing on the laptop.
However, over the last few weeks, I have also discovered that I can improve my typing speed on the keyboard by practising on the writing dot com platform.
My speed has seen an increase from 20 wpm to about 40 wpm over the last one month of daily practising. I know, that I can do better than this and I am pretty sure that by the end of the next month or so if I put my mind to it, I will achieve my target speed of 75wpm and 95% accuracy.
Typing Practice
This is more like the writing dot com platform. As the name suggests it is a typing improvement tool. I have been using it in conjunction with writing dot com.
With typing practice, you have the advantage of setting your own daily targets. The system will keep your daily practice and aggregate your results as appropriate.
Again I use the free version and so far so good, it gives me what I want. The goal, for now, is to keep improving my typing skills at the lowest of costs.
Grammarly
This is basically a Gramma tool. I currently use the free module and it’s enough for me.
Grammarly can easily be integrated with Google docs and Microsoft word. It could be the difference between writing a well-punctuated article and one that is not well punctuated and structured.
However, don’t be a slave to rules and tools. They are just here to help and guide you. Always keep in mind that you are the final decision maker.
If you have to have your own style you need to be in control of your final product and so do not let machines or tools do it for you.
Power Thesaurus
This is basically an online dictionary to use for your spell check and looking up the meaning of words.
Power Thesaurus has both free and paid subscriptions, again am more than happy with the free subscription it does meet my requirements.
Conclusion
With the use of the above free tools I hope you get to write some awesome articles and share your stories with the rest of the world.
Writing is fun it is an expression of yourself. There are many people out there waiting to hear your stories. You never know who you may touch and inspire with what you write.