Content writing is hard. Brilliant, but hard. You wouldn’t think so, would you? How could sitting in a comfy office chair (sometimes the sofa) in front of a laptop possibly be hard? Let me explain.
Writing creatively doesn’t always come naturally. Sometimes the ideas aren’t there, so the fingers are not tapping on the keys. Sometimes you will read something over and over, and yet it still does not make sense or spark an article. No spark, no content I’ve always believed. Talking personally, it’s my job to write content and the content I produce for example, is in areas I have previously never written about. Product, technology? I had not written a word about these areas previously, now I write 750 to 1000 words every other day.
Lesson one. Content writing isn’t always writing about areas you know and or are passionate about. Don’t be put off by this, it’s immensely rewarding, it’s about stepping outside your comfort zone and into a whole new world. The challenge? Whether you know about the topic or now, it’s your job to produce the best possible content you can regardless.
So, how do you write about something you don’t know anything about?
Lesson two. Research is your friend. You research, you read (anything that’s out there,) you listen to podcasts, you consume pretty much any information that available to you on the topic. Everything is content. Everything is information. Everything can inspire, so the key is to consume it. This will help build your knowledge and people’s view point on the topic. Personally, something that I think is the most and sometimes easy to overlook way of gaining knowledge about a topic, is turning to your colleagues.
OK, so we know our topic and we have started to research. Now it gets really interesting. What is the purpose of the content? Is it going to be a factual piece or is it an opinion piece? If it’s a factual piece, then use everything you’ve consumed, but stay classy and remember to reference where your ideas and or content came from. If it’s an opinion piece? Now we are talking, now we are getting somewhere. If it’s an opinion piece, I have one piece of advice and one piece only. Don’t sit on the fence. Be bold, state what you think, why you think it, and own in.
Opinions are what make content writing so great. Opinions, make content writing. Do I always have an opinion on something? Not always, but sometimes I don’t need to have one. Sometimes I am writing someone else’s opinion and bringing it to life for them. Part of the magic of content writing is sometimes you are just bringing other people’s words to life as they are not able to. In short though if it is an opinion piece, it sounds so simplistic, but don’t sit on the fence. Write your opinion. Own it.
Personally, I LOVE to write. I think content writing is one of the most important things a business can do for themselves. Content writing sparks conversation, sparks conflicts, it gets people talking about you. That’s what you want, isn’t it? It’s what I want anyway and why I feel so at home at Digital 51, they love to be at the heart of a debate, and they have lots to say.
Lesson three. Just because there is lots to say and lots to write, it does not make doing it easier. One of the hardest lessons I have learned is that I thought writing more, would make writing easy. Wrong. In fact, I would probably say it gets harder. Sometimes I’m writing so much that by the time I get to the end of the week, I can genuinely only feel a drop of creativity left in my brain. I would say that some articles take it out of you more than others.
Content writing isn’t all about just getting everything on a word document and then whacking it on to your website and hoping for some engagement. No. It’s about making sure everything is perfect before the rest of the world sees it.
Content writing is so hard, but so brilliant. Content writing is one of the most important things you can do for your business, still don’t believe me? Check out my next article on Friday and I’ll show you why.
This article was written by Chloe Brown, Marketing Intern for Digital 51.
