Six Snippets On Content Writing!

#1   In simple words, ‘Content Writing’ is a process of writing content, of a specific form, format and style.

#2   They key purpose of content writing is to enable the access of two-way communication. The goals, for which, commonly include communicating an idea, promoting a product or service, telling a story and/or offering entertainment, through the medium of written word.

#3   Typically, the hamburger-menu of a ‘content writing process’ is composed of various sub-processes such as writing, editing, proofreading and publishing.

#4   Also, the content writing process is not something which is standalone. Usually, it is accompanied by a variety of visual communication material as well. This material can range from illustrations to graphics to animations to high-quality images, photographs & videos.

#5   The utility of Content Writing is not limited to a full-fledged business but as equally for a website, small-scale trading store, restaurants, professional blogs, and likewise too.

#6 You can write the content by yourself (DIY), or you may want to hire a professional writer for the same.

What's inside a Content Writer's Toolbox?

 

#1  Research

A good quality research and keen eye for detail are essential aspects that make up the starting point of understanding a specific topic or idea.

#2  Storytelling

Storytelling is the heart of any writing process. It involves connecting the dots and stringing together seemingly unrelated ideas into a matrix of its own; a matrix which is fully-functional, clearly communicable and perhaps entertaining too

#3  Industry-based vocabulary, phrase terminology and writing etiquette

No matter how ‘sizzling’ your colleague may be in looks, you don’t necessarily use the word ‘sizzling’ to describe him in a report you are writing to your manager. ‘Sizzling’ would rather be a good choice while you’re describing a dish of noodles.

If you are a layman, then all collars and all necklines of all dresses are just collars or necklines. But if you’re writing a book for a fashion designer, even a slight curve or ruffle or puff of a dress collar will require to be described with its fashion-specific terminology.

Employing industry-specific technical/non-technical jargon is an important slice of the “content writing pizza”, and its importance can never be underestimated.

#4  Writing!

Yes, nowadays, there is not just a pool, but a gigantic ocean bubbling with content writers worldwide. However, if you’re willing to stand out, you must put an essential chunk of time to practice your writing skills – not merely creative aspect of writing, but also the business aspect of writing, as seen in copywriting.

#5  Editing & Revision

The significance of editing process can never be denied, especially if you work as a writer. The reason is this. Typically, the magnetic hold of all our creative, rainbowy and flowery ideas tends to magnify too much that we are at a risk of forgetting our purpose and end goal. By keeping the process of Editing inclusive to our writing process, we can make sure of casting a balance between our creative imagination and logical communication.

#6  Images & Visuals

Visual content walks parallel to the written content, especially if they’re accompanied together for a project or a job. And so, even if you’re writing super-juicy content for your website, but use low-quality pictures, it significantly decreases the effect of your written word.

#7  Proofreading

Proofreading is the process in which we check the piece of writing we have written, for spellings, punctuation, and basic grammar.

Alternatively to the manual proofreading process, you can employ any of the several tools (such as Grammarly), which are already available in the digital space, nowadays..

#8  Technological Know-hows

This is the age of digital transformation. And the importance of learning to work with the various content management systems and online tools is but obvious a thing to reflect upon. 

Check out other videos useful for writers. For notifications of the upcoming videos, subscribe to my channel.

Thank you & Good day!

Neha

51 Witty & Trippy Mockup Project Ideas To Enhance Your Writing Quality &...

#1 Build a dictionary/encyclopedia on Youtube
#2 Create your own thesaurus and style guide for your occupation or profession
#3 Make Your Personal Question Bank – A glossary of various types of questions
#4 Build Your Personal Brand QR Code
#5 Don't add Page Numbers in Contents while self publishing books on Amazon [To prevent poor formatting]
#6 Create an editorial calendar for yourself
#7 Make a folder for research material while content writing
#8 Make a quote calendar – a quote for a day
#9 Make a video glossary of your favourite writing project
#10    Make checkerboards and grids for tracking project days [project goal grid]
#11    Make a collection of creative writing phrases
#12    Divide your time between ‘Research Time’, and ‘Writing Time’. Further divide your Writing Time between various categories of writing – freelance, short story, free writing, etc.
#13    Craft your own little writing zines or chapbooks
#14    Add audio files for newsletters and mail replies than text files!
#15     Make research-time ideabooks
#16    Make a collection of Quotes by Famous Poets/Authors
#17    Collect some interesting Youtube descriptions in your swipe file
#18    Write and create a mock corporate zine
#19    Make a folder of submissions, participations and commissions
#20    Make a Stream of consciousness writing Notebook

#21    Set chunks of research time and writing time to fix the writing schedule
#22    Make your own invoice system
#23    Make a logbook, workbook or registers to track your daily free writing
#24    Publish your documents and ebooks on Google books to promote
#25     Publish and sell your articles on Kindle
#26    Practice Word Associations
#27    Write 1000 words a day for a month
#28    Make a Word box – Pick a word prompt and free write on it
#29    Create audio poetry in your voice. Publish it on Spotify, Youtube and/or Soundcloud!
#30    Greeting Poems For different occasions
#31    Make a world record in memorizing words
#32    Write and design an Interactive Textbook
#33    Make a pocket book of rejuvenating words, quotes and phrases
#34    Make a pocket book of topical quotes
#35     Take one prompt/experience and fill the entire notebook, writing each day on the same prompt!
#36    Publish low-content books on KDP!
#37    Brainstorm and jot down a list of ideas to make typical books appear visually interesting
#38    Discover new words – of your own – made up words
#39    Write Letters to Anything and Everything – people, things, animals, flowers etc.
#40    Write food poetry
#41    Write fashion poetry with washi tapes
#42    Write mock captions for various occasions
#43    Write one-line stories using Twitter moments
#44    Write a heart-touching poetry in Hindi
#45    Write mock-ups for Product Stories/Product Copies
#46    Write recipe mock-ups for food bloggers, vloggers, photographers, yourself and likewise
#47    Create a shoppable or ready-made content package
#48    Practice writing witty/creative/quirky resumes
#49    Make a visual poetry book – one long poem spread out in one little chapbook
#50    Write a collection of Riddle Poems
#51     Make a notebook for character sketches for fiction

FROM NOODLES TO PARANTHAS, CHOCOLATES & BEYOND – THE 7 SECRETS OF FOOD WRITING

Slurping steamy spiced noodles from a bowl while heavy monsoon rains drip outside…

Relishing a fold of butter-soaked crispy-flaked potato parantha on a wintery Sunday morning

Sipping a glass of iced rose sherbet to relieve summer afternoon’s burning heat

Chewing onto a herby, cheese-dipped pepper-flavoured pizza crust on a movie night

Munching from a box of crunchy chips along with your best buddy

Relishing a raw juicy salad of freshly cut fruits & veggies

Scooping a spoonful of nutty chocolate-dipped fudge bar melting on your tongue….

 

There is certainly a certain kind of pleasure in food; that can never be underestimated.

This feeling of pleasure causes the topic of ‘food writing’ one of the most evocative forms of writing.

In fact, writing about food is as exciting as the food itself!

In this video, I am presenting the top-secret ingredients that make a piece of food writing as delicious as the food you’re writing about!

So, let’s breeze through these!

 

#1 ADD FOOD-RELATED SENSORY DETAILING

What does this food item or dish appeal to your five senses?

How does this cooking process appear to you?

How’d you describe the first overall impression that you got after seeing that dish in a palette or that process of cooking going on in the kitchen?

What is the overall visual appearance? – Write about it..

The shape(s), colour(s) and consistency…

What are the textures involved?

Write about the smells and aromas involved.

 

#2 WRITE ABOUT FLAVOURS & TASTES

How does the food feel like as soon as it enters your mouth and you start chewing or swallowing or sipping it bit by bit?

What is the dominant taste? – Is it spicy or is it sweet? – Bitter? Astringent? Sour? Salty? – Write about it.

What are the flavours involved?

What according to you will be the best companions with this food for adding to its taste? – Write about the best toppings, side-dishes and garnishes related to it.

Describe the flavours involved in your own words while offering the specific and precise details.

 

#3 WRITE ABOUT INGREDIENTS & RECIPE(S)

Write about the category of its cuisine, its main city and the culture surrounding it – its history & inventor etc.

Write about ingredients involved in it, if any

Write about its various recipes & recipes related to it

Are you a chef or do you know one personally (that includes your mother!)? Well, then you can interview them to share with you their secret sauce ingredients & mention these in your content.

 

#4 INCLUDE EDIBILITY DETAILS

Write about the nutritional content, if possible and/or required in your content piece.

In which meal of the day this dish is usually eaten and how?

What is the correct temperature and instrument(s) of eating pertaining to this food, dish or eatable?

 

#5 SPRINKLE TOUCHES OF EMOTIONAL FLAVOUR BY ADDING YOUR PERSONAL ELEMENT RELATED TO THE FOOD(S) YOU’RE WRITING ABOUT!

Write about your own experiences & memories related to the food (dish/product/cuisine)

Do you like these kinds of foods or do you dislike them?

What do you feel, think and imagine about the foods or recipes or cuisines that you’re writing about?

 

#6 MENTION RELATED RESTAURANTS OR PRODUCTS

Is this dish served in a café, or is it a specialty of a street food stall?

Got a knack for writing food product reviews? Collaborate with food bloggers, and include the restaurants or top eateries related to that food/cuisine/dish!

 

#7 EMBELLISH YOUR WRITING WITH FOOD-RELATED QUOTES, PHRASES, IDIOMS & ANECDOTES!

There are tons of idioms, phrases, quotes, proverbs & anecdotes you’ll discover, related to all things food. Utilize them to embellish your content.

Got some wonderful snippets or clippings in your writer’s swipe file? Well, bring them into use by repurposing and quoting in your content piece!

 

Remember the goal is to create a springboard of sensory food narrative in order to salivate the tastebuds in the imagination of the reader!

Thank you, good day, keep writing and remember to subscribe to my channel for more exciting ideas related to writing, art & life!

Sincerely,

Neha

Book Review: 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost | 46 Pointers from the book!

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing: Proven Professional Techniques for Writing With Style and Power by Gary Provost


As the name suggests, this book by Mr. Gary Provost outlines 100 ways to improve writing. These 100 ways are divided into crisp eleven chapters. The book is a handy treasury of ideas, interesting examples and functional pointers that may turn out to be super-useful for anyone seeking refinement of their writing, and accelerate the momentum of their writing process. In this review, I share 46 pointers that I curated upon reading the book.

For easy rememberance, I’ve divided the video into 3 parts – Quick Tips & Tricks, Lessons in the Craft of Writing & Common Errors and Mistakes To Avoid in Writing.

Let’s breeze through these!

QUICK TIPS & TRICKS
#1 Get some reference books
• Get some Reference Books such as a dictionary, encyclopedia and thesaurus.
#2 Improve Your Spellings
#3 Expand Your Vocabulary
#4 Read
• Read, and listen to what you read. Listen for the sound of the language, the music. Note the punctuation, the spelling, the logical progression of information.
#5 Take a class
#6 Research. Join a library.
#7 Eavesdrop
• Be nosy. Listen to conversations on the bus, in the elevator. Screen out the words sometimes and listen only to the music. Tune into teenagers’ conversations and you’ll pick latest slang. Find out what people are talking about, what they care about. All of this will help you to communicate more effectively through your writing.
#8 Write in your head
• If you have spent time writing in your head, you’ll have a head start when you actually sit down to write.
#9 Copy Something
• Copy quotes, sentences, paragraphs and writing from some popular or famous works.
#10 Keep a journal
• If you’ve some sort of notebook or diary that you return to often with your written thoughts, opinions, observations and various bits of wit, you’ll have a place in which to exercise your writing muscles. You’ll learn to write succinctly and clearly the events of your daily life. You’ll learn to pluck from each event just the details needed to create a sense of the whole. If you keep a journal, you’ll grow as a writer, and you’ll find that sooner or later, no matter what you’ve to write professionally, your personal experiences will play a part.
#11 Do Writing Exercises
#12 Organize Your material
• Organizing will help you lock in the logic of what you say, and it’ll speed the writing process. Organizing will help to create an overall unity as well as several interior unities.
#13 Make a list or a checklist.
#14 Picture a reader
• Write a letter to your imaginary reader. icture the reader to be in the room with you.
#15 Steal
• Be a literary pack-rat.
• Brighten up your story with a metaphor you read in the Sunday paper. Make a point with an anecdote you heard at the barber shop. Let a character tell a joke you heard in a bar. But steal small, not big. Be wary of plagiarism.
#16 use examples, quotations, quotes, facts and anecdotes in your writing
#17 Colour your stories with your opinions
• You don’t have to care whether the reader agrees with your opinion or not, the reader only has to respond to it.
#18 Ask Yourself Why You’re Writing
• What are your goals? Are you trying to make your readers laugh? Are you trying to persuade them to buy a product? Are you trying to advise them? Are you trying to inform them so you can make a decision?
• You must know what you want done before you pick the tools to do it.
LESSONS IN THE CRAFT OF WRITING
#19 Find a Slant
• Do not try to write everything about your subject. All subjects are inexhaustible.
• Tie yourself to a specific idea about your subject. This idea is called slant. Ex: Glass windows – stained glass windows
#20 Write a strong lead
• The lead is whatever it takes to lead your readers so deeply into your story or article that they’ll not turn back unless you stray from the path you’ve put them on.
• A good lead is the one that is provocative, energetic, of appropriate respective length and gives the readers something to care about.
#21 How to Write Beginnings
• Cross out every sentence in the initial drafts until you come to the one you cannot do without.
• Set a tone and maintain it.
#22 Use Pyramid Construction
• Writing in pyramid style means getting to the point at the top, putting the “who, what, when, where and why” in the first paragraph and developing the supporting information under it.
#23 Use topic Sentences
• A topic sentence in a paragraph is a sentence containing the thought that is developed throughout the rest of the paragraph.
#24 Write short paragraphs.
#25 On Transitions In Writing
• Use transitional phrases to make the transition between sentences quick, smooth, quiet, reliable and logical.
• Use bridge words for transitions.
• Don’t use transitions to conceal information. Ex: Don’t write “John went to the museum” if later you intend to show that John had an accident while going to the museum.
• Explain, not acknowledge, the awkward transitions.
#26 On STYLE
• Style is the way an idea is expressed, not the idea itself.
• Style is form, not content.
• A reader usually picks up a story because to the content but too often puts it down because to style.
• there is no subject that cannot be made fascinating by a well-informed and competent writer.
#27 Writing is music
• To write is to create music. The words you write create sounds and when these sounds are in harmony, the writing will work.
• Listen to your writing.
• Listen for the dissonance. Listen for the beat. Listen for the gaps. Listen for the sour notes.
#28 Vary sentence length.
• This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
SO, write with a combination of short, medium and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ears. Don’t just write words. Write music.
#29 Know how to use punctuation correctly
• Don’t use punctuation as decoration. Avoid using unnecessary dashes, ellipses or quotation marks, the way drunks use whiskey.
• Use Commas to add clarity to a sentence. Read it aloud. In a pause really needed for clarity?
• Use a Semicolon when a comma would not give your sentence the sufficient pause. Also, to separate a word series that contain commas. For instance, He bought soda, potato chips, icecream and candy; several games; three record albums.
• Colons are used to introduce lists, formal quotations and examples.
• Use exclamation only when exclaiming and question marks only when asking questions.
• Trust your sentences to reveal emotions. Don’t rely on punctuation to show how much feeling you bring to your writing.
• All words taken directly from another’s speech or writing must be set off in quotation marks. Do not use quotation marks around the words that are not directly taken from a speech or writing. If a quote is contained within a quote, use a single quotation mark for the inner quote. Use quotation marks around word or phrase you intend to explain.
#30 Respect the rules of grammar
• The rules of grammar organize the language just as the rules of arithmetic organize the world of numbers.
• Grammatical rules about tense, gender, number, person and case provide us with a literary currency that we can spend wherever english is spoken or read.
#31 Prefer Good writing to Good grammar
• Keep in mind that good grammar, even perfect grammar, doesn’t guarantee good writing any more than a good referee guarantees a good basketball game.
#32 Create a strong title
• a good title is short.
• a good title will make the reader curious
• a good title reveals information, not hide it
• a good title suggests the slant of the story
#33 On Writing Complete & Incomplete Sentences
• “The cat jumped off the roof” is a complete sentence. “The cat jumped” is also a complete sentence. ‘The cat” however, is not a complete sentence.
• Write complete sentences 99% of the time. But every now and then, if a partial sentence sounds right to you, that’s what you should write. Period.
#34 Show don’t tell.
• Trust the reader to understand what you’re showing through your writing.
#35 Use parallel construction
• Just as the steady beat of a drum can often enrich a melody, the repetition of a sound can often improve the music of your writing. This is called parallel construction.
• Fish gotta swim and flying is something that birds should do. – Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly.
#36 Use words that are short, dense & familiar
• Instead of once a month, use monthly.
• Instead of something new, use novel, etc.
#37 Use strong verbs. Use active verbs.
• Verbs, words of action are primary source of energy in your sentence. Active verbs do something. Inactive verbs are something. Set your sentence in motion by using strong & active verbs.
• Ex: The clock was in the corner of the wall. – The clock towered in the corner of the wall.
• Turn look into stare, gaze, peek, etc.
• Be suspicious of adverbs.
#38 Be specific
• Picture a box. Picture a black box. Picture a black box with silver hinges.
• Be specific in your writing without being too wordy.
#39 Don’t force a personal style
• Style is not something you can put into your writing like a new set of clothes. Style is your writing. It is inexorably knotted to the content of your words and the nature of you. So do not pour the clay of your thoughts into the hard mold of some personal writing style that you’re determined to have. Do not create in your head some witty, erudite, exciting persona and try to capture him or her on paper. Strive instead to write without self-consciousness. Then your style will emerge.

COMMON ERRORS & MISTAKES TO AVOID IN WRITING
#40 On Editing Early Drafts
• You’ll make mistakes in your early drafts. That’s okay. But before you type the final draft, let atleast a day pass, and then think carefully about what you wrote before turning to your typewriter. You may find that what you thought was brilliant prose on Tuesday borders on the moronic by Friday. On the other hand, you may discover that, what seemed trivial when you wrote it, is, in fact, profound.
• Cut unnecessary words. They’ll slow you down.
• Read aloud your work.
• Avoid using too many footnotes, jargon, parentheses and clichés
#41 Use specific nouns.
• Be on lookout for adjectives that are doing the work that could be done by a noun.
• Adjectives do for nouns, what adverbs do for verbs.
#42 Avoid Splitting infinitives
• A splitting infinitive when an adverb is placed between the word to and the verb. Ex: she wanted to quickly reach home. She wanted to reach the home quickly
#43 Avoid shifts in pronoun forms
• When one has written the paper, they should take a break. – when one has written the paper, one should take a break.
#44 Avoid Dangling Modifiers
• A dangling modifier is a word or a group of words that appears to modify an inappropriate word in the same sentence.
• The error occurs most often when passive rather than active voice is used.
• In drawing the picture, his wife was used as the model. In drawing the picture, he used his wife as the model.
#45 Do Not change tenses in the sentences of the same paragraph.
#46 learn how to use the possessive case
Ex: The perfume lost it’s scent. (Incorrect)
The perfume lost its scent. (Correct)

Thank you! 🙂✍️💟

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Syllable Manipulation Tactics For Shortform Writing in Copywriting, Content Writing & Creative Writing

 

Syllable manipulation is an exciting approach to add the element of wittiness, clubbability and fun to the style of your writing.

 

In linguistics, Syllable manipulation comes under the combined umbrella of phonetics, phonotactics and morphology. 

WHAT IS SYLLABLE MANIPULATION?

The technique of writing in which the set of syllables forming a word, are manipulated, in order to form new words or to add style to the writing.

THE TACTICS OF SYLLABLE MANIPULATION?

The process of syllable manipulation mainly includes the tactics of syllable segmentation, syllable isolation, syllable addition, syllable deletion, syllable substituition, syllable scramble and syllable blend.

WHERE IS SYLLABLE MANIPULATION BEST USED IN WRITING?

The tactics of syllable manipulation are best utilized for writing shortform but powerful communication/marketing content such as names of product lines/categories, headlines, sub-part(s) of a headline, captions, promo taglines, and likewise!

6 EXAMPLES OF SYLLABLE MANIPULATION

Let us quickly review some examples to understand the interesting process of syllable manipulation!

#1 “Its Peed-zaa not Pee-zaa!”

In this sentence, we utilize the sounds in the correct and incorrect prononciation of the Italian-derived word “Pizza”.

#2 Paw-si-tee-vi-tee!

Name for a product line selling tees featuring positivity captions and cats (paws)!

#3 Goo-roos!

Consider these example sentences:

- The engineers at Tisco are the Tech Goo-roos of the coming generation!

- The goo-roos were all dressed in saffron-coloured robes

#4 Brewminate

We are brainstorming a name for the launch of a magazine that sells ideas to ruminate while sipping your morning brew...

"At Brewminate, we offer the perfect blend of ideas to ruminate while sipping your brew!"

#5 Oh-range Lipsticks!

(We are writing a promo caption for the launch of new line of lipstick products featuring a wide range,  all in different orange shades)

#6 Newspaper Headlines - "Elephants in the zoo" AND "Elle-faints in the zoo"

Syllable segmentation of the word elephants followed by syllable substituition (pha with fai) can lend a totally different meaning to the sentence.

Thank you & Good day!

Keep writing and subscribe to my channel for more exciting ideas related to writing, art & life!

Neha