24 writing tips for 2024
It’s amazing what you find when you're tidying up after Christmas. We came across an old campaign from a few years back, when we posted a writing tip every day throughout Advent.
The tips are timeless, and perfect if you’ve made a New Year resolution to develop your writing, so we thought we'd share them again now.
🚶🏽♀️ Stuck for ideas? Take a stroll – you'll be amazed at what pops into your head.
⏱️ Struggling on a first draft? Try setting yourself a time limit; a little pressure can really focus the mind.
🤔 Expressing a strong opinion is a sure-fire way to get people’s attention. Just don’t expect them all to agree with you.
😡 You’ll never believe why you shouldn't write teaser headlines. (Yes, it’s because they’re really annoying.)
❓ How could starting with a question get your readers thinking?
🚫 Having too many Capital Letters makes copy Hard To Read. Save them for proper nouns.
📢 The active voice is punchier and more concise. Matt wrote the words not the words were written by Matt.
💥 Vary the length of your sentences to make an impact. Just like this.
📚 To be clear, use simple words instead of utilising sesquipedalian ones.
🔗 And another thing: you can start a sentence with a conjunction.
🔁 Repeating phrases can be useful. Repeating phrases adds emphasis.
🗯️ “Direct speech brings colour to your writing," says Matt.
📈 Research shows that stories are more memorable, and more persuasive, than statistics alone.
🧠 A bit of alliteration makes writing much more memorable too.
✂️ Avoid redundant phrases. The reason for this is because they add nothing to your writing.
🙂 You’ll find it's friendlier and more direct to use contractions.
⛔️ 'Unnecessary' quotation “marks” interrupt the flow of your writing.
🙈 If you have a favourite word, check you're not using that favourite word it too often.
🚀 Despite what you may have heard, it's okay to boldly go and split infinitives.
👀 When your you're writing, watch out for words that sound the same but are spelt differently. Homophones can be tricky to spot.
🦄 It's a myth that you shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition. Sometimes it really is the best thing to end with.
🔎 Check your writing carefully to see if you any words out. Oops.
🔄 To catch typos, try reading a sentence forwards then backwards so you focus on each word.
👂🏻 Give your writing a final check by reading it aloud. Go on, nobody's listening.
If we had to pick one tip, what would it be? Probably the first one: if you’re stuck for ideas, take a stroll. Some of the best writing happens away from a desk, when the mind is free to wander.