Tips to Make Your Writing More Interesting

This is a guest post by James Adams.

It makes sense that interesting writing is going to bring a bigger readership to your blog and finding clever ways to make your writing more interesting will make it more popular. Knowing that you need to make your writing more interesting is a far cry from knowing how to make it more interesting. There are several techniques you can use to make your writing more compelling and here are 10 tips that cover three of these techniques that may help to make your writing more appealing.

interesting blog post

 

1. Keep it short

Don’t say in three paragraphs what you can convey in one. Most people typically won’t read more than three or four sentences before they start to skim. You can either try to be more entertaining or simply just write less.

 

2. Avoid “hedging”

There’s no need to cover every possible angle when making a point. An example would be, “Today, almost all adults have at least some form of electronic device like a phone or Blackberry that they carry.” By simply saying, “Today adults carry electronic devices to stay in touch” you have left out hedging words like “almost all” and “some form”.

 

3. Repeat phrases

Repeating phrases can add some tempo and organisation to your text. Repeating phrases draws the reader into the rhythm of your writing style. Repeating phrases is an easy way to make someone want to continue reading. Sometimes writing becomes uninteresting when the writer isn’t in to the topic, isn’t inspired, or is lacking in focus and energy. Here are some ways to work on those problems to improve your writing.

 

4. Your surroundings matter

Find the right atmosphere in which to write, but also believe in the theory of “needing a change in scenery”. It is critical that you find a place where you are comfortable and your writing can flow easily. The more comfortable you are, the more interesting your writing is likely to be. This atmosphere isn’t just the house, room, or office in which you work. It also has to do with setting the ambience, whether this means playing a certain style of music, having the TV on in the background, or sprawling on a blanket in the park. Even when writing in your comfort zone, you can face a “writer’s block”. When this happens, take a break and get that proverbial change of scenery. A little time away from your normal surroundings is a great way to clear your head of the cobwebs.

 

5. Come back later to something that has you stumped

Sometimes one paragraph or even just a sentence doesn’t seem to flow the way you want it to. If you spend too much time on one sentence, it can completely derail you from the whole article. Come back to it later so you don’t lose your train of thought. There will be plenty of reviews and edits in which you can fine-tune that one pesky sentence. The trickiest part of making your writing more interesting is learning how to “be” interesting. Here are some pointers that will help you be more interesting so that it translates into your writing.

 

6. If you have a sense of humour, show it in your writing

Too often bloggers take themselves too seriously. You can get your point across while entertaining your readership. Being bored is another reason readers begin to skim. Inject a little humour and you will get your readers back.

 

7. Supporting stories

A good story that supports your point is an excellent way to keep a reader interested. They are great openers, too, that make the reader want to find out more. Stories can teach and entertain at the same time. The better the story, the more you and your blog will be remembered.

 

8. Find complementary imagery

You know what they say about pictures? They can be worth 1000 words. That is so true when it comes to interesting writing. If you can, find a picture that totally conveys what you are trying to say and put it at the very beginning of your post.

 

9. Make your posts aesthetically appealing as well as interesting to read

So many blogs are just page after page of text with paragraphs that are too long and nothing to break it up like headings and subheadings, lists, or pictures. They are just plain ugly. If you put in the effort to do some creative formatting, add pictures, clip art, and links more people are more likely to stop and read the work of that interesting writer who took the time to dress up his blog.

 

10. Be clever with your title

It’s easy to turn a bland title into something that will catch the reader’s eye. If you are writing about getting links to your blog, adding “How to...” to the title lets the reader know they may actually get some useful information. “Secrets to…” may make them believe there is actually some little known information tucked away in your blog. Use that sense of humour to create a catchy title.

 

About the author
James works as a product analyst and blogger at Cartridge Save who also covers the latest releases of consumables for Canon printers.

34 comments to "Tips to Make Your Writing More Interesting"

Hạnh Beauty January 5, 2011 at 4:11 PM    

it's really useful, thanks!

Maria Babin January 5, 2011 at 8:39 PM    

very good advice; thank you for sharing. i'll put it to the test!

Admin January 9, 2011 at 8:44 PM    

very nice blog

zulkbo January 11, 2011 at 8:47 PM    

salam..
yang no-1 tu dah lama
saya praktiskan..saya
tahu kalau entri panjang
orang bukan baca pun
kesemunya..sebaiknya
kita buat part by part

Greenlava January 11, 2011 at 10:16 PM    

@Rùa Biển
@Busy as a Bee in Paris
@Admin
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Greenlava January 12, 2011 at 9:15 AM    

@zulkbo
Salam...Kalau panjang pun pembaca skip jugak, mereka cari point yang penting saja.

lizz January 12, 2011 at 9:04 PM    

great info!!! will try in my next writing ;) thanks for sharing.

Greenlava January 13, 2011 at 1:36 AM    

@lizz
Welcome...thanks for commenting. Do explore other articles and tutorials :)

Izzat Aziz January 13, 2011 at 11:02 AM    

i always try to communicate through my writing.. blog for me is not wikipedia or text book.. blog is something different, blog is two way.

Write for blog or write for anything nowadays should be two way, saying and asking, keep the conversation alive in writing.

Unknown January 16, 2011 at 8:55 PM    

thanks u helped me to identify my mistakes.

benjamin January 17, 2011 at 12:33 AM    

i need more information about this

Gerry Adams January 17, 2011 at 7:44 AM    

Thanks for the good advice!

Greenlava January 17, 2011 at 12:08 PM    

@Bhavin
@benjamin
@Gerry
I hope the article helps. Thank you to James Adams (the author) for this excellent post.

Matt January 25, 2011 at 10:19 PM    

Yes, people do have quite short attention spans, so it's not a good idea to write a lot of really long posts. However the odd one definitely doesn't hurt. I have found that search engines do seem to rank the longer posts higher. So don't be afraid to do this occasionally.

luna Q jimat January 27, 2011 at 3:24 PM    

so many tips that i haven't see in other blog, huhu..i'm trying to follow the 1st tip to keep my entry as short as possible.. :)

Greenlava January 27, 2011 at 9:15 PM    

@luna Q jimat
One tip at a time...I like that :)
Make sure you bookmark, so you can come back later.

optionshift3 January 30, 2011 at 3:10 PM    

“hedging”...please explain more about this term..tq

Greenlava January 31, 2011 at 12:51 AM    

@optionshift3
In my opinion it's a I'm-not-100%-sure-about-this kind of writing :)
"Hedging is the use of cautious language to make noncommittal or vague statements.", read further here.

optionshift3 February 2, 2011 at 5:10 PM    

wow...thanks

Unknown February 3, 2011 at 4:43 PM    

It helped me to understand my mistakes and improve them. Thanks for that.

zatyness February 3, 2011 at 6:05 PM    

salam greenlava!

i really like this list, i think it's quite useful for people who are interested to write. however, i don't fully agree with #2, 'avoid hedging'.

although hedging does tend to make sentences longer, NOT using hedges can give the impression that what you're saying is a universal truth, even when it's not.

using sentences without hedges shows that you're dead confident about sthg. in most cases this would mean that you'll be generalising a fact/statement... which isn't always a bad thing, but it can make the writing look a little sloppy, especially when the tone/topic is serious, like politics/science. in fact, in the site link you gave to optionshift3, it's even stated there that hedges ARE useful even in scientific writing, to:

1. report the limits of their findings
2. protect [the scientists] from the risk of error
3. convey modesty

of course, too much hedging is unnecessary (and will probably be quite annoying), but having some in your writing shows that you're careful not to (over)generalise. better safe than sorry (or downright wrong), as they say.

so yeah. just some input. everything else i pretty much agree with heheh ^_^

have a great week, and happy munching on CNY mandarins :D

Greenlava February 4, 2011 at 9:55 AM    

@zatyness
salam,
Great input. I agree, perhaps "Avoid excessive hedging" would be a better choice :)
Aiyaa how come I didn't get free mandarins this CNY?

♥ Maryfrances ♥ AKA Pramps! February 13, 2011 at 8:46 AM    

My favorite blog! THANK YOU!!

Anand Kumar February 19, 2011 at 1:21 AM    

Its again an awesome post from BloggerSentral. I loved this post.

Nikhil February 22, 2011 at 5:57 PM    

Thank you..for the tips....

R. Groth February 26, 2011 at 9:07 AM    

Nice article! I will make sure, to make good use of your info ;-)
Especially your number 2., since I tend to use these "hedging" words a lot... :-)

Jerung Gergasi March 8, 2011 at 10:57 PM    

thanx. really appreciate the tips. im new in this field.

Greenlava March 9, 2011 at 1:37 PM    

@Jerung Gergasi
Thanks for dropping by. I hope you enjoys the rest of the blog.

admin May 21, 2011 at 6:06 PM    

sy sdh melakukan link to this post... Tapi tdk tertera url punyaku, why?
Oia, lupa... Artikel yg saya sdh di-link adalah Ttg cara cek resolusi monitor

Greenlava May 22, 2011 at 8:47 AM    

@blogdangkal™
Backlinks ("Links to this post") biasanya tidak akan keluar serta merta.

ink cartridges for printers January 18, 2012 at 7:05 AM    

nice information containing blog helpful data i get here

Fostable May 9, 2012 at 5:18 AM    

Sense of humour does not work in all niches. Some require you to be uptight and serious.

WSO November 17, 2012 at 11:48 AM    

Thank you, that would be interesting to me. Sound like you could get some money with making articles

Proteinsindia May 4, 2013 at 2:24 PM    

nice post it give me much information containing blog helpful data i get here.

Post a Comment

We love to hear from you! Leave us a comment.

To ensure proper display, HTML/XML/Javascript need to be escaped first using this escape tool.