Write a Book Outline in 6 Simple Steps
Do you have an idea for a book, workbook, course, or other significant writing project but are unsure how to start? If so, this article is for you. Using the steps below, you can learn to write a book outline,…
How to Overcome Overwhelm When Writing on a Deadline
Here’s the situation: You committed to writing something that is important but not urgent, and now you’re up against the deadline. What the document is doesn’t matter. It could be a blog article, a report, a book chapter, or countless…
7 Key Tips for Establishing Good Writing Habits
If you’re like me, you have some writing goals for the new year. Maybe you aim to improve the quality of your writing for your work, to increase the speed at which you produce polished writing, or to write with…
From My Nightstand to Yours: Reading Recommendations
Reading has always brought me great joy. I remember coming home from middle school, starting a book, and not coming out of my room until I was finished. As a college student, my appetite for reading didn’t waver; I accepted…
Job Seekers: Demonstrate Your Expertise and Value through Blog Writing
The prevalence of content marketing has led to an explosion of blog writing—whether for a personal or business blog, a website, or a LinkedIn article. It’s also relevant to job seekers: writing blog articles can be an effective way to…
Avoid These 5 Common Resume Mistakes
Perhaps contrary to common belief, there are very few rigid rules around resume writing. There is no one, universal accepted format, font, strategy, or style. However, there are many modern conventions that people should pay attention to. To this end,…
Achieve Writing Goals by Mastering Time Management
You can have every intention to produce your best writing, but if you fail to manage your time wisely, what happens instead is a sloppy email sent from your iPhone while you’re pumping gas that says, “Yup, got it last week wll be in touch ASAP.” Or, a hastily written blog post that you are mildly proud of—or at least not embarrassed of. From my own experience as a writer and more than 10 years as a writing consultant, here are my top time management strategies.
Proofreading Strategies for Catching Small Mistakes That Have a Big Impact
Errors, typos, and inconsistencies diminish your content, look sloppy in public-facing documents, and can bring your credibility into question—especially in job application materials. To be taken seriously as a professional and add that extra polish to make your written material stand out (in a positive way!), always build in time to proofread. In fact, when proofreading is done properly, your audience won’t be aware of it at all—they’ll just notice clean, consistent content.
Editing Techniques for Leaner, More Powerful Writing
“Rewriting is where the game is won or lost; rewriting is the essence of writing.” These are the words of famous American writer and journalist William Zinsser in On Writing Well, a resource familiar to the majority of professional writers. Now, I’m not suggesting you repeatedly rewrite a simple email to ask a colleague to lunch.
5 Best Practices for Writing Diplomatic Emails in Difficult Situations
Dealing with problems, conflicts, volatile personalities, and other difficult situations at work is challenging; addressing these situations in writing via email can add another layer to the challenge. However, for any number of reasons—geographic location, the need for a written documentation trail—it may be necessary.