Three Essentials Your Writing Should Aim to Achieve
Ensure Your Writing Is Valuable: A Beginner's Guide
Hey Friend!
Are you Useful?
This is the first question you should ask yourself when starting to write online.
As a writer, the quality of your writing is closely tied to the value you offer. Many aspiring writers get caught up worrying whether their technical skills are "good enough" to share, thoughts like "My writing is basic," "I don’t have a strong vocabulary," or "My sentences aren’t catchy enough" often hold them back, just like it did to me for three years. The truth is, when your writing offers something valuable to your readers, they’ll keep coming back for more.
Here are three things that readers find valuable.
1. Time
People Read to Save Time
Time is our most valuable resource, so what better way to offer value to your readers than by saving them time?
Here are examples of contents that help your readers save their time.
Curated Lists: Save your readers the effort of searching for books to kickstart their writing journey by compiling a list of recommended reads and explaining why each one is valuable.
Book Summaries and Reviews: Help your readers avoid investing time in books that may not suit them by providing concise summaries and reviews.
“Hacks” and "Avoid Mistakes" Content: Share hacks and tips based on your own experiences to help readers sidestep common pitfalls. For example, an article titled "7 Things I Learned in Substack After 12 Days of Writing " can give your readers a head start in their own writing journey.
However, these types of content alone won’t ensure that you’ve successfully provided the value of “time” to your readers.
The way you write should also respect their time.
Essential Elements to Save Your Readers Time:
Make your writing as direct as possible:
This straightforward tip helps you achieve two key objectives:
Reduces Reading Time: By being concise, you make your work quicker to read.
Enhances Comprehension: Clarity saves your readers from repeatedly revisiting sections to understand your point. This not only aids in retention but also means they won't need to revisit the same topic to recall the information later.
Make Your Work Skimmable:
Many readers open your piece because of the offer made in your title.For example, this article claims to show you how to provide value to your readers. Many will skim to see if your insights are new to them, so it’s essential to make your content easy to navigate. Large blocks of text can frustrate skimmers, wasting their time if they already know the information.
Here are some ways to make your work more skimmable:
Use bullet points
Highlight key points by bolding them or increasing the font size
Incorporate dividers to break up sections
Have a consistent structure throughout your work, avoiding random blocks of paragraphs
2. Information
People Read to Learn
When writing to inform, it’s essential to respect your readers' time by providing real value. Aim for a balance between being thorough and keeping it simple; overly complex writing can overwhelm your audience, while a minimalist approach might seem lazy or underdeveloped. Clarity on your main points is key, so stay focused on what you want to communicate.
Being specific is a game changer in informative writing
3. Entertain
People read to get entertained and escape reality.
Fiction writers are the best in this realm but that doesn't mean non-fiction ones can’t incorporate a “story” element in their works. Well-crafted stories deliver value by providing an escape from reality, inspiring readers, and fostering creativity and critical thinking and also deepening our understanding of human nature. However, the value of fiction is often more subjective than that of non-fiction.
This ability to engage and resonate is part of why bloggers, vloggers, and influencers have become so prominent in our age.
Poetry: Evocative language takes readers on emotional journeys.
Travel Writing: Vivid descriptions of places spark a sense of adventure.
Memoir/Personal Essays: Life stories help readers connect with others' experiences.
Nature Writing: Beautiful descriptions of nature provide a calming escape.
Graphic Novels/Comics: The mix of pictures and stories creates a more sensory engaging escape.
Philosophical Writing: Exploring ideas can change how we think.
Historical Writing: Well-researched stories transport readers to different times.
Culinary Writing: Food articles and recipes evoke tasty memories and delights.
If you’re confident you can offer value through these three aspects, there’s no reason not to start writing.
And if you can blend all three into one piece, that’s even better!