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Implementing these 5 writing tips can improve your writing overnight

28 Jan

Welcome to today’s issue of Efikó, a weekly newsletter by me, Dozie Anyaegbunam, with a focus on content marketing, writing, social strategy, and living your best life. THANK YOU for being here! I appreciate you.

101 Quotes About Writing That Will Inspire You To Write More (And Even More)

Hello 👋

January is finally over after nine weeks.

Whew 😅

Although, I’ll be honest.

The days flew by quite fast. A combination of 2022 planning + the #ship30for30 challenge + planning NEWville’s “30 Days of Writing”.

Today, we’ll be talking about Nicolas Cole’s writing tips

Nicolas Cole is the reason I joined the #ship30for30 January cohort.

The dude is a writing nerd.

He was the #1 most-read writer on Quora in 2015. One of Inc Magazine’s Top 10 contributing writers by 2016 and has articles published in TIME, Forbes, CNBC, and loads of other popular publications.

Here are five of his best writing tips:

Tip #1: Prep the page

The blank page is every writer's nightmare.

So, prep your page. Here's how:

  • Write your working title

  • Write your subheads

  • Write the first sentence under each subhead.

Filling out the blanks from here on is much easier.

Tip #2: Pull out the weeds between your flowers

Delete all 3+ tiny words stacked next to each other.

  • "In order to"

  • "And so as"

  • "If it is"

Your writing is more precise and cleaner.

Tip #3: Stop focusing on word count

All words aren't created equally.

Focus on what's relevant and valuable to the reader. And if it takes you 500 words, so be it.

Tip #4: Delete adverbs

Words that end in -ly are fluff.

Most of the time, you can do away with them. When we use adverbs, it's because we haven't taken the time to find a verb to explain the action.

  • "The lady quickly ran away."

  • "The lady zoomed away."

Tip #5: Delete the word “that”

Most of the time, you don’t need it.

I still struggle with this tip.

Capisce?

If you read one thing

More like if you read one or more things. The NEWville 30 Days of Writing is live. And folks have written awesome stuff. Here are some of my best:

The Content Marketing AltMBA

If you found “The Content Marketing AltMBA” valuable, please could you share it with your network on social?

Thanks.

Content writing jobs

All the best, folks. Could you please share with any of your friends/colleagues who might find this helpful?

My biggest takeaway this week 🚀

Everyone is scared. It's what you do with the fear that matters. Face your fears. But don't face them blindly.

What I’m thinking about

The writing is a reflection of the writer.

If you would love me to review your writing and give you feedback, you can book a time here. Or just hit the reply button.

Thanks for reading this far. I am grateful!

Be good out there. If you can’t be good, be careful.

I’ll be back on 2/4.

Dozie

P.S: If you enjoyed this, please consider sharing it on LinkedIn or with a friend! If this was sent to you by a friend, get the following email by signing up here.