Tips for the most popular type of writing

Nowadays online writing is without a doubt the most popular type of writing. Each one of us has written something online in our lifetime, whether it was an article for a high-end publication or just a really long message to one of your exes.

Online writing after all is a form of content, just like photos and videos and by mastering it you can either complement your visual creations or you can create highly detailed visuals just by using the right words.

By now we can all agree that everybody can write online if they have access to the Internet. However, at the same time, I am sure you can agree that there can be no debate when saying that not everybody can be an online writer.

To be an online writer means to have baggage of knowledge and with understanding on basically how to use words to express feelings, tell a story, or to inform your audience about a certain event that happened in your life.

If you want to master the skill of online writing and if you are looking forward to making a name for yourself in this environment, then here are 3 golden rules which you have to take into consideration before pressing send:

1. Knowing Your Audience Helps You Understand Who You Are Writing For

There are different ways to start writing online. While it’s true that there are as well different approaches when it comes to expressing ourselves online, the most appropriate one is to know who you are writing for before starting to write.

If you start writing without clearly defining your audience, you might end up writing an article that will not be read by your followers. This wouldn’t be a problem in case you just want to waste your time, but when talking about making a living by writing online, defining your audience before starting to write is a must.

Beside your primary audience, which can be your followers or your existing clients you already have, you can also think about a secondary audience.

This can be all the people that are working in the niche you write about, or people who look at this niche as a hobby.

For example let’s say you are writing a fitness article. The primary audience would be your followers, mainly the personal trainers who want to learn something new and expand their knowledge. The secondary audience would be all the other people who are interested in eating healthier, losing weight or learning about a new workout routine.

2. Starting Before You’re Ready is The Key to Start Writing Online

At a conceptual level, the idea of being ready is a lie.

If you would be asked if right now you are ready to write a book, most probably you would say that you are not. But if an already accomplished writer will look over your previous articles and tell you that you are ready to start writing your own book, you will then feel ready and confident that you eventually can make it happen.

As you can see the idea of being ready depends on a number of factors.

Surely, we can argue that somebody who’s been writing articles for 10 years is better prepared to come up with a better article written on a certain subject than somebody who just started writing last summer.

However, if you, as a writer who, coincidently or not, started writing last summer, want to get to a certain level, you need to start writing before you’re ready.

Otherwise how would you be ready to write, if you don’t start writing?

If you start before you’re ready what you will discover is that having this concern in the first place is a waste of time. Plus the only way to improve your writing is through writing, otherwise you are not learning anything new.

So, in the end it seems that the key to improving your online writing is to start writing before you’re ready.

3. Show, Don’t Tell

Nowadays, there are numerous platforms where you can publish an online article.

Whether we’re talking about social media platforms, websites dedicated to writers and publishers, email apps or just normal blogs, the writing can take numerous shapes.

Some of them use different fonts, some let you write in different alphabets, others are allowing you to add emoticons to your writing in order to make your message as clear as possible. Some sites allow you to use a Dark Theme, some don’t. Others will come up with different and sophisticated layouts, while others just provide you a blank page which has to be filled by you.

However, when it comes to the words you choose, the key belongs to you.

One thing is to say that your character had a bad day, and another thing is to say that your character, due to the fact that had to fight with three huge dragons and was hit with a spell which slowed him down, didn’t make it in time to the castle, and couldn’t protect his queen who was captured by the rebels.

You see what I mean?

It’s not only the words you use but also how many words you use and how you use them to draw a scenario which otherwise only a movie could express.

However, you can do the same just with a couple of well chosen words. This is the idea behind showing and not just telling your reader what is happening in your story.

You’ve seen that writing online can take many forms and “shapes”. While some of us write short messages on social media platforms at a regular basis, others choose the path of building a name for themselves by writing on platforms dedicated to future writers.

Some like to be more concise with their writings, while others like to “draw” more to express their message.

All in all, online writing helps us communicate with each other and share a message, a story, an event.

In the end, if you are trying to build a name for yourself through online writing, these are just three rules which, if applied, can make your writing more appealing to your audience. Of course, talking here about the case where you know who your audience is.