For your book or article to stand out you have to adhere to this basic guidelines for excellent writing. These are the keys to successful writing.
- It should be readable
- It should be memorable
- Make it glitter
- It should be personal
- It should has unity, coherence and be original.
All books can be read, but it is not all books that would be easily understood and interesting to read, this is something you desire and should aim for. Apart from making your write up simple to read, the reader wants to gain something (especially non- fiction material). Therefore, you have to ensure he is satisfied in this respect.
What do I need to make my book readable? Ensure that you keep your writing simple and straight to the point, and that your sentences are clear and easily understood after the first reading. Next, ensure you give your reader variety; keep repeating yourself and he (she) would easily fall asleep. You should use variety in your choice of sentences by combining long and short sentences and also in your choice of sentence structure. As much as possible avoid using difficult words; if possible replace these difficult words with simple ones. Finally, avoid clichés and outdated words.
It is paramount for your books to be memorable. This would make the readers to still remember long after they have read it, and probably recommend it others. An easy way to achieve this is by writing on people and their needs. But you may say “ my article is on history of Refrigeration”. No need to lost sleep about it; you can discuss people; inform your reader about individuals who made improvements in refrigeration. You can discuss about their struggles, problems, difficulties encountered and success achieved. These are the things that keeps the reader interested (as they say, this is the “icing on the cake”).
Third on our list is: make it glitter. You may not be aware of this before. How should you make an article? What is needed here is for you to add a little “life” to your article. That is, you should add things that make the reader cheer up every so often and perhaps giggle out loud. Some of the ways of going about this are:
- Through the use of exclamations and commands often
- Through questions and answers
- Through the use of jokes
- Through the use of incomplete sentences occasionally.
Note however, that you shouldn’t overdo any of these (except perhaps the joke part). By doing this the effect would quickly be lost.
Other helpful things are:
- The use of strong verbs and avoid passive verbs
- The repetition of words and phrases occasionally for emphasis
- The uses of metaphors and similes, but you have to ensure they are appropriate.
Fourth, “it should be personal.” It means being friendly; write in a conversational way, and most importantly be yourself. Your tone should be friendly, but don’t be afraid and give yourself out easily. Express your mind freely.
Finally, harmony, consistency and uniqueness are vital. Make sure your book or article is cohesive; this means it should be cohesive in subject matter (don’t wander away off the main topic), tone, tense, slant and so on. Any abrupt changes will likely upset the reader. Now I would be stressing it if I say you should maintain originality; even though it’s sometimes difficult to come up with original content (particularly when you are writing about popular topics such as health, relationships and fitness) and the best way around this is to give it a new “angle.”
If you include these five things into your book or article I’m sure you’ll be amazed by how much it will be enhanced.
