How Non-Writers Can Succeed at Content Creation

As companies strive to inform their prospective customers, there’s a lot of pressure for marketers to write creative, captivating content. But this is often a challenge for both new and experienced writers.

With any writing task, you may have a lot of ideas but find it difficult to flesh them out – especially under the pressure of a packed content schedule with strict deadlines. Other times, you might draw a blank when it comes to thinking of new topics. When you feel like you’ve run out of ideas, you might notice yourself writing fluff just to have something to publish. But that takes away from the value of your content and disappoints your readers.

While not everyone is great at articulating their ideas through writing, even professional writers experience challenges when it comes to content creation. But there are ways to overcome those challenges.

Start with a plan

If you’re struggling for ideas, you have to know a little bit about what you’re looking for. Before you start, consider the three W’s:

• What you’re writing – Is it a blog, news article, social media post, video script? How long does it need to be? How will the format affect your writing style?
• Who you’re writing for – What does your audience want/need to know? What voice do you want your brand to present to them? How much time do you have to capture and keep the reader’s attention?
• When you need it – What are the deadlines and how can you budget your time to meet them?

Know what types of content perform better than others and adapt your plan accordingly. This strategy is crucial for creating meaningful, valuable content because it helps you tailor your content to a specific format and audience. It may seem obvious, but by starting with a solid foundation, you’ll most likely find it easier to write. Defining these basic elements of your project is the first step to building that foundation.

Know how to find and narrow your topic

One of the biggest struggles that writers face is not knowing what to write about. You might feel like you don’t have a lot of direction. If your topic is really broad, it may seem a daunting task to condense it to a few words. Likewise, if your topic is a bit too focused, it might be difficult to expand and offer unique insights. So, you need to find a focused topic that you can build upon with your own perspective. Here are some tips that can help you find the perfect topic to write about:

• Look through your old content. You may already know about the benefits of repurposing your content. But simply looking through your older content can give you new ideas. Maybe you brushed over a topic in a blog post but didn’t cover it fully. Or you might think of related ideas that you haven’t covered at all.
• Do some digging. Check out content from other businesses in your industry. You’ll probably find a variety of interesting topics to write about, but just be sure to offer your own perspective in your writing. And consider how you can make that content more valuable for your visitors.
• Find trends. Using Google suggested search results or websites like Answer the Public, you can find topic ideas from popular keywords and phrases that people search for online. Answer the Public can offer hundreds of results per keyword, including questions, comparisons, and other common phrases. What better way to answer the questions your visitors ask than by basing your content on common search results?
• Make a topic list and collaborate. Your coworkers might have great topic ideas but not enough time to write about them. Websites like Trello are excellent for creating and sharing your ideas with your whole team. If you want to collaborate with your content marketing team in person, you can also create a board to keep in the office where everyone can write down new ideas.
• Take note of new ideas. Consider keeping a notebook with you throughout the day. Thoughts may come to you at random, so you might want to have a way to jot them down before you forget.

Consult an expert

From finding the perfect topic to write about to actually writing, consulting a third party can be especially helpful for non-writers. An outside source can offer input and direction that can spark creativity and make the writing process that much easier. Simply collaborating with another person outside of your typical work environment can help you gain new perspectives and offer more creative thought in your writing projects.

Develop an outline

If you start writing without a plan, you might find it difficult to structure your content effectively. A simple outline can help you organize your ideas, making it easier to develop them as you write. Your outline could be as detailed as you’d like – some people like to include just the overarching ideas while others find it helpful to use their outline as a template to fill in as much information as possible. Find what works best for you and use your outline to guide you as your write.

Write first, edit later

Just because you write something down doesn’t mean you need to use it. Rather than rephrasing the same sentence over and over to get it just right, keep moving forward. After you’ve finished collecting and recording your ideas, you can edit the content to perfection.

Write regularly

Better writing comes with a lot of practice. Setting aside a few minutes each day to write can help you become a better writer because you’ll feel more comfortable with putting your thoughts on paper (or a screen). Frequent writing also enhances creativity and clarity when expressing your ideas.

Proofread everything

It pretty much goes without saying that proofreading is a critical step in content creation for various reasons. Nobody’s perfect, and mistakes are bound to happen. So, it’s important to proofread your content. It can also help to have someone else read through your content before publishing, as writers sometimes sit with their work for too long and miss errors as a result.

All in all, the ideal writing strategy depends on the writer. Try different strategies to find which work best for you. Unique website content boosts your company in search results and helps it stand out from the competition. Cain & Company can help create and optimize your website content, always with your brand strategy and business objectives in mind.