Scribble, scribble, scribble. There’s been a conversation going on over at
Dawud Miracle’s blog about scribbling, and whether you need to be a great writer in order to be a great blogger:
I’m in a discussion with Lyle Lachmuth about how much writing skill does it take to be a great blogger. His perspective is that
…great writers, powerful Bloggers, are born! Yep! Born to write.
I actually don’t think that’s the case at all. I don’t think great writers necessarily make great bloggers. Nor do I think you need to have great writing skills to be a great blogger.
As the internet becomes woven into many areas of life globally, writing is becoming an even more critical skill, in my opinion. You don’t need to be a Pullitzer prize winner, but you do need to be able to put a sentence together.
Sadly, as one commentor to Dawud’s post, Armen, wrote:
I’m not ignorant of its importance either. Infact, I have bookmarked large articles that are supposed to help with grammar and sentance structure; it is important, very important. I just wish I had either listened, or been taught properly at school. I say the latter because from my experience, it would appear that many people suffer from a lack literary ability.
Most of us just haven’t been taught, or taken the time to learn, how to communicate effectively and powerfully, especially for our business.
I happened to have spent a lot of time in my career as a writer, and have learned, by hook or by crook, how to communicate effectively (most days).
If you need to learn, here are some resources that will help:
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: The Zero Toleration Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss.
An entertaining book that will reintroduce you to punctuation and grammer, so you know what you’re doing. This is NOT your grammar school teacher droning on and on…
Daphne Gray-Grant of www.publicationcoach.com is a fabulous writer.
She knows what she’s doing- and what’s more, can teach you. Her Power Writing ezine is short, to the point, and every issue is helpful and entertaining on improving your writing skills.
She’s got a bunch of free articles on her site, but definitely subscribe.
Are you finding that your writing is engaging for your readers? Are people responding to what you’ve written? What’s one thing you would like to do or learn to improve your writing skills?
Let me know here.
3 Responses
Hey Mark, nice post. Happy I could stir things up a bit.
How many people, do you feel, confuse writing marketing copy or blog posts with essay writing from our school days? Yet, I don’t see them as being the same at all.
Leaving grammar and punctuation aside for moment, I think the best writing comes from conversation. That’s especially true in the blogosphere. I write as though we’re talking – hopefully you experience it that way. I let the words just roll off the keyboard just as I would say them as we were sitting down to tea or on the phone.
I know I’m not writing a novel nor some great literary work. Nor do I try too. But I feel the idea of writing great prose is what often blocks people from writing well.
My thoughts – write as you speak.
Hi Dawud-
I think a lot of people confuse different types of writing. Although I had been writing, and getting published, for years, I had to basically start from scratch when learning to write copy for my own business.
And yet not from scratch.
I think some very good writing comes from very good conversational skills. But, I think it’s a fallacy to think that it comes just from conversation.
I think you would be surprised if you were to have a conversation with someone, record it, and then have it transcribed, and then compared it to your written conversations. Sure, there will be similarities, but some differences, too.
I’m not trying to discourage or set a high barrier to entry- by all means, have everyone jump in and give it a shot. I just wanted to encourage folks to also learn about effective written communication.
When you’re speaking, there are so many other senses that are involved that keep a listener engaged. The sound of your voice, that brings emotional emphasis. Timing in how you deliver- slowing down or speeding up.
Also, the ability to interrupt, ask for clarification, to laugh together.
The back and forth on a blog, or on a forum, while similar, is not the same.
My basic advice with business skills is this: yes! Jump in and make a mess. Try things out. Do the best you can.
And then- learn about what you are doing. Improve, add to it, hone it. And because writing is, hands-down, one of the top three or four most important skills in small business these days, especially if someone is making a go of using their blog to build their business, then it’s worthwhile to learn about writing.
Make sense?
I agree. And I know that lots of people have had painful experiences with writing in school. I think those experiences can often get in the way of people just letting themselves explore writing in a more relaxed and conversational way. Once there’s some comfort with writing, then sure, learn to do it better.