Do you fancy yourself as the next big thing when it comes to writing style? Do you think that you can write amazing articles just like the ones that appear on this very website? If so, you’re in for a real treat because we’re going to tell you exactly how to write an article that will make your jaw drop to the floor!
To start with, you need to familiarize yourself with all there is to know about writing style. You could begin by reading the guidelines and tips below. When you’re finished, you can move on directly to the editorial to sample the awesome writing style that you’ve just learned about.
The Biggest Mistake Newbies Make
One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is thinking that you can write what you know. Although this might seem like a great idea at first, it can lead to serious problems later on when you’re attempting to write your own articles. To give you an idea of what we mean, let’s have a look at some of the most common mistakes that novices make when it comes to writing style.
The first thing that you need to do is ensure that your articles are written in the same tone as the ones that you’ve been reading on this website. If you haven’t noticed, we mainly use casual language when writing on this website which is exactly how you’ll need to write as well to fit in with the style that we strive for. Even the most experienced journalists make typos and grammatical errors from time to time, so if you’re going to write for this website, you need to be able to do the same. Sometimes, this means that you need to take a step back and re-read the article to ensure that you’ve written it correctly. If this is something that’s stressing you out, then maybe it’s time to think about looking for a different job.
The Importance Of Variety
One of the things that we strive for on this website is variety. Although it might seem like a good idea to write about the same topic over and over again, this can eventually lead to boredom for the reader. To give you an example of this, let’s take a look at some of the top-grossing English-language films as of January 2020.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the greatest example of variety. At the time of writing, the films are:
- Black Widow
- Avengers: Endgame
- Captain Marvel
- Spiderman: Far From Home
- Kong: Skull Island
- Dumbo
- Detective Pikachu
- Cats
- Mary Poppins Returns
- Mullets
- Toy Story 4
- Aladdin
All of these films are extremely unique in their own way, which makes them incredibly interesting to read about. Even more exciting is the fact that these are all recent films too! This variety makes for some fascinating reading.
The Use Of The Passive Voice
Passive voice is exactly what it sounds like: The act of giving someone or something else the power to act. For example, if you’re writing about fashion, you might decide to use the passive voice to describe some of the styles that are popular at the moment. This would be an example of active voice:
“Fashion styles such as: ‘70s fashion, ‘80s fashion, ‘90s fashion and ’00s fashion’ are some of the things that people are talking about at the moment.”
Using the passive voice is usually a good idea when you want to sound more professional because it gives the impression of an anonymous source. For instance, if you’re writing for a newspaper, it’s usually a good idea to use the passive voice when writing about a review because it makes the review more objective.
Bulleted Lists
Many people have trouble expressing themselves in writing, especially when it comes to describing things in detail. This is why many prefer to do it in their head, which is why you’ll often find long and rambling monologues in film and television dramas. To help people who have trouble putting things into words, we tend to use bullets. Here’s an example of how you could use a bulleted list to make your point:
“The top-grossing films of 2021 so far are:
- Candy Shop
- The Love Bug
- The Hustle
- Coco Before Chanel
- The Curse Of The Black Pearl
- Stargirl
- The Invisible Man
These are the latest movies to dominate the box office.”
Although this may be a short and to the point, you can easily see how it would be difficult to write this information out in full without using a few bullets.
Excessive Colons
This is the result of writers copying and pasting phrases from elsewhere instead of using proper English. For example, if you want to describe the ocean, you could say: “The ocean is:” or “The ocean is composed of:” but instead you’ll often see “The ocean is :” or “The ocean consists of :”. These are called excessive colons because they are used to “prove” that a point has been made, even though it might not seem like it to the reader. Although this may seem like a minor issue to some, excessive colons can make a big difference in terms of how easily the reader understands what’s being said. For example, if you’re doing an article about fashion, you might see a lot of “The jeans market is…” or “The most popular color of swimwear is…” To ensure that your writing is as clear as possible, you need to eliminate all of these excesses.
Redundancy
Redundancy is when you say the same thing twice over in slightly different words. For instance, if I wanted to write an article about the dangers of sun exposure, I might begin by saying:
“The deadliest day of the year for UV radiation was June 6, 2020.”
Here, I have made the same point twice but used different words to say it. While this may be perfectly acceptable in everyday speech, when you’re writing you need to avoid redundancy because it leads to confusion. Sometimes, it’s unavoidable but try to minimize it as much as possible because sometimes brevity is literally “the key to successful writing.”
Incorrect Use Of The Present Tense
When you’re writing an article, you need to make sure that the verbs that you use are correctly placed. There are five basic tenses that you need to know about:
1. Present: The present tense is the simplest form of the verb “to be” and it indicates what you are currently doing. For example, “I’m walking,” “We’re playing tennis,” and “She’s sewing” are all examples of present tense.
2. Past: The past tense is used to recount events that have occurred in the past. These are often referred to as “historical” or “passive” verbs because they describe something that happened “to” the subject. When used in the past, the present tense is often changed to the past tense. For example, “I fought in the war” or “We walked to the shop” are past tense versions of “I’m walking” and “We’re playing tennis.”
3. Future: The future tense, as the name would suggest, is used to describe events that will occur in the future. These are often referred to as “prospective” or “active” verbs because they indicate that the action is being performed “by” or “to” the subject. Similar to the past tense, when used in the future, the present tense is often changed to the future tense. For example, “I’ll walk to the shop “tomorrow”” or “We’re playing tennis “this year”” are future tense versions of “I’m walking” and “We’re playing tennis.”