In recent years, AI (Artificial Intelligence) has improved rapidly, which means students can now approach creative writing tasks using computer programmes. With many computational tools available, it’s now possible to create original work from scratch using pre-written paragraphs or sentences, which in some cases can even generate perfect fiction or non-fiction based on a set of pre-planned keywords or phrases!
While creative writing allows students to exercise their imagination and experiment with new ideas, it can also be incredibly challenging to learn. For example, the concept behind “brand voice” can be difficult to grasp – and that’s just one of the many terms you might come across when learning how to write creatively.
So, which of the following sentence-writing skills is the most challenging for students to learn? We’ll explore ten of the most useful phrases and words that you should know, along with some of the most common pitfalls that you must avoid to become a highly proficient creative writer.
Branding
A brand is an identity that a business builds and manages so others will know what they are and associate with them. When writing, you will need to establish what your brand is and what it stands for. The first question to ask yourself is: Who is the target audience?
Broadly speaking, you can consider your target audience to be anyone who is likely to be interested in your content, whether it’s a product review, an event report or an interview. Once you’ve defined your target audience, you can determine the kind of language and style that will resonate with them. You also need to decide whether you want to create a brand identity that is purely verbal or something more visual. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, but you need to think about what is suitable for your specific goals.
Establishing a brand identity that is purely verbal can be tricky, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience. There are numerous ways in which you can go about it, but the simplest and most effective approach is to use a “Brand Charter”. A brand charter is a formal document that defines a business’ objectives and the guidelines by which it will operate (in terms of everything from pricing to production to delivery).
A brand charter will not only help you to create a clear identity for your business but will also provide you with the framework within which to operate. It is essentially a living document that is always subject to review and revision as the business evolves. Being able to demonstrate that you have a clear identity and are operating within a strategic framework is crucial for businesses in today’s world, particularly for SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises) who seek to operate as efficiently as possible.
Copywriting
When you’re writing for an audience that is more educated than your own, you need to make sure that what you’re writing is of value to them. This means that you must do some serious research into the problems that your audience is facing, and then provide them with the answers. So, you’re not just writing for yourself anymore – you’re writing to educate and inform the people reading your work.
As a copywriter, one of your primary responsibilities is to define the brand voice of the company you are writing for, which will affect the way you write. When creating copy for a brand, you will need to follow a clear and concise strategy so that you create the best possible material for the company’s needs. To do this, you need to consider all of the written text that the company produces, whether it’s an online brochure, a sales pitch, a press release or an error notification.
Knowing when to use a singular or plural verb is something that can trip up even the most experienced of writers. Although the correct use of plurals does require some knowledge of language, it is not as complex as you would imagine. When you’re writing, use a plural verb for subjects that are not specific to one person, item or place. For example, instead of “Jane has a dog”, write “Jane’s dog”. “Dogs” is a collective noun.
Editing
Whether you’re an experienced copywriter or you’re just getting started, you eventually stand before a piece of writing that is complete and fully polished – that’s what editing is.
When you were a child, you probably spent a lot of time playing with the family computer. For those of us who grew up in the digital age, editing has been simplified to a large extent – all you need to do is cut, copy and paste to make changes. While this may be the case in some instances, there still is a lot of intricacy involved in editing. When you’re writing, you will need to pay careful attention to all of the little details that can make or break your writing. Some of the things that you need to focus on include spelling, grammar, punctuation, style and, of course, content.
Grammar, spelling and style are often considered as “copyediting”, which is a type of editing that most people are familiar with – although, you may not always agree with the assessment of the work that you’re editing. For example, if you’re editing press releases or product descriptions, you’re more likely to be focusing on style than you are on content. In these instances, editing usually consists of making the text more concise, easier to understand and, in some cases, might involve rewriting the entire piece. In more complicated instances, you could be asked to add or remove content to the text in order to make it more effective.
Matching
If you’re in the media business, you will be asked to write for (or contribute to) various publications. One of the things that you will need to learn is how to match words, phrases and sentences with the people and places that they represent. Matching often means using the right tone of voice and writing styles that will fit the person or people that you’re writing for. It also means learning how to represent the brand correctly, both in terms of style and content.
If you have a clear idea of the general direction that you wish to take, matching will not be difficult – you will simply need to follow the right path. Sometimes you might find that there are various options available to you, and you need to make a choice between the two or three that you feel are the best suited to your goals. Finding the right tone of voice is a matter of following a series of guidelines that you learn over time and which make sense in relation to your target audience.
Paraphrasing
When you’re first learning how to write, you’ll be asked to write numerous short essays or pieces of schoolwork. While it might be tempting to rush into producing something original, doing so might actually cause you to lose out on lots of learning opportunities. Instead, starting with simple paraphrasing is the ideal way to begin.
Simply put, paraphrasing is taking something that has been said or written by someone else and rephrasing it in your own words. For example, here’s an essay that was originally written in German:
Der Einfluss der neuen Medien auf das kulturelle Leben ist so enorm geworden, dass wir uns heute in unserem Alltag mehr daran gewöhnen, unsere Welt bzw. unser Leben in den Medien zu verlassen.
This could be translated into English as follows:
The influence of the new media on our cultural life is so great that we have become accustomed to leaving the world of the printed word and the real world altogether and immersing ourselves in the digital sphere.
Even if you don’t speak German and are not sure how the above quote might be rephrased, it’s still fairly easy to understand what is being said. Paraphrasing is useful because it allows you to demonstrate your understanding of the language and culture that you are studying – without being overly-dependent on notes and classifiers which might hinder your ability to create original work.
Using Analytics
Writing is all about providing the reader with information. One of the most useful tools for any writer, whether you’re learning or developing, is analytics. Analytics will allow you to track the responses that your writing generates, whether it’s a piece for school or work or an entertaining blog post. This information can be used to inform future writing decisions and to establish the effectiveness of certain content.
There are several different analytics tools that you could use, depending on your needs. Some might be free, while others might require a subscription. Consider everything from the ease of use to the degree of information that you need.