Eric G. Schneider, D. Min.

The Tao of Effective Writing...

I know I know...you hate writing, or maybe you don't think of yourself as a writer. 

Well the good news is you do not have to be.  If you are having trouble writing, there are services that can help you out, but before you use any of them...

Try these simple guidelines and see what you come up with first.  It may not be as hard as you think.

Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.

- Benjamin Spock, M.D.

What do you have to lose?   When I first started writing I thought all of those things.  Now it's all I want to do...  Who would have thought?!

Whether it's for your own website, your own ezine, or a publication, here are 5 tips to get you on your way.

1. Define clearly in your mind who your target audience is.

Let's take a for instance shall we?  Suppose you are an acupuncturist specializing in working with stress and chronic tension.

Now your tendency might be to just write everything you know about stress, however it would be even better if you could target your writing to more specific groups.

For instance, maybe it's single moms, perhaps it's businessmen.

Although your basic philosophy might be the same, each audience is different and has different needs.

 Try and consider the specifics of your target audience.

That brings us to the next tip...

2. A Compelling title.

You have about 5 seconds to get someone's attention.

Taking the above example a little bit further, how about:

Stress And The Single Mom, 5 Things You Can Do To Reduce Your Stress.

A strong title compels your readers to take notice and want to read your article.

Think about some of the things you read and how they grab your attention.

3. Write to one single person. 

The fact is that one single person is going to read whatever you write one at a time.

So write for the person reading. 

So taking our example a little further...?

Are you stressed out?  Do you struggle to balance taking care of your children and taking care of yourself?

Vs.   Stressed out mothers very often struggle between taking care of themselves and taking care of their young children.

Same ideas, just written in different ways.

If you were a single mom, which one could you relate to more easily?

4. This brings us to your writing style. 

Just pretend you are having a conversation with someone.  Share yourself with them. Keep a nice personal style in your writing.  You are using your writing to communicate, not to prove a point.

5. Just write. 

Don't edit as you write.  Simply write.  There will be plenty of time to edit later!  For now, just write.

Are you writing yet?????