So You Think You Can’t Write

One thing is sure: You didn’t get into business to be a writer. English composition was not one of your best subjects. Writing is for, well, writers. You know, those eccentric, artistic types you could never figure out. Certainly not you.

And then you went into marketing on the Internet and realized, to your surprise and disappointment, that the Internet is made up of images and… words!

Before you know it, you find yourself having to write more than you care to–blog posts, squeeze pages, emails to customers, and even silly little tweets.

Why Even Non-Writers Can Write For The Web

Fortunately, for you and other non-writers, writing for the web is different than the kind of writing we all learned in school.

The web is more conversational. It’s informal, personable, and casual. Depending on the market you’re targeting, they may not even care that your grammar isn’t perfect.

Plus, written pieces on the web tend to be short. Internet users are always in a hurry and have short attention spans. They don’t like having to scroll through thousands of words. (An exception is the long-form sales page, which you shouldn’t write yourself anyway, unless you’re a trained copywriter.)

In other words, here’s the good news for you: The Interwebs isn’t Mr. Collins’ English class!

How to Write When You’re Not A Writer

Below are some tips to make writing for the web easier, even for non-writers like you:

1. Brainstorm with a mindmap

In composition class, we learned how to make an outline before writing something. But outlines are linear and don’t always work with everyone.

If you’ve tried using outlines but haven’t had much luck, maybe mindmaps are more your thing. A mindmap is a good tool for brainstorming topics, as well as for fleshing out the different parts of a topic.

For example, this blog post started out in the form of this mindmap (click to enlarge):

You can find free and paid mindmapping software (I used Freemind for the mindmap above. I’ve also been experimenting with Xmind).

Or you could do it the old-fashioned way: take a blank sheet of paper and different-colored pens, and map away. Whatever works for you.

2. Write without thinking; edit without feeling.

Most of the time, we don’t get anything written, because our brain is always editing what we write. So you type a couple of sentences, erase the last one. Type another sentence, delete everything and start again.

No wonder you’re not getting done! Just write. Write in white heat, without thinking about the words that just flowed from your computer keyword.

And then, when you think you’re finished, take a break. Go for a walk. Grab a cup of coffee (and a cupcake, you deserve it). If you have time, sleep on it.

Then go back to your first draft and edit it. Edit without feeling. Don’t get attached to your writing, even if you think it was so moving it could be worthy to be part of a novel. Be ruthless; cut out unnecessary words. Rewrite parts that are unclear.

And always, always favor clarity for witty.

3. Follow proven templates.

Nowadays, you’ll find templates for everything from emails to blog posts, to articles, to squeeze pages and even sales pages.

If writing is particularly challenging, why sweat it? Take one of those templates and use them. Nobody said you had to reinvent the wheel.

4. Don’t start from scratch.

Ever heard of private label rights content? Those are written pieces of content that you buy and gain certain rights to. For example, you have the right to edit them or use them as it, and put your name as the author.

Now, if you really want to claim authorship of a PLR piece, then go ahead and rework it. Reorganize the different parts into a structure that makes better sense to you. Rewrite every single sentence. Add in your own sentences and even entire paragraphs. Remove parts you feel aren’t necessary. Combine different PLR pieces together.

In other words, make it your own. Sometimes, it’s much easier to write when you’re not staring at a blank piece of paper of computer screen. If that’s the case for you, then maybe PLR is the answer.

5. Don’t write!

Well if you really can’t write, then don’t! Instead, you could always record an audio or video instead.

You could even legally, with permission, use other people’s video and embed them on your own blog or site. Of course, read the terms of use of the source before doing this.

Video sharing sites like YouTube allow you to embed other people’s video into your own site.

That said, you will have to write at least a couple of paragraphs that tell what the video is about. The main purpose of this is to provide “food” for the search engines.

You see, search engines are not able to crawl audio and video content (yet). So you need to have some text on your site to let the search engine ‘bots know what the video/audio is all about. But it’s much shorter than writing an entire blog post.

6. Let other people do the writing or talking.

Another way to create content without having to write too much is by interviewing others. The easiest way to do this is by sending your guest a list of questions.

Then all you have to do is publish their answers on your blog. You can even ask them to write their own bio.

You can do interviews through phone or Skype to create audio or video content.

No More Excuses

If you’ve read this far, I hope you realize that you’ve run out of excuses. Even if you are “not a writer,” you can still get your stuff out there and share your brilliance with  the world.

What are your biggest challenges when it comes to writing? Did any of the tips above address those challenges? Or do you have additional tips for other non-writers? Please share in the comments below.

Oh and, guess what? As long as you’re writing, then you’re a writer!