Read, Read, Read to Write Better

(Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes)

I had a birthday last week. I’m making plans for a trip to Little Rock for Thanksgiving with my folks, which means five days away from home and six hours of driving each way. I’m working a full-time job, writing a whole damn novel this month, and I may or may not be participating in a Masters program at the University of Oklahoma. (I wrote this back in May, and my academic adviser was slow to respond. What can I say?)

I could have made a similar list in May. Back then it was the launch of my e-Book and writing chapters for Carlos’s and guest posts for David and several others, not to mention a different damn novel and my own blog and two new websites and my day job and trying to get my academic adviser to answer her damn phone. Ahem.

So what’s the point? We’re all that busy. I have a perfect certainty that you could match my list or top it, and on top of that you’ve got Dave here telling you to improve your SEO, and me barking at you to become a better writer, and others telling you to develop products you can sell, and leave comments everywhere, and build relationships, and write guest posts…. And that’s all the stuff you have to do in addition to the work and life and family and blogging you actually want to do.

Building a successful blog is a huge commitment. The good news is, there’s one thing you can do to help you make progress on pretty much every item in that list above.

Read.

Read, read, read. Every single word gets you a step closer to your goals.

Make Time to Read

Last time I talked to you, I told you to think like a reader. Back then, your goal was to figure out what it is your audience needs, so you can meet that need.

The best way to do that, though, is to read. The more time you spend reading blogs, the easier it’ll be to put yourself in your readers’ shoes. Get familiar with the experience of clicking on a bit.ly link with no more than 100 characters of explanation what to expect. Get a look at all the sometimes delightful, sometimes horrifying background art and fonts and colors out there, and see what they do to you.

Try to scan posts with and without bulleted lists, with and without clear headers, with and without frequent paragraph breaks. You’ve heard an awful lot of rules about how to do it right, but wade in there as a really serious reader, and experience firsthand the why of those rules.

As you read, you’ll get a solid feel for how top bloggers use keywords and categories and tags. You’ll get to know the people you need to make strategic connections with, and figure out what has and hasn’t been said on any particular blog. You’ll be able to leave your name and site link in some truly genuine comments, because you showed up looking to read, not just to network.

It’s not a luxury. It should be your top priority. Make time to read.

Find New Voices (Including Your Own)

I know, I know. I’m supposed to be giving writing advice, but everything I’ve talked about so far has been more Doolin’s stuff. Don’t be fooled, though. It’ll help your writing, too.

Every word you read makes you a better writer. Good ones, bad ones, boring ones,  misspelled ones — all of them. If you’re paying attention, if you’re trying to become a better writer, then everything you see becomes a learning experience. Every blog is an example you can learn from.

And one of the most important things you can learn from them is voice. Learn to recognize writing that has a powerful, unique voice. Those are the ones you connect to. Those are the ones you miss when you’re reading the dry technical details on some boring news site.

Get to know the voices in your niche. Those are the voices your readers are already familiar with, so you should be, too. Get to know some voices outside your niche, too. See what they’re doing right, that your competitors aren’t, and bring it to your readers.

There’s an old saying, popular with Creative Writing teachers the world over: “Steal everything that isn’t nailed down.” That takes some searching, but it’s worth doing. Find a style, find a voice, find the methods and ideas that work, and make them your own. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll be amazed how many other things you’ve accomplished along the way.

Before you go, though…take a moment and share. It helps to vent. (I know from experience. I had a great deal of fun writing out that intro.) What’s got you too busy to do all the things you need to do? Put it down in the comments, then leave it there and go get some reading done. It’ll all still be waiting for you when you’re done.

Aaron Pogue is the creator of Unstressed Syllables, a general writing advice site featuring interesting, useful articles on topics ranging from business to storytelling. His decades of experience in creative and technical writing makes good writing easy for you.