Copy Writing
Just write. This has been the most valuable advice I have ever received regarding putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard. Don’t criticize yourself, don’t get stressed, just get moving and get into the rhythm of talking to your audience. In my opinion, the most underrated writing out there is in children’s books. They are short, interesting, colourful and simple enough for two-year-old to understand.
This is the genius of these books – you need thoroughly simple, imminently understandable content in order to get your message across.
Good children's books authors know their audience has short attention spans, difficulty making out words, difficulty reading (relative to most adults), and an underdeveloped vocabulary. They know they need to make every word count, or else they lose their reader.
I thinkwe all should pretend that we are writing for children. Wouldn't life would be that much simpler and understandable? Imagine if the instructions for your barbecue were as easy to understand as a children's book!
Working for a newspaper made me a better writer
The best experience I got as a writer was while I worked for The B.C. Catholic as a reporter. Essentially, my entire job was tell stories in photographs and words. Ironically, if you had asked me what I was good at before entering the job, I would have said “I’m a good writer, and a terrible photographer.” By the end of my stint there, I had won multiple awards for photography, and nothing for my writing.
But I digress.
Write first, ask questions later
The most useful advice I got from my editor was to write first and ask questions later. Writing and editing are meant to be two separate tasks – and require a completely different thought processes. Approaching words that way allowed me to be quicker, more interesting, and more conversational. Writing is easy when you envision that you are having a really good conversation with your audience about something that happened.
