Content Writing for absolute beginners

Content writing almost always feels like a daunting task for newbies. And I say this because I was there not too long ago (let's be frank, I'm still there.) 

I'd like to share some tips that have helped me overcome all the mental roadblocks that pop up right on schedule as I am assigned a new writing task.

Attacking the main questions: who, what, where, why and how

- These are the main points that your articles need to address. This is the main gist that any reader is going to take away. They are reading to be informed so make sure to include all the juicy bits! Once you have these down, you can move on to the next step.

Why are you shouting at me:

- What is your tone as you are writing? Are you friendly or are you attacking us and making us feel like we owe you money? Your tone needs to appropriate to the topic you are discussing. This can be a little confusing depending on who you are writing for but try to find a balance between saying the truth and keeping your readers attention. 

Content writing is like having a well-informed discussion with a friend who had time to read several articles and books on a particular topic before you had lunch and randomly brought this up during a conversation.

Basically, they have the facts and it doesn't matter if you've heard it before anywhere else, something about it from this person hits the right spot and resonates with you so deeply you have to take action because they said so.

Notice how I didn't mention grammar or vocabulary so far, that's because the essence of communication (or even language) is to share an idea with the next person and they respond appropriately according to what you have shared.

Personally, I define an effective action of communication as to when one person shares an idea with the next person and they understand it enough to take action.

For example, if someone says "me eat"  and you have food in your hands, you immediately know that they want some food.  They didn't have to say  "Excuse me, kind ma'am, may I please have some of your scrumptious looking freshly baked apple pie?" 

This takes me to my next point, just write.

Some peers and I joke about the "vomit and edit later" method which seems to be something a lot of people do. 

Write, pour out everything you think is related and relevant to this topic you are discussing. Read some more articles and add all the bits and pieces you found relevant or even interesting. Point blank, open that word document and vomit all over that page.

Then take a step back, leave the page and do something else for a bit. 

Take a walk. 

Meditate. 

Drink some water and get a snack. 

After a bit of time, come back and edit.

It might take a few times of doing this but you'll slowly become accustomed to writing, and writing better on your first go.