How to Create Better Content

By Dr. Tyra Seldon

Whether you are new to writing or you consider yourself a professional, content drives what you do, the frequency in which you do it, and the likelihood of your writing leading to your desired results. Yet, content generation can be one of the most difficult things about writing.

 

Here are 3 simple tips that I share with my clients:

Great readers make for great writers—I am a reader by nature, but once I started writing for the public, I had to become a reading scout. Just as NFL scouts will study potential college players to determine if they are a ‘fit’, a reading scout will peruse the internet and print outlets looking for great stories and topics to explore. I often find that some of my topic ideas are the direct result of something that piqued my interest even if my original intent was not to write about that subject.

 

I keep a folder titled “Use for Later” and it’s filled with various topics that I have uncovered while scouting. Because I write for different outlets, the folder is comprised of a myriad of incongruent topics that I can draw from when, or if, I need to—hence, it is a savings account.

 

Diversify your content—One of the biggest mistakes that I made when I first started writing was creating content that was exclusively time-sensitive. Something interesting would happen in the news and I would try to post about it the same day or the next day (at the latest). This proved to be taxing and writing started to feel more like a chore more than something I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

I realized that the urgency and public interest in current events would often dissipate within hours of my uploading a post. Current events tend to be ephemeral.  So, I started to focus more on evergreen topics—or topics that are timeless. These topics are still viable months and even years after they are written.

 

This does not mean that current events should be off limits for content generation; instead, I recommend that you focus on a nice balance between the two depending on who you are writing for and why.

Content is more than words—when we think about written content, we may erroneously only think about the written text, but that’s a misstep. The title of your written content and the picture will probably be two of the first things that potential readers encounter. In fact, they may be the determining factors if someone will even click the link to read your content.

 

I strongly recommend that you do not sacrifice quality or your ethical responsibility to the reader just to get reads. Instead, pick titles that capture what the written content is actually about. A thoughtful and informed reader will decide if they want to read further.  Lastly, if you plan to write frequently and you have editorial control over your images, it may be worth your while to purchase a membership to a stock image platform.

If you are committed to launching a career as a freelance writer, make sure that once you have a firm grasp on how to generate and maintain your content, you engage in another c word that is equally as important and that’s consistency.

 

Happy Writing!

 

To connect with Dr. Tyra, email: dr.tyra@seldonwritinggroup.com

A version of this blog, written by Dr. Seldon, originally appeared in Freelancers Union

Photo credit: aronbaker2 via Foter.com / CC BY