My All-Time Top Tip for New Writers
If I could only give new online writers one piece of advice, it would be this
How’s your week going?
It’s busy here. With the newsletter growing by the week, the new YouTube channel growing by the day... Check us out. There’s a link below somewhere. Take a look if you haven’t already.
And with my writing guides on sale and doing well... Yeah, it’s a busy week.
But a few people started to ask me, if I could only tell new writers one thing before they started, what would it be?
So I went back to an old newsletter that I wrote, and I fished out this one piece of advice.
And I turned it into a little YouTube Short thing, which has done really well. And I thought I’d give everyone who subscribes here the chance to revisit, too.
There are loads of people who’ve probably not seen or read this one before.
So, let’s take a look at what my all-time top tip would be for new writers.
I Left a TK in a Pitch Email
The client side of the business is a much smaller part of things here these days.
But back in the day... well, a few years ago, I was pitching my freelance writing services to anyone I could find. Particularly in the construction and home improvement sector. That was my industrial background, and where I knew my prospects and their business well.
And a new kitchen fitting company sprang up in my home town. The perfect opportunity! The branding on the front of their shop was (still is!) full of mixed messages. Different uses of plurals rather than consistency, poor phrasing, that sort of thing.
Just the type of writing that I help people to fix.
I have a five-stage pitch email stack that I send to prospects. And the first email packs a mighty punch. It points out (in a kind and helpful way, I hope!) where they’re having a few problems. And it suggests a free fix for them to implement straight away.
This approach works incredibly well.
Until it doesn’t.
And by “until it doesn’t”, what I really mean is “until I get it wrong.”
I would always close those first emails with a cheery, “Thanks for reading, and happy TK!”
(For the unaware, writers use “TK” as a placeholder. An indicator to remind them they want to insert something else at that point. It... sort of... stands for “to come”, and was chosen because those two letters don’t appear together often in written English and they’re easily searchable.)
This particular email was supposed to end with, “Thanks for reading, and happy kitchen-fitting!”
But in my excitement to press Send, I forgot to edit that bit.
Oops.
Well, I never heard back from them, so there’s that...
Ahem.
Doing One Thing Would Have Saved All That Pain
My all-time top tip for new writers could have saved the day.
If I’d already invented it, that is.
In fact, this whole painful experience was one of the factors that caused me to create this wizard’s spell.
So, what is it? It’s simple enough:
Before you press Send, Publish, Go or whatever the button says, STOP. Read what you have written. Read it out loud. Preferably from a mobile screen rather than a monitor.
Why?
Reading our words back to ourselves, particularly aloud, draws instant attention to mistakes and clumsy language that the eager writer’s eye can miss.
And why from a mobile screen?
These days, the chances are that’s how your reader is going to view it. It’s an opportunity to spot formatting that doesn’t work properly on a small screen and sort it before you send it.
Start Writing Today, but Remember This Email
Don’t be like I was.
All the enthusiasm in the world is great until it trips you up.
Pause for thought.
If you’re hovering over the Publish button on your first-ever newsletter issue or blog... or your hundredth:
Take a moment and remember this email.
And the very best of luck to us all.
Today’s writing tip is so important that it gets a mention in my free guide to clearer online writing, “Write It So They’ll Read It: 3 Rules for Grabbing (and Keeping) Attention Online”.
I know many WWOTI subscribers have already downloaded their copy. But if you’ve missed it so far, go and grab yours here.
And have a great weekend.
Thanks for reading.
✉️ Starting Your Own Writing Journey?
It’s not easy to get your first 100 subscribers.
Here’s how to change that in 30 DAYS
PS: I’m sharing videos, writing insights, and community chat on YouTube. Come say hi here → YouTube
If you found today’s issue helpful, I’ll bet you know someone else who’d like it, too. Share the love and tell your friends!