This post inspired today’s topic.
So let’s get to it … What kind of writer are you?
Procrastinator: You do everything BUT write. Delay tactics are your specialty and writing is a chore and a bore. Solution? Chunk your writing time into smaller, more manageable segments; use a voice recorder to capture your thoughts instead of facing a blank document; and hire it out.
Perfectionist: You spend ridiculous amounts of time trying to find “just the right word.” You’ve never met a deadline (at least not without tearing your hair out) and you’re highly critical of yours and everyone else’s writing. Solution? Keep your high standards but temper them with realism; limit your rewrites to three; and ask an objective party to review your copy.
Free spirit: You love the written word and enjoy crafting amazing sentences. Trouble is you sometimes don’t get to the core message quick enough. Solution? Write a synopsis of the main message and keep it in front of you; read your copy through the lens of “How does this relate to the main message”; and start a personal blog as an outlet for all that creativity.
Rule follower: You pride yourself on knowing the correct placement of every dot and tiddle. End a sentence with a preposition? Never! Problem is your writing is difficult to read and perhaps too formal for your audience. Solution? Make a list of which rules you’ll never break and which rules you’ll agree to bend; videotape yourself in conversation and note how often the rules don’t apply; and become the go-to grammar guy or gal in the office (people will love you for worrying about such things on their behalf).
Bottom line? Your writing style is a lot like your natural hair texture: Stop fighting against it and start working with it. You don’t have to force a drastic change but you can learn how to mold and shape your writing style so that it’s less angst-ridden for you and more pleasing to your reader.
Other writing types? Share them here.
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