Writing Tips For Non Professional Writers

Many professionals whose primary job is not writing reach out to me with the offer of wanting to write oped for ET or the web edition of ET. While the enthusiasm and sincerity of several of them is endearing, I really hope those proposing to write opinions kept in mind certain fundamentals of writing that would help them and us carry their oped. I am sharing some tips that I have picked up over last 12 years as a journalist that has shaped my writing and reporting. Some tips are universal and does not matter if you are writing a news story or an analytical article. 

What's your point? 

Before you propose an article, ask yourself, what is the point of writing this piece? What do you want to say and why are you saying this. If you have this part clear, then proceed to How do you want to say this. Mind map is a great way of structuring the above questions, you can then write it down on a piece of paper. For eg if I had to do a mind map of this post, it would read like this- "I am writing this post because far too many aspiring oped writers have no clue on how to write a good oped. In the interest of readers and potential op ed writers, I want to share my tips that would improve the collective quality of writing and public discourse. 

Stick to your expertise- We are living in an age where opinions outnumber facts. It is cheaper to get out an opinion piece than invest in fact based news reporting. Trust me when I say this as a reporter, across the world newsrooms are finding it economical to put out opinions rather than invest in news gathering. So it is tempting to offer our views on everything that touches our lives. But when you are writing for a mass publication it is always wise to stick to what you know and what your expertise is. You might be a senior executive of an oil drilling company, but if you offer to write about the shortage of funding in discovery of new medicines, it becomes difficult to give you that digital/print space. Also it is always a good to share whats going on in your field. Because if you are writing for a financial newspaper or a trade publication, most of the time the readers are your own peers. And they would love to see and engage with views from their own community of professionals. 

Stay topical- You have seen turbulent times when you worked as a salesperson during the Asian crisis or the sub prime crisis. You have interesting nuggets to share from those days. It is wonderful and makes it interesting only for a coffee table conversation. Unless you can connect those turbulent times with whats happening in the present, these stories of past are best left in the nostalgia folder which you can always pick up next time when you meet your friends in the club. Please share with readers those experiences that would leave them better informed.

Avoid rhetorics. Provoke your readers- I have seen this with many articles that I receive where the authors either make general rhetorical statements that reads more like a Facebook post rather than an analytical piece. For e.g. the most overused words that I come across is “Structural Reform”. ‘We need structural reforms in …. (add health, education,banking…) and then the authors will fail to explain WHAT exactly are the structural reforms that they are proposing. Remember your readers are also intelligent, they will move on if they think you are not informing them. So go to the golden rule of ‘Whats the point’ and then build your article. Be provocative. ‘To reduce poverty in India, the finance minister should immediately impose a flat 50% tax on the wealthy’ or ‘Taxing the rich hurts the economy, India should cut tax of the wealthy’. Build on this argument, back it with facts of such experiments having worked elsewhere, if you are an accounting expert show the math on how these can be achieved. But just don’t make general statements. 

Be Patient and READ READ READ- Last tip is be kind and patient with yourself. Often most people think that writing is an easy job, it is not. You don’t call yourself an architect just because you painted your house on your own. Writing is also like that. It takes many years of practice to get skilled in the craft and yet you don't know if you ever achieve that, it is often a torturous process. So be patient with yourself. Don’t fall for the internet metrics and seek instant gratification, it is tempting I know, but it is also a trap. 

And finally, read! News articles, books, pamphlets. Whatever you can. Just READ READ READ. 

*If you managed to reach the end of the article, then do let me know if there are any other tips on writing that you would like me to write about. I will be happy to do so :)