What’s your writing style? Do you plan it out or make it up as you go along?
Some business writers just start writing; they don’t know where they’re going, but trust that they’ll find their way as they write. Sometimes it leads to more creative writing as the mind is free to wander and discover new possibilities. Other times, the writing completely loses its way and becomes unfocused and repetitive.
Certainly, most people find magic happens when in the creative flow. But for professional writing, you really need a creative and a practical approach so that nothing is missed out. A mind map can be a useful tool to generate ideas and start thinking creatively – and although there are lots of fancy apps out there, all you really need is a pen and paper!
Simply look at the question (or topic) and write down all the proof points you can think of to address it; just brainstorm and see what you come up with. When you’re satisfied that you’ve covered everything you can think of for the first proof point, repeat the process for all the others.
When you have all this information planned out, you can decide how you will answer the question: identify which points are more powerful than others (so should be addressed first), and how you will link one argument to another to tell a coherent and compelling story.
Clearly, this writing style takes initial planning and discipline, but it usually leads to well-crafted content. When you actually start writing, you’ll find that you have a clear roadmap to follow, so the document almost writes itself. This saves the need for endless drafts and significantly reduces the chances of you losing your writer’s mojo – and the new business to boot!