The Ultimate Course for the Aspiring Writer
Lesson 1
Forget (Almost) Everything You Learned in School About Writing
I wanted to get into freelance writing, so as any competent young adult who wants to get anywhere in life would, I enlisted the help of my mother.
My mom is the upcoming writer's dream. She has built several successful digital marketing teams, mentored many skilled writers, editors and content marketers, and has overseen the creation of countless articles, blogs, videos, websites and other digital media projects over her professional career. In short, she knows her stuff and is very well-qualified to guide an aspiring freelance writer like myself.
I was very fortunate to have such a wise mentor; Writing content with the intent of yielding more web traffic or increasing brand awareness for a client - this was uncharted territory for me. So, I went to my resident subject matter expert - the woman who brought me into this world and could just as easily take me out of it - and asked for guidance, and I am happy to share here what I learned with you.
Take The First Step: Start Writing
The first step for me was to simply put myself out there and start writing. Here’s how that went down:
I made my first attempt at a cover letter and proposal on Upwork for an assignment from an aspiring health and fitness coach and emailed it to my mom. I knew she wouldn’t sugar coat what she thought about it if it was terrible and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, especially since this was new territory for me. I wanted to start making strides, big or small, as soon as possible.
A few days later, we found a moment to talk on the phone:
“You’re still writing like you’re in school,” she said.
She went on to elaborate for some time about different writing styles, tone of voice and other topics of that nature, but I was stuck on those seven words:
You’re. Still. Writing. Like. You’re. In. School. Huh?
I was shocked by the statement, not because I was offended by her criticism, but because she was right and the fact that this was the issue was kind of scary at first. Nonetheless, I had learned my first lesson:
There is a big difference between the writing I learned in school and the writing that makes freelancers successful and fun to read.
This is an important skill those who want to become freelance writers should master if they want to make a living out of it.
Freelance Writing Takes a Different Approach
As it turns out, writing for academic purposes is just that: for academic purposes.
Don’t get me wrong, it has its place in schools and universities, scholarly journals, etc., but not here.
Freelance writing takes a different approach because you are writing for the specific needs of your clients, not the approval of your teacher.
Take content marketing, for example.
The purpose of content marketing is to attract target audiences into your client’s sales funnel with content the audience values - helpful content that:
answers the questions that are most important to the reader
covers topics that are important to your client’s business and
is presented in a way that’s most accessible and useful to readers.
Think plain language - straightforward, honest, and easy to scan.
For content marketing, it's all about connecting with the reader.
It is not about touting a company or "selling" someone.
It is about writing content that is helpful and relevant to the reader. If your content resonates with them, then the company/brand will be elevated authentically in the reader’s mind, and whatever it is you are trying to promote or bring awareness to will effectively sell itself.
Salespeople know this trick all too well. You don't start a conversation with a potential client by spouting off about your product and how great the price is. In fact, most sales pros will tell you not to even discuss business until the other person brings it up. Instead, they will look for a way to connect first.
Maybe the person is wearing a Giants football hat, so the salesperson will talk about the game last night. Or say the meeting takes place in the customer's home and there's a picture of them rock climbing hanging on the wall - a savvy seller might ask about their favorite climbing spots or discover that they're total gearheads and get them talking excitedly about the best belay devices money can buy. It might seem like a waste of time, but the best sellers know the power of making that initial connection with a potential buyer can have a massive effect on their ability to make the sale.
The same concept applies to writing for pay - if you can make that initial connection with your audience and steer the conversation in the direction of their likes, needs and interests, then by the time you get to telling them about the product or service that you want to show them, they will be that much more willing to hear what you have to offer.
As you can probably already tell, some rules apply to all freelance writing disciplines (like answering questions that are important to the reader) while others are more specific to particular niches (like attracting target audiences into your client’s sales funnel as a content marketer).
Determining which rules apply to the freelance area of your choosing and which do not is crucial to learn early on in your career, as I swiftly came to realize from my mom's response.
Write With Substance, Not Semantics
I looked back at what I sent my mom after our conversation. Then I looked back at my college assignments. Then, high school. Middle school. And the evidence was all there: perfectly structured sentences, flawless punctuation, million-dollar words to flaunt my intellect.
But most importantly, little to no substance to anything I was saying.
The only thing that really changed over the years was that the ideas became gradually more coherent while the vocabulary words became more pretentious. So why did I learn to write like this? How did this happen??
Part of the reason is that the way our education system prepares writers for the world is, let's face it, a bit outdated. We learn the essentials of good grammar and proper sentence structure and supporting evidence at a young age and we build upon those skills as we grow. But in the academic setting, that’s about as far as it goes, leaving a huge disconnect for aspiring writers between school and "the real world."
Unless of course you aspire specifically to be an academic writer, in which case school will adequately prepare you for that.
But it’s like teaching young people the essential principles of art by having them paint, sculpt, etc. when 3D artists and graphic designers are what’s in demand. Oh wait… that’s also happening.
Rebellious teen sentiments aside, these are systemic issues, but you are here to learn what you can do personally to be a better writer, right?
Well, here it is: write interesting content people want to read.
Simple, huh? In theory, yes, but in practice it takes… practice. A whole lot of practice. It also takes some unlearning.
Unlearn the Academic Algorithm
If you’re like me, you developed a sort of algorithm in school for writing in such a way that you met all of the assignment requirements while putting in as little effort as possible to still get the grade.
If you’re reading this article, you’ve come to realize that this simply doesn’t work in the real world. That’s because the real world isn’t interested in floral language and semantically sound arguments with fully supported and cited evidence (not that that isn't important, too!).
Instead, they want relevant, relatable content that is either entertaining or informative (or both).
Don’t feel personally attacked. To be honest, it was pretty difficult for me to make the transition from academic writing to freelance writing.
In school, I could write. I never really had any trouble banging out essays last minute and even though I felt an urge to rebel throughout my academic career, I really did enjoy putting thought into assignments and receiving a letter grade that commended me for my abilities.
But in the freelance world, there are no letter grades, and commendations are few and far between.
You will get no sympathy from clients for lazy work, and missed deadlines are a quick way to oust yourself as a freelancer.
If you thought you could breeze on by in this industry, writing the same way you did high school, you must have missed the title of this article.
It's okay, go ahead and scroll up, I'll wait...
Catchy, right? Moving on then.
Don't Be Afraid to Get Schooled
Please understand, I am not here to discourage you.
On the contrary, my intention is to break down your old ways of thinking and open you up to the opportunity that this still-budding profession has to offer.
If you felt like school never challenged you, this is the perfect chance to put yourself up to the test.
Think critically, challenge your own beliefs, learn new things and then learn them again in a different way. And keep moving.
One of the things I love most about this profession is that as soon as you get a knack for it, it changes. That is, once you discover a voice and some level of success comes your way, you must make sure not to pigeonhole yourself into one way of thinking. Again, keep moving.
I mentioned to my mother that I was writing this article.
When I told her the title, she laughed. “That’s a great idea!” she said. I owe just about all of what I know about good writing to her.
I fondly remember growing up watching TV with her, we only watched a show if the quality of writing met our high standards and we always thought we should be the ones writing the shows ourselves. She certainly could, and I bet having been under her wing for all these years that I could too.
I may not write like I’m there anymore, mom, but you’re still taking me to school. Now, hopefully, the student may become the teacher.
Class dismissed!
Stay tuned for the next installment of The Ultimate Course for the Aspiring Writer: Lesson 2!
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