If you think that creative writing is just a fun thing and irrelevant to most jobs, you’d be wrong. Creative writing is a skill that can be applied to many different tasks in modern business, such as social media – and any sensible business knows that social media is a vital way of promoting their services or products. A clever marketing campaign can reach a vast pool of potential clients, but a team will need creative writing skills to draw those clients in and persuade them that they need the product.
In fact, creativity is required long before there’s a product to be promoted. A team needs to begin by producing ideas, which cannot be done without a lot of inventiveness. They have to present these ideas in a coherent written form, delegate tasks to the most appropriate person and make the ideas a reality. Then comes the promotion. Even less obviously creative industries require written reports and presentations. So creative writing actually plays a huge part in many businesses.
Fortunately, it’s a skill that anyone can develop, with the right techniques and plenty of practice – here are some that will help:
Give it some thought
Inspiration won’t just strike without any effort on your part. You need to sit down and think about the issues concerned and what you want to achieve, rather than expect the ideas to just flow. How can you get anywhere if you don’t know what the goal is? Bear in mind what your target market wants, rather than just wanting to showcase your talent as a writer. Consider the different possible approaches to the topic, and don’t just go for the obvious options.
One step at a time
Creative writing isn’t about sitting around waiting for inspiration, but rather a series of steps that should be followed in order to arrive at the end. Look at it like this, and you’ll see that it’s less about expecting genius ideas to strike, and more about a logical process:
- Look at the questions and issues
- Come up with suggestions
- Organize your thoughts into a coherent outline
- Create your piece
- Properly format it and ensure that it is free of mistakes
Make use of tools to help your creativity
There are so many tools available – many of them free – that can help your creative writing. Look around, try some out, and see what works for you. For example, you could try:
Calmly Writer – if you’re annoyed or distracted by all the options in your WP program, use this tool to remove unnecessary functions while you’re working.
MindMup – mind mapping can be very useful for sparking off new ideas.
Stormboard – do you need to brainstorm and work with people in other cities or countries? Use Stormboard for online collaborations.
Freedom – if you’re easily distracted by social media, download Freedom to block your chosen sites and allow you to focus.
Know when to step away
Everyone has days when they just can’t get the ideas flowing and their brain seems to give up. Sometimes taking a break and walking away for a while can help you return refreshed and with new inspiration. You can also try getting on with another task before going back to the problem topic. If you’re really having difficulty because of time being short (which can make you panic and be able to think even less), or because the task is outside your experience, you can always delegate it to a professional writing service like AssignmentMasters – seeing how they work can also help you to improve your own writing in the future.
Cut out the unnecessary words
Too many writers think that they have to show off their vocabulary and impress their readers with clever writing. But a pared-down style can often convey your meaning much more easily and keep the attention of the reader. Don’t try to bombard them with intricate phrases and words that leave them searching through a dictionary (or switching off altogether). Your writing will probably benefit from you going through it and cutting out unnecessary words. Present your readers with a piece that is easy to read and understand, and you will be able to make your intentions clear.
