Writing Tips: Write Like You Talk

by Elle Ray | Nov 14, 2016 | Writing

13 Writing Tips from a Professional Blog Writer

A funny thing happened on the way to keyboard. I became a completely different person.

writing tips - write like you talk

“Who wrote that?” asked my editor. “I did,” I told him, quite proud of the words I’d conjured up — the lengthy sentences that I’m sure were grammatically correct and written in the tone of a scholar that I’d adopted. I believed that I had successfully integrated all the writing tips I’ve ever heard over a lifetime of training into that short article.

But at that time, I wasn’t writing for a group of academics; I was writing for the general public. I had a story to tell, and I wanted regular people to read what I’d written. I had important information to impart to people who would surely marvel at my talent for literary composition.

Boy, was I wrong.

Where’s the Beef?

The lessons I learned from that editor still ring loud and true today. And really, they’re more powerful today than ever. Never before had a few short writing tips hit the mark more clearly. I was humbled, yet resilient. As my editor told me: I had to remember the basics of writing and the reasons for it.

Writing is a form of communication, after all. And if you don’t get your message across — if it gets bogged down in some crazy notion that to be respected as a writer you have to become someone else — then you’ve wasted your time putting the words to paper and wasted your readers’ precious time, too. And through it all, you still have a message to send.

Don’t Get Lost in the Cracks

Whether you’re writing a blog for your company website, an email to a potential client, an article or a book, the best way to get your message across is to write like you talk. The way you talk is the way people listen. Take this example:

“The strange mix of euphoria and revulsion he felt, strategically shielded from the world by the impenetrable tint of his sunglasses, protected his delicate sensibilities and sad longings from the intimate goings-on that surrounded him on a daily basis as he wandered from one desolate, deserted place to another in search of affection and meaning.”

Versus this example:

“He wore dark glasses as he roamed the streets because he didn’t want anyone to see his emotions.”

While the first example might be suitable for a long novel, it can’t be used anywhere else. The actual meaning gets lost when you try to sound intellectual. In most forms of writing, you have to get to the point. And the point isn’t whether you’re smart or talented; it’s whether you can be understood.

Get to the Point

To help with your next project, consider the following writing tips. They’ll not only make writing a little easier, they’ll ultimately help you get your message across, succinctly and to the point:

Relax, you can fix the errors later
Say what you mean
Read — a lot
Read with a critical eye
Use as few words as possible to make your point
Keep sentences short
Avoid industry jargon
Eliminate useless words that sneak in (such as can, will and generally)
Rely on punctuation to control the flow
Write first, then edit
Ask for criticism
Read your writing out loud before you publish
And don’t listen to all the writing tips you hear; just write from your heart

And of course, when all else fails and you just can’t seem to get the hang of easily knocking out your company newsletter in a decent amount of time without taking up your whole day, contact the professional writers at Ray Access. It’s not just what we do; it’s all we do.

Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words to empower your business. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote or discuss your needs. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters and more. Everything we do is thoroughly researched, professionally edited and guaranteed original.

How to Start — and Maintain — a Business Blog

by Mark Bloom | Jan 21, 2016 | Blog Writing

Start Writing Your Blog Now and Keep It Going

A business blog contributes to the ROI of your website.

Just as every business eventually realized it needed a website, more and more businesses are coming to the conclusion that they need blogs. An effective blog drives more traffic to the website, thus generating quality leads and phone calls. A business blog that uses keywords correctly can even raise the search engine ranking for the entire site.

the writing work pays off in your blog

It’s never too late to start a blog for your business website. It can start delivering ROI within months of your first published blog post, which — in our age of instant gratification — may seem like forever. But the more frequently you blog, the faster you’ll see the results. And the earlier you begin, the sooner your work will pay off.

Start with the Basics

Once you commit to your business blog, brainstorm a list of topics. Make sure you have enough quality ideas to get you through at least three months. And plan to brainstorm more every three months. Put it on your calendar.

At Ray Access, we recommend starting a new business blog with three blog posts. No one wants to visit a blog on a website and see a single entry. Start with three, and it looks like you’re serious about it. Write a short “Welcome to Our Blog” post that describes your blog’s benefits to the reader. Then pick two topics that excite you. Write them and publish them all at the same time. Congratulations, you have a blog!

Maintaining Your Business Blog

If you’ve decided to blog weekly (or even more frequently), you may already feel the pressure building to write. But here’s the trick: you don’t have to spend time writing every week. Follow Ray Access’s example and spend a weekend writing all the blog posts you need for the following month. Then the articles are sitting there waiting for you to publish them.

When you brainstorm once a quarter, select not only the blog topics to write, but also the order in which to write them. Pick a day of the week as your publication day and make sure you have a topic for every one of those days during the three-month period. Then you can develop a publication schedule so you know when to “turn on” each blog post.

Don’t Forget to Edit

an editor can make your writing better Any business writing needs proofing. You don’t want your business card to misspell your name. You don’t want a typo in your brochure. Your business blog is no different. Make sure you have someone else (not the writer) edit each blog post before it’s published. Make this part of your process.

An editor not only catches typos and repairs grammar, but a good editor can make sure the blog post is on target and effectively communicates your intent. Every one of the blog posts Ray Access produces, whether for our clients or for our own website, is thoroughly edited. Please do the same for yours.

And if you need help writing your blog, even temporarily,
Ray Access writes blog posts.
If you need help editing your blog,
Ray Access provides professional editing services.
Even if you need help developing blog topics,
Ray Access can help.

How to Prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

by Elle Ray | Aug 18, 2014 | Office

Carpal Tunnel Can Strike All of Us… Even You

For nearly 20 years, I owned a business that relied heavily on my two hands. I cleaned and reconditioned boats. Waxing and scrubbing, holding vibrating sanders, mops, buckets and rags and climbing all over 25-to-65-foot motor yachts and sailboats. It was exhausting. Eventually, I could barely open my hands. If I didn’t stop, carpal tunnel and arthritis would leave me with constant pain and little use in my hands.

I had to quit that business. I wasn’t going to become crippled for any amount of money.

Carpal tunnel developing? Not if you follow this advice.

Advice from a Keyboard Junkie

Now I sit at a computer for hours on end, hands poised on the keyboard and fingers moving very little as they fly over the keys. Some days, my hands ache. But I’m doing everything I can to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome from developing. Because of the research I’ve done and the steps I follow, the pain never lingers. So if you find yourself in a similar situation, take my advice and take these steps, which are based on thorough, reliable research:

I set up my desk and work station to conform to my body’s needs. My chair is adjustable, with movable arm rests so I can change the angle at which my hands reach the keyboard and change up the pressure points. Some days my elbows rest on the armrests, other days they hang free and I rest my wrists on the wrist-rest attached to my keyboard.

I use an ergonomic keyboard that’s split so that my fingers hit the keys in a very natural position. The keyboard tray is low because I’m short. It pulls out from below my desk. Everything about my arms and hands feels natural, even when I’m working the mouse, which I use constantly while researching. My mouse pad has a nice, cushy wrist support too.

I type with easy taps. I make sure my keys are loose and respond instantly to a light touch. The Mayo Clinic reports that striking keys with force creates additional, unnecessary pressure that, over time, can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.

I take a lot of breaks. At least once every hour, I get up from my desk and get a glass of water, walk around the office, check the mail or go to the bathroom. While up, I stretch my fingers and my wrists. I move them to work out any kinks. Making a fist and opening my hands wide four or five times does wonders. When short breaks don’t relieve any beginning signs of pain, I do something different, like make phone calls, read or write to-do lists with pen and paper.

I pay attention to my posture and straighten my spine when I start hunching over. When your neck and shoulders slump forward, that cuts off the nerves that feed fresh blood down your arms to your hands. It helps that we have a spine specialist and a pain management practice as clients, because I’m constantly reminded of the importance of proper posture.

About Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Be careful when typing The main cause of carpal tunnel syndrome, a condition that causes hand and arm numbness and tingling, is pinched nerves. Weakness and the inability to hold objects is another symptom that could signal the onset of the condition. Treatment may consist of:

Wrist splints
NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), like ibuprofen
Steroid injections
Ultrasound therapy
Physical or occupational therapy
Endoscopic or open surgery

But the best treatment for carpal tunnel is prevention. After a lifetime, my favorite jobs — those that I’m good at and give me the most pleasure — involve my hands. So I want to take care of them. As a professional writer, it behooves me to follow my own advice, something I’m not always ready to do. As one of the partners at Ray Access, I both want and need to take care of my hands. They are the tools from which my creativity and my soul flow through.

How to Overcome Writer’s Block

by Mark Bloom | Aug 1, 2014 | Writing

When You’re Stuck for the Right Words

Everyone goes through periods when the words just won’t come. You sit and stare at the page or the screen, and you can’t imagine what comes next, whether you’re working on a novel, a blog post or a letter to your brother in Raleigh.

when you have writer's block, what do you do?

Writer’s block. When it hits, it stops all your creative juices. You feel like a second-grader on the day of the spelling bee. You begin to wonder if you bit off more than you could chew by volunteering to write the invitation to your Labor Day party.

There’s Hope, Even for You

We are professional writers and editors here at Ray Access. We can’t afford to get stopped by writer’s block. Literally, we can’t afford it.

So we’ve developed a few simple tricks and tips to jump-start our creative juices when we need them right now. We’d like to share them with you, so you don’t fall victim to this productivity-stopper. Fear not; there is hope for you, not matter what your level of writing or the scope of your writing project.

Step 1: Acknowledge & Recover

Writer’s block happens; it’s not anything you did. Repeat this to yourself: “Writer’s block happens; it’s not my fault.” Accept it. You aren’t suffering writer’s block because you’re a crappy writer or because all your good ideas have dried up. Writer’s block happens to every writer at one time or another.

Once you can accept that, you can begin to recover from the initial shock of helplessness. And that’s what writer’s block feels like: helplessness, the inability to do work or be productive.

Step 2: Shake It Off

when you're stuck, go for a walk When you’re stuck, the best thing to do is to do something to clear your mind. Put aside your pen, stylus or keyboard. Get up from wherever you’re sitting. If you’re suffering from writer’s block, it’s definitely time for a break. Get a cup of coffee or tea. Stretch your muscles, take a walk, meditate, or go for a drive or bike ride. A change of scenery definitely helps recharge your batteries.

Another trick is to remember how good a writer you really are. It’s empowering to review your older work, even if it’s just past letters you wrote. If you wrote that, you can write anything. Trust yourself.

Step 3: Try Something Different

Allow yourself to look at your project from different perspectives or different angles — including from above and below. You might have missed something. When all else fails, put it aside and work on something else, like a timed writing exercise. Here are some tips:

Write for ten minutes about your favorite color, food or person. Here are the only rules:

Write freehand, pen on paper, for the best results.
Keep your hand moving.
Don’t cross out.
Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation or grammar.
Lose control. The whole idea is to let go.
Don’t think. Don’t plan. Don’t get logical.
Go for the jugular. Dive into absurdity and write. Take chances. You will succeed if you are fearless of failure.

Step 4: Look for Good Advice

Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying and other books, believed that “all writing problems are psychological problems. Blocks usually stem from the fear of being judged. If you imagine the world listening, you’ll never write a line.”

For writer and poet Charles Bukowski, “Writing about a writer’s block is better than not writing at all…”

Author Lili St. Crow summed up the feeling: “You do not sit down and write every day to force the Muse to show up. You get into the habit of writing every day so that when she shows up, you have the maximum chance of catching her, bashing her on the head, and squeezing every last drop out of [her].”

With that thought in mind, make your deal: “OK, Muse, you take care of the quality; I’ll take care of the quantity.” Then it’s just a matter of getting your butt back in the chair to write again. It works for us.

To Write or Not to Write

by Elle Ray | Jun 10, 2014 | Writing

How to Write Effectively in the 21st Century

Today’s Shakespeares look harder at page rankings and reader conversion numbers than at what’s actually on the page. But those days are fast coming to a close. Search engines have been tweaked to recognize the keyword-stuffed, quick-hit advert-articles that have plagued the Web for years. Now they are seeking — nay, demanding — that you put consistent, meaningful quality content on your website or just go home.

keep writing ... longer articles

The Long or Short of It

The average visitor to a website leaves within 10 to 20 seconds — but that assumes there is obviously nothing of value on the page. Research now shows that if you can capture the attention of readers within those first important seconds, you can keep them there for much longer. And the longer the visit, the more likely you’ll make a sale.

The days of needing to keep blogs, Web pages and articles short to hold readers’ attention are gone. Born again is the prospect of enticing readers to continue reading, to find value in your writing and to stay — and even scroll — to finish your piece. According to researchers at Microsoft, the length of your copy is not as important as the first few lines of copy you offer. So whether you write 250 words or 2,500 words, if you don’t capture readers’ attention in the first couple lines, they’re out of there. Click.

Search Engines Like Quality

Now, attracting readers in the first place is another story. The top 10 listings on Google for a sample keyword search each had more than 2,000 words on their landing pages. The sites aren’t ranked high just because they have a lot of copy; they receive the top spots because they have a lot of rich copy — words that convey a useful message, a message that readers want to read and can’t stop reading. Websites that provide more of what readers want are getting the most respect from search engines.

The adage that’s been working its way through the Web-marketing world the last few years is: “Copy is king.” It seems now that copy is king, queen, jack and the entire court.

Readers Like Quality

Readers prefer rich copy, too. They are more willing to re-post blogs with longer, useful content than shorter, unappealing copy. Quick Sprout analyzed 327 blog posts and found that posts with more than 1,500 words received 22.6 percent more likes on Facebook and 68.1 percent more tweets than shorter articles.

One phenomena linked to these findings is that people are searching for more complex terms than ever before, using up to eight words in a search — which by the way is called a “long tail.” With more copy, you increase the odds that you’ll fit those searches. When they find you, the odds also increase that readers will convert to customers too.

So when asked whether it’s better to write more or less, the answer today is: “More is better!” Richer is better and more is better. But when you’ve got to have it all done right, more rich content is something that we at Ray Access can do too.

Ray Access Today

We’ve bought into the traditional rap that blogs need to be fewer than 500 words to be effective. But we’re retuning our concepts to align with the Google monster that rules so much of what occurs on the Web. Expect to see longer blogs from us occasionally. It’s still time-consuming, and we’ll have to charge more for longer blogs, but with the right combination of length and quality, we expect to get better results, just as you will.

We can’t just throw up some nonsense blog or give you just a quick peek at a really hot new trend. We’ve got to give you reasons and research, reality and really rich rewards if we expect you to stay. And if we expect you to convert and call us, we better give you something worth your while. Let us know. Did we?

Writing for Your Audience

by Mark Bloom | Jun 4, 2014 | Writing

Choosing the Right Tone and Language

ask us if you have a question about writing

Targeting your website — or any communication from your company to your customers — is a matter of building a relationship. To make that connection, you have to use language that’s familiar to those you’re trying to reach. For example, it may be all right to use slang when you’re writing to attract teenagers, but not when your audience is composed of CEOs.

The language and style you employ in your writing should be geared to the audience — the customers — you want to attract. Speak their language, and you stand a better chance of connecting with them. If you build a relationship with your target demographic, whatever it is, you’ll stand a better chance of selling your products or services to them.

How Ray Access Does It

When we take on new clients, we always pose the same set of questions. One of them includes who their customers are: the general public, doctor’s offices, or women aged 35–55. Your target audience defines how we will write both your website and your blog posts.

We like to meet our clients in person, to get a feel for who they are and to listen to them when they speak. When we start writing for them, we set aside time for the client to approve the style and language, as well as the content, of our initial draft. We expect some back-and-forth of the copy until our client approves.

One time, a client removed all the contractions we’d put into the copy. Another client changed specific words. It’s exactly the kind of feedback we want at this stage. Once we know our client’s preferences, in addition to the target audience, we know we can deliver content that will appeal to both our client and the intended audience.

How You Can Do It

creating your own content takes time If you want to create your own content — for your website, your blog, or your brochure — you must know who you want to read what you write. Who is your audience? Who will buy your products or services? Write to them in a friendly, engaging way.

Whether you need to be formal or casual depends on both your personality and your audience. Study your competitor’s websites. See what type of language they use. Are they doing a good job connecting to their audience? How can you be different enough to stand out? These simple questions can point you in the right direction.

When You Can’t Do It

If you get stuck, or if you don’t know where to start despite the advice in this article, contact Ray Access for help. We are pros when it comes to writing your website, your blog posts, your brochure or whatever you need. We’ve written hundreds of blog posts for a diverse set of clients. We’ve written websites as small as six pages and as large as over a hundred pages. Since we are a partnership, we write and edit everything that we send to you, so you can be sure it’s clean copy free of errors.

Let us be your voice to your customers!

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