The Brand Evangelist

Okay! I am currently attending a workshop on writing. Why?

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Communication in business is key. Business is basically about communicating your solution effectively to investors and customers. There are other technical aspects of business that should not be taken lightly too, like accounting, Legal management and some others. If you get the other parts of business well and you can not communicate effectively, there is a problem. Except you want to outsource the whole writing aspect of your business to an Agency (in that case this post is not for you)

Many startups and small businesses cannot afford to outsource this aspect of their business. Hence, it is vital to get some basic training in communication; written and verbal.

Recently, there was a Tech Startup event is East Africa, Pivot25. Some ideas were demoed and presented. What was particularly key besides the uniqueness of the product is the ability of the designer (team) to COMMUNICATE the product. The Judges will then go on to decide who the winner is. Since the judges do not have the full details of what the products demoed will do and how well it will fill a need, it is left for the presentation of the designers to make that clear. This is where the presentation skill is key.

I am on an Entrepreneurial journey. This is the reason, I am attending the writers’ workshop organized by The Future Project. I will be doing some speaking and also business writing as I move along. No doubt if you are on the same journey, you will benefit from the points I gathered from the training.

What are some of the few points I got from the First day of the workshop?

1) To improve your writing you need to read good materials written by others. There is no doubt about this. Do you have a reading list? If you don’t, this is a good time for you to create some and start reading. Writers are readers. My own reading list is created with Google reader and RSS feed using Snaptu on my Nokia E71.

2) Put yourself in an environment that improves you. Attend trainings, associate with writers (Online and in real life)

3) Know that as a writer you are always improving, so, write, write, write, write always. (one article I once read Copywriterdad – He mentioned that writing 2,000 words daily even if it is not in your area of interest or even if you will not be publishing it can help you improve your writing and see writing as fun.

4) Do not edit your work until you are done. Allow yourself to flow. Flow allows you to be creative. When you try to write and edit at the same time, you will ruin the creativity juice. Writing and editing should not be done at the same time. (I am guilty of this many times. Censorship ruins innovation and creativity)

5) If you are writing for the public, your aim is to communicate and not to impress. Avoid verbose writing styles and communicate with clarity. Cut of any unnecessary contents. (Sometimes, this may be a whole paragraph) There is no need for the article to say what it does not need to say.
There was this part of the presentation that cracked me open;

‘Let your best writing be for yourself to keep.’

What you think is the best, may only be best for you. It may not fascinate the readers as much as it fascinates you. Off course, except you are writing for yourself, which I doubt is the case. Cut cut cut. Anything that will not change your writing, cut it off.

“Writing is not a buffet, it is a vegetarian meal.” – Chude

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– You know in a buffet, you are free to take anything, but in a vegetarian meal, you eat for the nutrients. Little and not necessarily much. You should be at the writers’ workshop. This is just a brief of the things that I noted during the first day of the workshop. I am sorry I’m writing this late.

Catch day two later in the week. I have it written already, but I need to edit and re-write it.

What are some methods you've been applying to improve your writing?