A career in writing content is something quite a few people dream about. There are even college classes you can take to make you a better writer. In today’s modern world, however, whether you’re an author or a content writer, you can also make it on your own, no degree required.
It’s important to note that being a content writer (or any type of writer for that matter) is more than putting fingers to keyboard and pounding out words. There are a few other things involved, such as marketing and SEO that make it a little more difficult than you might think. In this blog, you’ll find a few of the top content writing mistakes you’re making and a little on how to avoid them as well.
Not Being Organized/Research
One of the biggest mistakes that content writers make is not being organized, especially in their research. While it may be quaint and old-fashioned to keep all your notes in a notebook or have post-it notes all over your desktop, it’s not rational and it’s not organized.
There are many other options out there, including the ability to use web capture, which makes it easy to capture your notes, research, and images and have them neatly stored for later use. Being organized and able to get to your research at the click of a mouse will improve your writing and your organization skills as well.
Publishing Sloppy Work/Not Proofreading
Editing is extremely important when it comes to being a content writer. Though you may have someone doing your editing for you, you also need to self-edit at the same time. Publishing work that is full of grammar and spelling mistakes makes you look sloppy as a writer and will lose you contracts.
It’s also important to make sure that you aren’t plagiarizing someone else’s work. This isn’t only taboo, it can land you in a heap of legal trouble as well, if you aren’t careful.
There are quite a few sites and apps out there which can help you catch any grammar or copyright mistakes you could be making. Remember, however, that no app is a substitute for reading through your work yourself to catch any mistakes you might have made during your writing.
Skimping on the Research Before Writing
The worst thing that can happen to you as a content writer, or even a blogger, is for your work not to be factual. Many writers tend to skimp on the research portion of their writing, seeming not to realize just how important that research is to their final piece. You can’t write a good, quality article or blog if you don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.
The solution to this common mistake is simple: set aside time to research the topic you’re writing about and, when you have enough information, write it, but not before then. By failing to research, you’ll quickly get a reputation as someone who has no idea what they are talking about, and lose a lot of clients in the process.
Using Images from Search Results
This mistake is a big no-no, and could easily end up with you in court. You can face heavy fines for just snatching images off of the internet and using them as your own. You would be surprised at the number of content writers who have given up on the writing profession after making just this mistake.
The solution to this mistake is simple as well, use only the images that are not copyrighted or that have a fair-use copyright in place. If you have no right to it, don’t use it. You can also take your own images, and then you will have the copyright to them and not have to worry.
These are just a few of the top mistakes that content writers make. Look through them, follow the tips, and your writing will certainly be better for it in the end.
