Superior writing skills are a PR professional's bread and butter. Everything that we do stems from the ability to use and manage language. Whether it be writing a news release or designing content for a social media plan, strong writing skills can be found at the core of almost any assignment.
It is not uncommon to become comfortable in your writing. If you read over things that you've written, you may find that you commonly use the same phrases, adjectives or expressions. It isn't just PR pros who fall victim to this writing plateau, professional writers are susceptible as well.
Breaking writing habits that have been heavily instilled and feel comfortable to us can be challenging. Nevertheless, stepping out of your writing comfort zone is the only way to produce not only the best work that you are capable of, but the work that your client is paying for and deserves. Take small steps every day that will help to enhance the bigger picture in your writing. Read newspapers, magazines, blogs or articles online that are written in a style that you aren't familiar with. Take bits and pieces of what you read, and see if you use them as additions to your own style.
When you edit your work, don't just look for format, style and grammar mistakes. Look for phrases that you use repetitiously and try to use different wording. Take a trip to the thesaurus and look for strong and engaging synonyms. Writing and editing are different from revising your work. When you're finished editing your work, it shouldn't be uncommon for paragraphs to be changed, language and wording to be enhanced and for the piece to look different than when you first drafted it. Always be willing to rewrite for the sake of innovative and strong writing.
Do you think that your writing is innovative? Have you been stuck in a writing rut? What do you do to better your writing abilities as a PR pro? Please share with us in the comments!
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