11 Easy Tactics to Make Your Writing More Conversational and Casual
Many writers struggle to make their writing sound more casual… and many writers contact me to ask how they can do exactly that.
So if you’re tired of your work sounding like some horrendous bore-fest of an essay, these tips will help:
1) Use lots of brackets (these guys act like an interruption, as if you’ve quickly thought of one thing while saying another…. and that happens in conversation all the time). And to add some punch to a point, use exclamation marks inside of brackets (it works!).
2) Use… lots of… ellipses. These give your work a conversational flow.
3) Use shorter sentences. People prefer to read shorter sentences, and writing in short bursts makes your copy less prosaic and science-y. And while you’re at it, use shorter paragraphs. I guarantee this’ll result in higher engagement – NOBODY likes long paragraphs, so please stop using them.
4) Use shorter words. Alright, you might have a massive vocabulary. But nobody gives a fuck. If you were talking to your friend in a pub, you wouldn’t obnoxiously toss big words around like some sort of twat.
5) … similarly to the last one, talk to your audience as if they are your friends
6) Break grammar rules. So long as you’re not sacrificing the understandability of your post, do whatever you want with grammar. What, are you writing an essay? (‘understandability’ isn’t a word… but you knew exactly what I meant. See what I mean?).
7) … and just like I did above, make up words if you want. Cos if it was good enough for Shakespeare, it’s good enough for you.
8) People tell you not to start sentences with words like ‘but’, ‘and,’ ‘so,’ and ‘because.’ Ignore those people. Starting your sentences with these words makes your work more readable, and much more easy to understand.
9) Use slang and abbreviations. ‘Yeah’ and ‘yep’ are much more friendly and approachable than ‘yes.’ Sometimes, it’s useful to use words like ‘oh,’ ‘woah,’ and ‘cos’ (no, not the lettuce).
10) Don’t be afraid to throw jokes around. I’m not telling you anything new here, but people like laughing – and there’s nothing more conversational than laugh-worthy writing.
11) On that note, don’t be afraid to throw swear words around (assuming your clients allow it). We all swear – so why do we have to be so formal and pretend we don’t actually like saying useful words like ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’?
For more tips like these, keep checking back to my site.
… oh, and before you go, I’ve used all these techniques in this post. Can you spot them?
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