
When Writing Always Ask Yourself these 3 Questions
Writing advice from Jay Sullivan, in his book “Simply Said”.
I have been recently reading through Simply Said by Jay Sullivan, and these three points on writing are helping to change the way I approach writing and I hope it can provide you with the same amount of value.
If you are a writer or in a marketing role, or are even thinking about it. I would highly recommend quickly skimming through the three questions and grabbing a copy of the book for yourself.
“Why is the reader reading this document?”
Such an important question and one I have overlooked far too many times, often just focused on what I think is important and focused too much around the “What” I never really asked myself WHY is someone reading this piece of content?
This also ties in well with another great book by Simon Sinek, “Start With Why”. If you don’t believe in the importance of asking WHY then I would highly recommend reading Simon’s book first, it changed my thinking.
“What does the reader need to do with the information I am sharing?”
The action. What you might think is an overly simple point, is often overlooked, whether you want your reader to sign up for a newsletter, purchase a product, call you, or whatever it might be.
Make that one point as clear as possible, what do you want the reader to do?
“How can I make it effortless for the reader to get to the main message?”
Okay, I will be honest, being in the marketing profession for the last several years, I will hold my hand up and admit I have been guilty of adding “Fluff” for the sake of it, heck I would even do it without even knowing I was doing it!
When reviewing and editing your work, be ruthless and cut out anything that is not needed. Make it clear, concise, and to the point. Cut out the fluff.
If you want to read more about making your writing clear, Chapter 8 of Simply Said, provides some great insights and examples. Keep writing.