How to Improve Your Content In National Novel Writing Month

Want to learn how to improve your content? November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. One part writing boot camp, one part rollicking party, the movement is celebrating its 18th year of encouraging creativity, education, and the power of the imagination through the largest writing event in the world. This year, NaNoWriMo expects nearly 500,000 people to start a 50,000-word novel in the month of November, guided by this year’s theme: Your Novel, Your Universe.

In content marketing, we often aren’t in the business of writing anything longer than an e-book or whitepaper. But we can still learn from traditional writers, and taking part in NaNoWriMo can even be a good exercise for content marketers.

Just Start

The first trick is to just start. There’s no point in agonising over an empty word doc or blank page, or planning every element of the piece perfectly without committing anything to paper. Lower your standards enough to get something written down. You can and should edit it later, but for now, just write. Or make like an artist. Artists often block out a canvas in background colours and refine later. They sketch an outline of their finished piece and build on it. You can write an outline with a summary for each heading / chapter, with ideas for images and targeted topics.

Learn From Experts

Read books, magazines and papers. It’s the best way to expose yourself to a variety of perspectives and styles that will help develop your writing. Explore writing guides and read blogs like Copyblogger, who offer practical advice on writing, both for the web and print. Consider joining a writing group so that you can benefit from peer review, or an online forum where you can get supportive and helpful feedback.

Topic wise, learn as much as you can about the subject of your writing. Dive into the professional forums and literature of the niche. Engage with your intended audience; see what their problems are and solve them.

Simplify

The Hemmingway App is a great way to tighten up your copy. Especially if you have a tendency toward long sentences and extra language. It’ll also help you simplify your phrasing, so it has a broader appeal. Many writers want to use the most beautiful, complex vocabulary in their work. However, like refusing to write anything that might be mediocre, making your work less accessible is a losing game. We don’t mean you need to dumb down your content. Just make it clear, concise and easy to digest.

The paragraph above scores at “Grade 6” readability. This means anyone with a 6th Grade education (UK Year 7) should be able to read it. Half of the UK working population have a reading age of 11-years-old or younger. So if you use a Readability score of any kind, you need to make sure your copy is targeted at the 6th grade level (unless you are writing for a specific, more knowledgable market).

Pomodoro

Sometimes setting a timer can solve half the problem. Use the Pomodoro technique; commit to writing for just 25 minutes a day. Likely you’ll be able to continue past that limited timeframe, but it means you’ll have that space carved out in your schedule. And knowing you only ‘have’ to write for that period will make it easier to start. Choose a specific time to help cement the habit and ensure you actually get it done.