Sunday, January 23, 2011

Content writing: What's the Style?

Content writers often suffer from a dilemna in answering a question:
‘ What exactly is the style of content writing? What do you people write and how?’
Answering that there are some things that needs to be cleared out:
The truth is, Content writing actually has NO STYLE ( unless you are a web evangelist like Seth Godin whose two liners are enough to create a stir)!

In the world of content writing once you get a ‘style’ you are not eligible for content writing anymore. Content writing as it is often mistaken is not the same as writing for a newspaper or magazine that follows a style book with a proper introduction, body and conclusion. Content writing has its own glory of style-less-ness as many prefer to call it and that is what makes it different.

Style in content writing is not pronounced or dictated. Rather it is what the writers make out of it. The presentation differs distinctly from one writer to another and the fun lies in the fact that is even if both write on the same topic it is bound to have different appeals. Its a study where the style can be moulded according to the matter.

So the point is where can you exactly draw a line?
NOWHERE! No, lets cut out the No this time. The line where you can actually draw a line is the arena or the sector of your work. Example:
1. Finance
2. Education
3. Medical
4. Technical
5. Social media, to name a few.

The content along with the style changes as you shift from one domain to the next. Writing for Financial law firm is distinctly different from writing for a Social media site, content writing being the only common static factor. In between there are many elements that directly or indirectly effect the style of a particular content:

• The domain for which the content is written.
• Identification of the target readers
• The use of words.
• Manner of presentation(paragraphs, connecting lines, relative quotes)
• The apt body with some intriguing facts and figures to hold the attention of the readers till the end.
• Sticking to the point and explaining with clarity of thoughts and expressions.
• Conclusion which clarifies all the doubts and answers all the questions that the content speaks about.

No matter what you write the basic thing is to present it clear and well. If you are planning to enrich your readers with some information make sure that you express it well. It is not the style but the content that needs to be focused on. Try out the Crisp, Clear, Complete formula to produce an engaging content. I am sure it will work!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Yes
I also think and belive simplicity is best of all style
:)

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