This post originally appeared in the MYWriters Penang Facebook group. 

Guys. Wilson here.

One of the admins and the founding members of this community. 15 years of poetry writing, with limited copywriting experience in handling brands such as Marigold and Vitagen.

After sitting on the backseat (aka shamelessly letting Anna do most of the work lol) and watching things unfold for the past month – this lazy me has finally felt the necessity to leave behind a few writing tips and pointers that you guys can take for your own perusal.

This post was copy and pasted from Eksentrika.

1. Add value

To commercial writers, especially those involved in copywriting – always remember that the primary and fundamental purpose of your job is to ADD VALUE to the business you are representing/writing for.

In simpler words, whatever you write is supposed to convince people to support the business more (regardless whether in pure sales or in their overall reception towards your promotions) – not the other way around.

Something is definitely wrong if you are noticing that others are shunning your content or promotions the more you post them.

This post was copy and pasted from Eksentrika.

2. Listen to feedback

People would never see a quality well-thought writing as spam unless they do not find any value in its content.

While the criteria behind this is never limited and may not even come from the writer themselves- it is always a rule of thumb to NEVER ignore feedback from your audience when they have pointed something critical about your content – regardless whether it is the writing, its overall concept, or its delivery.

An oversight on this will not only ruin your reputation in the industry, but also the image of businesses and brands that you have associated with.

This post was copy and pasted from Eksentrika.

3. Believe in poetry

To poets – especially the aspiring ones: NEVER underestimate poetry, thinking that it is more than just stringing words together and doing wordplays.

What makes a good poem truly good is neither the rhythm, the imagery, nor the wit, but the PATHOS it carries. It is always about what the poem makes the audience feel that makes it memorable.

(Please start reading it up if you guys have no idea what it means – and do read beyond what’s written on the dictionary. Pathos is one of those words people take years to grasp – and the depth of your understanding of it will shape the weight of your lines and stanzas from then on.)

This post was copy and pasted from Eksentrika.

4. Bring people closer

Which brings me to my last point, which is the importance of SENSITIVITY. Good writing does not only communicate; it should bridge people and feelings together. A writer can never be a good one if they pay no attention to how their audience would receive their content.

Again, a writing that people do not want has no value – and that’s SPAM. And one of the ways to avoid creating SPAM content is by being mindful of your audience and sensitive to their needs and expectations. Identify who they are and know what they want, and deliver that very product or solution they are looking for – whether it is writing, business, or the basics of human relations, this is the very principle that all of them fundamentally operate on.

One of the greatest flaws of a writer is never the lack of vocabulary, but the lack of sensitivity (and for poets, empathy) – for words always carry more than just their lexical definitions alone, and anyone who cannot perceive this would never be able to use words to their greatest potential.

And with this, I have said my piece. Have a good day everyone – happy writing, and hope you find these handy hehe! x)

Do you have similar helpful tips or guides that you wish to share? Feel free to submit them here!

Cover image by Anthony Tran on Unsplash