SEXPAND
In the past six months that I've been a content crafter at Buffer, I've been writing a lot. I've also been trying to write regularly on my own blog and for my startup. That's a lot of writing. During this time, I've been experimenting with small changes in my workflow, my writing process, and the types of content I produce.
This post originally appeared on the Buffer Blog.
The result has been an improvement in my writing and a better understanding of how I work best. Hopefully you'll find some of these things helpful in improving your own writing!
Expose It to Different People for Feedback
Feedback is hugely important. If I don't spend long on a piece, I often overlook small typos or grammatical issues. I don't craft my words quite as carefully as I could, and I tend to repeat myself. Having someone read over my writing can highlight these issues and help me to clean up my work.
On the other hand, if I spend a long time on a piece, it can be just as bad. It's easy to become lost in a piece after a while, and have trouble stepping back and seeing it objectively. It's also hard to forget all of the extra context I have in my head by that point, and read it as a reader, who has little or no context about the topic. Again, having someone else read my work really helps at this point. If nothing else, it gives me a break to refresh my mind before I come back for more editing. Usually, though, I find my work improves from other people's suggestions.
While [Buffer co-founder] Leo is usually the person who reads through my blog posts for Buffer, occasionally we'll have a discussion in our Content Crafters room in HipChat and more of the team will jump in. It's surprisingly helpful to get ideas and feedback from multiple points of view.
