A frequent question in the blog writing sessions is – how can I make my writing more conversational?
Relax is my first piece of advice.
Don’t worry too much about the grammar and let your personality shine through. Henneke Duistermaat suggests some helpful tips to make your writing sound more conversational:
- Don’t write for everybody – think about your reader as one of your friends.
- Don’t write to impress – since you’re talking to a friend, put yourself in their shoes. What difficulties might they have to understand your post?
- Make it a two-way conversation – invite your reader to join in. After all, it takes two to tango and with no invitation to contribute, you’ll miss opportunities to learn new moves. So, ask questions. Can you think of other ways to entice your reader to get involved?
- Give it the personal touch – add a little of yourself to the conversation; your own quirky turn of phrase; your sense of humour or what inspired you to write the post in the first place.
The final tip I would give is – practice. By playing with your writing you can find your voice.
If you’d like a space to play, come along to the Blog writing group. We meet on the first Wednesday of the month at 1pm.
Currently, we’re nomadic, exploring the different environments on offer at City. If you’d like to join our tribe, email daniel.sansome@city.ac.uk and I’ll sign you up to the mailing list.
The next session is on the 7th February, pitching our tent in Room EG01.
I look forward to seeing you there.
