The first few weeks I joined this platform, I wrote several dead articles. What I mean by "dead" is, reading them again now, got me thinking like,

"This isn't real. It has no feeling, no distinctiveness, no single ounce of writing spark. Good lord! I'm the only person in the world who would willingly read this. Will I be able to read more than three paragraphs of this boring crap without cringing my eyes out?"

You got the point. My articles were dull. Unexciting. Uninteresting. Nope.

If you're an online writer, I'm sure you have experienced it too. This is a problem we all face at some point in our writing journey.

You might say it is not even a 'problem' to begin with — we all have our own lovely audience who will happily read our work as long as we give value to the readers, right?

Wrong.

Let me explain this from a marketer's eyes. First of all, good marketers are good writers. So if you're a marketer, this is kind of a big deal. Second of all, if you're not a marketer, this is still kind of a big deal.

You've chosen to place your writing on this platform — on the internet. Everyone in this world can read it. Why do you write something just to make people vomit the second they read it? Yes, I'm exaggerating. But that's the point.

Your articles have a HUGE impact on your growing audience. You can make them stay — or leave. You don't want the latter to happen, do you?

It's time to move on and step up the game. Let's break this dead-article jail by following these four tips.

1. Try to Not Sound Like Dead People

Check your reading list. Did you find "dead writers" there? No, no. Not writers who wrote dead articles (like us) — but writers who literally have died many years ago. Got them? How many did you find?

I'm sorry, but if you find more dead than living writers on your reading list, they might be the reason why you're writing dead articles… and why you sound like dead people.

This is important.

How we write is shaped by what we read. Shakespeare was (freaking) great. So was Geoffrey Chaucer or Jane Austen. They were the stud muffins of their day, no doubt. But you don't see them on the New York Times Bestseller List now.

To be brutally honest, most people find classics boring because they weren't written for us, but for audiences that had longer attention spans. And you already know our attention span is at its lowest point ever.

Maybe if you have a career in academia, reading classics 24/7 is an advantage. But for writers — especially online writers — it doesn't give many benefits to your writing style.

We don't have all the time in the world to read every book out there. If you want to connect with your readers, add more living great writers to your reading list. Study Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, or Seth Godin. Watch what they do and use some of their techniques in your writing.

Yes, you'll be mimicking the works of other writers, but at least you'll be mimicking something people want to read — and see, you'll not sound like dead people anymore.

2. Don't Commit the Sin of Putting Your Needs Above Your Audience

Consider this: What are the odds that your audience is a Harvard Professor who wants to read a perfectly structured and highly sophisticated essay?

My guess: less likely. Besides, there are better places to find that kind of writing, don't you think?

Online writing platforms are filled with "everyday people" — your family and friends, your colleague at work, the editor of a publication (who is a living human), a stranger on the internet who wants to read something interesting while waiting in the suburbs, etc.

A large percentage of your audience are these everyday people. If you write however you like without considering them at all, you've committed the sin of putting your needs in front of your audience's needs.

So is it any wonder they don't care about your writing if that's all you do? They have more pressing issues than reading your dead articles. They have problems to solve, goals to achieve, kids to take care of.

Think about your audience, consider their preferences, and choose the purpose of your topic. It won't hurt your writing — it will keep them alive.

3. Try Your Best to Avoid Run-on Sentences and Overwhelming Information

No matter what topics you write, nobody wants to read an article that will tip them into a state of total unconsciousness within minutes of reading a bunch of monotonous words full of run-on sentences.

Trust me. I'm a content marketer, and I've been writing since I was 7, but even I find that long blocks of text can be a drag.

Also, using too many "fancy words" won't do much good, it will just confuse your readers and make them leave halfway.

Many people think a "higher" reading level means the writing is better. False. It just means it's harder to read.

Here's why this is such an engagement killer: If you're writing for a general audience, half of your readers can't even finish an article written above an 8th-grade reading level.

This is why an award-winning and one of the cleverest copywriters like Joe Coleman writes at no more than an 8th-grade reading level. There's even one article on his LinkedIn entitled, "Make them shout "BASTARDS!" Three ways to win a D&AD Writing For Design pencil."

To not write dead articles, you have to keep your writing — or each paragraph — short, to the point, and ALIVE. Run-on sentences or information that is overwhelming isn't engaging — it's boring and hard to follow. For the sake of our reptilian brain, try your best not to.

4. Invoke Storytelling by Using Examples

You've heard the cliches: "Tell a story." "Show, don't tell." "A picture is worth a thousand words."

There is a reason why they're cliches. Because they work. And it all speaks to how powerful examples can be. We tell stories that make us laugh, cry, scared, inspired, or teach lessons to the readers.

I wrote this self-improvement article 2 weeks ago; it's my first article with a 100% read ratio — up to this date. It has an estimated 6 minutes (not seconds) reading time, yet all readers read it to the very end. How? I don't know. Readers are mysterious. But I think one of the reasons is I was using real-life stories there — so they probably found the writing valuable.

See? Using examples is one of the best ways to make it happen.

Examples illustrate your points — even if you don't use a picture to relay them. They are your own case studies. They support your claims and ideas, invoke storytelling, and demonstrate how you or someone else has done what you're talking about.

Takeaway

Do you want to not write dead articles nobody wants to read? Great, consider these:

1. Try to not sound like dead people (for the love of God, please)
2. Put your audience first (like it or not)
3. Do your best to avoid run-on sentences and useless information (I beg you, seriously)
4. Bring your storyteller's soul to life by using examples (sweet!)

That's it.

Honestly, these four tips have helped me write less-dead articles. You can try and see the results for yourself. Hopefully, you won't be writing dead articles ever again...

Or maybe you will. And I will. But that's okay. That's why we keep on writing. See you in 32 hopefully-less-dead articles again!