It may be easy to assume that whenever good and outstanding writers use their pens to write, or type words using their keyboards, wonderful writing is created effortlessly and ceaselessly; most times, it doesn’t happen so easily.
Although most people can write, not everybody can write in a manner that would engage readers, make them read content from beginning to end, and even influence them to take action.
It takes good and outstanding writers an appreciable or great amount of effort to create really awesome content which is interesting to read, but might have actually been difficult to write. Good and outstanding writers are made; they are not created.
Everyone can be a good or outstanding writer if they develop certain habits or characteristics; however, developing habits or characteristics must be backed with action.
Since most readers have a short attention span on the internet and usually rush through web content, a writer needs to possess certain characteristics in order to be good or outstanding at engaging readers.
Both good and outstanding writers possess certain characteristics that make it possible for them to create awesome and engaging content that becomes popular and widely shared among enthusiastic readers.
Because of the characteristics that good and outstanding writers possess, which revolves around certain practices and types of mindset, they are able to create informative and interesting content, regardless of the level of difficulty they experience while doing so.
This post discusses ten major characteristics of good and outstanding writers:
1. They are passionate about writing and using correct grammar
Good and outstanding writers have a deep relationship with writing, and also with their dictionaries. They regularly write and confirm the meaning of the words they use. This characteristic or habit makes it easy for them to use correct grammar, and avoid bad grammar which is repulsive to readers.
2. They strive for perfection
Although it is impossible to achieve excellence or perfection in this world, good and outstanding writers strive to be perfect by consistently looking for better words or sentences to use in their writings; as a result, they are never satisfied with the content they create. This is the reason why they are accustomed to fine-tuning their work and looking for more appropriate expressions that can make it as engaging and impactful as it can possibly be.
3. They are disciplined
Good and outstanding writers have a habit of maintaining discipline in their writing careers. Their discipline is expressed in how they maintain a certain frequency of writing and level of evaluating, proofreading, writing, and rewriting the same content over and over again until it is good enough to be published or released to the public.
4. They are good readers
Good and outstanding writers always read and meditate over their content and the writings and styles of other writers—especially good writers; doing so enhances their writing spirit and mentality, and keeps them in preparation and good writing shape for the creation of writings they plan to undertake in the future.
5. They create a connection with readers by clearly expressing their ideas
Regardless of their educational background or level of education, good and outstanding writers create content that is clear, engaging, easily understood, and able to establish a strong connection with readers because it makes sense and doesn’t allow readers to get lost when they look for the link between sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. The ability to create connections with readers is one of the most amazing characteristics of good and outstanding writers.
6. They are creative
Good and outstanding writers always task themselves and crack their brains to generate new ideas, use words to create uncommon mind images, and showcase common or old ideas and thoughts in new, unique, and exciting ways that are bound to attract a large readership.
7. They have good research skills
Good and outstanding writers are skilled in conducting thorough research about the subjects of the content they intend to publish. The level of research they conduct makes it easy for them to concentrate on their target audience and avoid publishing or disseminating content that contains subpar and fake information.
8. They are patient
Good and outstanding writers have a lot of patience; generally, it takes them a lot of time to write, rewrite, proofread, and publish content. Even before their works get published, many good and outstanding writers face a lot of rejection, but still retain their level of hope and patience when asked to revise or edit their manuscripts.
9. They pay attention to details
Good and outstanding writers don’t leave details hanging in the air without clear-cut directions; they try their possible best to clearly convey the messages behind every idea by paying attention to every detail. Their attention to detail makes them good and outstanding editors who have the ability to spot grammatical errors and make necessary amendments to their content.
10. They are open to new ideas and criticism
Good and outstanding writers are open to accepting new ideas and making changes because they know it can improve their writings; also, they are willing to accepting criticism from readers, proofreaders, reviews, and feedback if the criticism makes sense.