Stop Doing These 3 Things Now If You Are a Content Writer

Truth be told, there is no magic formula for writing the perfect, flawless piece of content out there. Neither would I say it’s some kind of a rocket science, but it sure does take a lot of learning and unlearning a great deal of things to reach as close as you can to perfection. And this, is the only way up.

In the process of getting started with anything — be it writing, creating videos, designing, etc. we are bound to commit a few mistakes here and there — which is OKAY.

It is NOT the end of the world.

Imagine you are a writer and you don’t commit mistakes, how will you ever discover your true self, learn from your mistakes and eventually give way for your writing to grow and evolve? By discovering these mistakes and rectifying them in the future, you can elevate your writing skills to a much higher level for your own benefit.

So let’s normalise making mistakes and viewing them as a stepping stone to growth instead of a mere setback.

Below are 3 mistakes which most content writers tend to commit, sometimes even subconsiously. But if you’re reading this now, STOP. DOING. THIS!!!

1. Not Citing Sources:

A very essential quality of a reliable and trustworthy writer is giving credit to the one who deserves. Because if you can’t give them the due credit for their work, how do you expect others to do the same for you?

Here’s why you should start citing sources now, if you don’t do it yet:

• Citing resources in your piece of content not only gives due credit to the author but also helps the reader quickly identify the sources which you have referred to and have in-depth knowledge about the subject.
• It reflects on the fact that you are a thorough researcher and that your content is well-researched as it has a balance of both facts and knowledge. Thus, it is more likely to be viewed as credible and reliable.
• Citing resources helps you to avoid committing plagiarism in your writing and save you from the consequences of the same, like destroyed reputation, legal repercussions, etc.

2. Limiting your research

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT make the mistake of limiting your research to the first 5 or 6 pages of Google search results. Doing this tends to make your knowledge and content shallow and devoid of real value.

The internet is so heavily loaded with information on any and every topic you can think of and not just in the form of text but also audio, video, graphics, etc. and there are numerous sources you can refer to while researching for your next content piece.

Take advantage of the ever evolving technology and growing mediums where content is available FREE of cost. My top suggestions to you would be:

• YouTube Videos: Probably the most comprehensive and informative visual source to gain in-depth knowledge about literally anything in the world. You type it — you find it. You can learn from experts from your industry as well as any other industry you mey want.
• Podcasts: A powerful medium where you can have insights on broad array of subjects through conversations — ranging from personal experiences of people to any industry centric topics— it has it all. And since it is convenient and easy to consume, you can use it whenever, wherever!
• Blogs: I don’t even think I need to mention this, but the ‘OG’ or traditional method of consuming content to have detailed knowledge about a specific topic is reading Blogs. They have A-Z of everything which is comprehensively broken down for a deeper and clear understanding of what you are searcing about. So what’s the delay? Don’t hesitate to go read about it and educate yourself!

I am pretty sure the next piece you will write after diving into these mediums for research is going to be the by far the most detailed and one of your best ones so far!

3. Copying instead of taking Inspiration from others’ work

As a content writer you can get inspired by literally anything around you. It might happen that you see another creator’s work and get an idea for your own, that’s cool. But what isn’t cool is copy pasting it as it is or simply tweaking the article/content to serve your purpose.

People are either not aware of the difference between inspiration and plagiarism or they intentionally tend to commit the above mistake simply to “create content.”

It must be obvious by now that how important research is when you’re writing a piece of content, but remember what you read or research about does not become all your content.

Like I have mentioned in the first point, plagiarism is considered as a violation and disrespect of another writer’s work and can have serious repercussions. So unless you want your writing career to be over even before it starts, DO NOT COMMIT PLAGIARISM.

Wanna know how to avoid this? It’s simple, use an online plagiarism checker like Grammarly which detects plaigarism and checks grammar easily and save you from the trouble.

WOW (Read: Word of Wisdom): In the process of writing a well researched article or blog, don’t lose your essence or forget to give the article your own perspective and personal touch. It really connects with the audience because that is what makes your article different from the already existing millions of them.