Writers: good, better and great

Are you a good writer? Or a great writer?

When buyers talk about “good writers” they’re not talking about writers’ literary talents. If you view your writing as art, lock yourself away and write the Great American Novel (or the Great English novel, or whatever. )

Essentially a good writer gets the results the buyer wants.

But what makes a great writer?

Jim Boykin’s Link Building Blog suggests:

“Great writers follow directions. They ask questions if there’s something they don’t understand.  [Emphasis mine.]

Great writers are passionate and motivated.  They may do this for the money, as most good writers do, but they also do it because they love it.  And that shows in their writing.  

Great writers go the extra mile.  When they ask for an extension, it’s because they’ve been without power due to a hurricane, and they just got internet access back at the local coffee shop. Or they were unable to write over the weekend because they were dining out at the local restaurants they were recommending in a travel piece. Or they went out and bought a book about punctuation to help them step up their game.”

Re the “follow directions/ ask questions”. I covered this in a recent issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, simply because it’s so vital, yet so few writers do it. They aggravate their buyers by not asking questions and get upset when they’re asked to rewrite.

Here’s a major, major tip: most of your buyers are vague as to what they want. They can’t articulate their idea well enough to write the brief (project description). It’s your job to get a comprehensive brief which you can understand, and to which they commit, before you start the project. Be cold-blooded. Use thumb screws if necessary, but force your client to commit to a brief.

Think of the brief as a blueprint for the project. Where would a builder be without the architect’s blueprint?

That said, I once wrote a complete brochure with just ONE faxed sentence from the client. (The client was thrilled with the results, go figure … I considered becoming a psychic.) Clients aren’t perfect, and neither are we, but please ask sufficient questions so that you know what you’re doing.

Here’s another tip: always rewrite the brief in your own words, and get the client to commit to it — then he knows what you’re writing, and so do you.

Essentially, a great writer is a writer who gets the results the client wants. That’s all. If you can do that, you’ll always have way more clients asking to work with you than you can handle.