Use Language to Attract Readers
Not every article will use the same language you have to adapt to the platform or audience you are writing for.
Language is important in everything you write. You wouldn't write an article that stated, 'Dareth I say thou covert literature.'Â
'Do you like books,' sounds much better and will probably keep your readers scrolling longer. You have to write for the audience you want to read your article. For most of us, that is writing in everyday, jargon-free English.Â
The reverse of this is also true if you write scientific papers. If your audience is a group of academic scientists, they will expect more complex and relevant language.Â
Sometimes, you use formal language, and at other times, you write as if you are having coffee with a friend.
Personal Blogs and Articles
Generally speaking, write as if you are having a coffee with a friend. Make the tone conversational and keep jargon and terminology to a minimum.Â
Don't treat your readers as idiots; language should be engaging but easy to read. Remember, white space is your friend when writing these articles, so ensure paragraphs are short and to the point.Â
If the articles you are writing have some scientific knowledge or technical jargon, then resign yourself to the fact that the audience will be more limited than if you were writing a story about your personal experiences.Â
This is not always bad; specific articles can still gain good traction amongst those who love the genre.Â
Is it better to have 100 faithful readers than thousands of followers?
If you are writing for a specific magazine, read the articles that that publication has published. Get a feel for their language and how they structure their articles; use these style choices in your work.Â
Academic Essays and Papers
To write an academic paper, I would suggest you have to be an expert or at least very well-read in your writing subject.Â
The readers for these articles will be fewer than general articles, but many will specifically look for these to increase the read ratio.Â
Contrary to blogging, those who read academic articles expect technical jargon and profound, in-depth explanations. These are essential if you wish to write for these publications successfully.Â
Anyone who has qualified with a degree or written a paper for academia recognises this was not the same way you would write a blog post on your Substack.Â
Social Media
Social media is another entirely different form of communication and is the most informal. These have to be short snippets that pull the reader in straight away.Â
You have seconds to make an impression and stop people flicking to the next post.Â
Again, it is essential to study the platform you are writing on. There is a clear difference in tone between X and LinkedIn. You need to write articles that appeal to the different platforms. You can write about the same subject but word them differently.Â
Repurpose Content
On Sunday, I wrote about how easy it was to repurpose old content; using these techniques can further increase the number of readers of any article.Â
For example, we could look at the subject of mental health needs of teenagers. For your blog post, you could write a friendly, easy-to-read piece about how you can help your teenager overcome mental health issues.Â
Then, for an academic paper, you could include detailed psychological interventions and research into mental health statistics.Â
The same article can become a thread of tweets (do we still call them tweets) or several single tweets shared over many months. For LinkedIn, it could be a post directed to teachers on recognising mental health issues in teenagers.Â
Time is short, especially if writing is a side hustle. Work smarter, not harder, and stretch one post in many directions.Â