Conversation

1. Long, throat-clearing intros. Don't be the food blogger who starts off a fried chicken recipe with a 2,000-word backstory on their grandma. "Ol' Granny Hellen sure loved chickens growing up..." Nobody cares. They want the recipe. Cut the fluff & get to your idea or a hook.

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2. Using overly-abstract language. You think you sound smart when you use jargon. Unfortunately, you don't. You are confusing readers, but they won't tell you because they're afraid to sound dumb. Good writing eliminates confusion. Use simple language. (see:

essays)

3. Not having clear intentions. Do you want to inject a new idea into a popular conversation? Give some practical advice? Entertain people? Get clear on what you're trying to do with your piece. Do this and you’re already in the top 10% of writers.

4. Overusing caveats and qualifiers. "I'm not saying..." Save the caveats for deeper in the piece. Early on, your readers want to get the gist of your idea. It's better to be slightly misunderstood than to be boring. Otherwise, you won't have any readers to misunderstand you.