How To Write With Authority When You Have None

By Marvin Double

A well seasoned working writer once gave a class on making living writing articles as a profession. He was a veteran that had earned his stripes long before the internet created a new publishing platform.

He spent his working life earning is daily bread creating readable, entertaining and informative material that met the approval of his real critics, editors. His was a world freelance assignment tight deadlines and exacting editorial guidelines. It was an environment with no latitude for non-production where amateur writing was simply unacceptable.

Well seasoned, tested and battle hardened from years in the demanding work-a-day world of production line creativity, he had churned out volumes, 500 words at a time. His sage advice tempered by long experience was, write well but not overly well and do so with authority.

The point was driven home further when he elaborated slightly more. He said that, : the real secret to creating good acceptable articles is not in the use of a flashy style or magnificent command of language". It is he stated bluntly, "in providing solid useful information, written in an entertaining and engaging manner, period".

In a nutshell the formula that served this prolific writer so well was, as might be expected is, dead simple. Find a way to make the information meaningful to the reader in a very personal way. His own tested and true technique was to weave lots of quotes from experts into the piece and use statistics to support the slant of the piece.

He provided several examples which clearly illustrated the point. Following is fictions sample written using this simple format.

It's a common misconception that the greatest cause of injury in a car accident can be attributed to high speed or careless driving. According to an Dr Smith an expert in the field of trauma medicine, the exact opposite may in fact be closer to the truth.

Speaking a the recent convention of the "National Association of Trauma Specialists" Dr smith told members of the association that, "head injuries from automobile accidents account for at least fifty percent of all fatalities in trauma centers.

He further illustrated the point by citing a chilling fact from a recent federally funded national study of vehicular accidents over the last 5 years. According to Smith, that groundbreaking study found that, "sixty percent of all automobile accidents resulting in fatalities occur within 20 miles from home at speeds under 35 miles per hour".

The writing style is not poetic and it is deliberately used so as to let the information speak for itself. Dressed up and presented in a slightly more polished form you can clearly see how it would catch the attention of a reader, especially if that reader were someone for whom auto safety was a matter of interest.

Name virtually any topic and you'll find statistics and experts on it. The sources of such information are almost endless. Professional journals and trade publications not normally read by the general public are especially rich sources of material. Learning how to properly quote from, reference and credit other authors or publications is an important part of any writers essential tool kit.

The real challenge of the writer is not so much finding reference materials, as it is to take those often dry and uninteresting bits of information and make them come alive for the reader. The unadorned information alone can't make the work interesting, that's the writers job.

This old pro, speaking to those seeking to emulate his success was humble but forthright about his accomplishments. Because he understood his craft he was in constant demand by editors. Putting humility aside it is a fact that he was so good at his craft that he was frequently cited as being an expert on subject about which he knew virtually nothing prior to taking an assignment.

While he commonly used only references from journals and other published work, often times would in fact interview an expert over the phone and get original first hand information which was exclusive. When written from such an interview the article really did have a very authoritative tone and tenor which set it apart.

Writing with authority is a matter of borrowing the authority of others, its part art, part intuition but mostly just a bunch of detective work. It's all about mining data and researching the subject then knitting together quotes and relevant facts in an informal but informative and engaging style.

Find those facts that make the reader go hum, I never knew that. Find quotes from experts that enlighten or even enrage a reader, make them think or ponder but never make them bored.

This highly respected writer told us that, for him, the acid test for any article if it stimulated something he called "the spousal nudge". That is to say, it had a paragraph or phrase that jumped up off the page and made a husband or wife poke their spouse and say, "honey look at this".

The internet is filled with reworked material and articles that have no real value. All writers should take stock and take note of the valuable insights from someone who's career was build on writing with authority.

What ever you subject have courage, be brave, dig deep and find a way to tell your reader something they don't already know.

Marvin Double is an experienced author who writes about internet marketing, e-commerce blogging and a variety of related and unrelated topics of interest. He brings over 30 years experience as a business entrepreneur off line to the internet marketing community. For additional articles or resources for internet marketers please visit http://www.monkeezemarketing.blogspot.com

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