Friday, October 7, 2011

Improve Your Writing with Feedback!

I read a blog yesterday about how to improve your trade, whatever that might be. The writer suggested doing something where you get immediate feedback. An example of this would be writing a blog for a writer or giving a concert for a musician.

The positive benefits of doing your craft before a crowd is simple - you can quickly find out what works and immediately change and modify what's going on. I am already writing a blog, you say? Well, I am going to take this idea a step further with my next few posts.

I am going to gauge the helpfulness of my writing by the number of hits, comments, followers, etc, that I get. Now I was already doing that to a certain extent, but before I was mainly looking at general trends. Now I am going to look at specific blogs that are really popular to see what I am doing right, and take a peek at those that flop to see how I could improve - livelier title, catchier openers, you get the picture.

I think this is a great idea to hone your craft, whether you are a writer or a banker (hi Dad!). Please think about incorporating some immediate feedback into your career today!

4 comments:

  1. Lately I've also been checking out popular blogs and ones that I like but aren't apparently flourishing so I could see what makes the big difference. And it seems as though a blog's success has a lot to do with (of course) the author's innate ability to write something that speaks to a broad audience, but also the author's persistence to keep with it over a long period of time. I guess this speaks to me because I have a tendency to peter out kind of quickly. But I agree with you completely; feedback is a huge encouragement and helps gauge your effectiveness.

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  2. in my profession, we use the mantra "honest feedback is a gift". Once you learn to accept it for the spirit that is intended (to improve a course or the instructor), it is powerful. Learning not to take feedback as a personal attach is the trick.

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  3. I have been a member of Toastmasters clubs and part of the process of giving speeches included receiving immediate feedback - as well as learning to deliver quality feedback for others. I saw firsthand how immediate feedback can be a powerful tool for the development of skill and flexibility in any endeavor. While developing an openness to receiving feedback is truly beneficial, I highly recommend developing skill in providing feedback to others as part of the process. Knowing how to provide feedback benefits others, and it benefits us because we become increasingly more adept at being able to consider ideas, incorporate changes, and dialogue with others in this process.

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  4. Feedback is great. We want to know others care about our ideas. I think you might expand your audience by writing about human drama. This seems to captivate people, so why not give voice through your writing to those you encounter but who can't speak for themselves. I'm sure some of their stories are very moving.

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