2 signs of poor content writing, and ways to avoid.

Listen as audio

Two clear signs of poorly written content

Excessive length.
Complex sentences.

Lengthy content does not show our comprehensive articulation skills or the vast understanding of a subject. If we agree, we should then watch our content for any writing patterns that increase the needed length. For example, we tend to repeat what is previously said in a piece of content to add emphasis. Don’t we? For most readers out there, repetition means “beating around the bush.”

Avoiding repetition is not a universal mantra, however. We do need repetition in some instances. For example, when writing a customer story, we want to build tension by repeating a critical point. We do have an opportunity to be crisp and word it differently in each repetition, without making it like a boring soap opera.

Note 1: Several guidelines ask us not to let a sentence exceed 15-20 words. It is a good thumb rule, though it is not a crime to occasionally have lengthier sentences (if the reader can enjoy the flow). Similarly, based on the target audience and the time they would spend reading our content, we can calculate the approximate length of the overall write-up. We will discuss these more in detail in a different post. The purpose of this writing shall be lost if we were to explore such techniques here.

Complexity becomes our trait every once in a while. Let us admit it. The tendency to show off vocabulary (our supreme words) is something we have either done and seen others doing. In the early stages, I used to pick a set of rarely used words and pack them into mature sentences. Worse, having many unfamiliar words in a single sentence sounded more supreme! A close friend of mine does it in most of his talk and writing. While we may not change others, we certainly avoid wordy stuff ourselves.

Note 2: It is justified at times to add a not-so-commonly used word for the impingement factor! Most readers will understand it intuitively, and the rest of us would excitingly refer to the dictionary. Things go wrong when there is an overdose -). The intuition breaks, the dictionary cries, and the message is lost!

Can we avoid poor content writing?

If we are crystal clear about the message we want to communicate, our train-of-thought usually does not encounter any twists. In most cases, we can spend time simplifying things in our heads before we get to write.
Yes, I agree that most of our thoughts are dynamic and take birth as we write. The simple trick is to edit the writing after a short time gap. Self-confidence can be counterproductive at times, especially when we do not redact our content and publish it in one go. I am using a Pomodoro timer of late to force regular intervals.
We have these “readability metrics” that partly help in statistically analyzing our content, which we will discuss in a different post. Still, we should always rely on the natural editing prowess hidden inside us. Trust me. It is not really mind-numbing to review and edit our content for the best fit without any tools or metrics.
Again, if we fancy a word or two and find the relevance in our content very naturally, no one can stop us from using or repeating them. We just need to respect the reader’s time by not throwing in many such twisters, as you would agree.