This is Your Last Chance!

Here at last! The final section of this 7-part series!

I like the number 7 for some reason…

So here it is: 7 parts of great writing:

1. Powerful hook

2. Slippery slope formatting

3. Focused content 

4. Approachable delivery

5. Reader-focused

6. Specific writing 

7. Powerful takeaway point (you are here)

As we come to the end of this series, I hope it will serve as a reference to shorten your timeframe on getting to "Rockstar Writer” status!

Gotta finish strong…the closing is your final chance at leaving your mark on your audience to convince them of something (whatever it is you’re doing).

• to take action

• to improve a process

• to buy a product or service

Make it count!

In the end…

You’ve taken your reader through a nicely formatted and well-thought out piece that’s been scintillating to read and full of insights.

You’ve provided an interesting idea, a though-provoking life lesson, or something hilarious to talk about with their friends and family later.

You’ve taken them on the best literary ride of their life up to this moment.

Don’t just pick them up and boot them out with a crappy closing!

Hmm, that reminds me of the Dorothy Mantooth quote from “Anchorman”…

Finish strong to make a lasting impression.

Some quick tips for this part

There’s not a whole lot that I can say about this after writing oodles and oodles from the previous issues.

In fact, most of the details could be better reviewed from the first issue concerning a powerful hook.

Here are some things I do to help close my writing:

• a meme (yeah you knew this one was coming)

• closing thoughts (like I did in every issues here)

• something humorous or a powerful analogy or reference

• a famous quote that hits on the topic and strengthens your idea

• strong summary statement to capture the essence of the message

Revisit the message and make sure that you did stick to one thing…

I know, it’s hard. You might have a zillion ideas that popped up during the process, and it’s not easy to focus on it.

Having a solid message and sticking to it makes it much easier to wrap up in a nice, tight bow.

Closing thoughts

In these 7 issues, we’ve hooked in the reader, provided a reason to keep reading, shared our one idea in an easy-to-read format, focused on delivering content and the audience, stayed specific so it resonated with them, and left them with a memorable closing.

Who could ask for anything more?

Just kidding…there’s plenty you can do, but it’s an iterative process called earning the trust of your audience.

Thanks for reading this series!

Vince

What’s next?

I’m going back to hardware mode as Kieran did release HIW 2.0 yesterday, and I’m also studying a few other high-quality courses to hone my writing.

This series was based on these three references:

1. Kieran Drew’s Course (affiliate link)

2. Ray Edwards (Amazon book)

3. Erica Schneider’s course (Hooked on Writing Hooks)

Again, this isn’t about hawking their products. I’m slowly applying everything I’ve learned as I’ve experienced them. I’m far from mastering the content, but this is why I enjoy the process.

Writing is an artform. It’s live. The entire landscape is always changing.

Our style of communication must evolve with it.

P.S. I don’t know what I’ll be talking about moving forward, but this type of writing has been fairly helpful outside of writing daily for Medium. Stay tuned for what develops!