You Need To Improve Your Writing Skills As A Musician in Ghana. Every songwriter and composer knows they need to work on their writing. Mastery only comes through regular practice.
But if you are serious about your music career, it’s unlikely that you won’t ever need to write an email, bio, or social media post. You might be able to hire someone to handle those tasks down the line, but if you are just getting started, you will have many hats to wear – that’s just how it is.
And believe it or not, if you are doing things right in your music career, a good chunk of your day will be taken up by writing, because it means you are communicating.
Let’s talk about how to improve your writing and why you would even want to.
Why Do I Need To Improve My Writing Skills?
Look, we are not talking about becoming an author here. But communication is at the core of every relationship, so if you aren’t an effective communicator, your networking efforts probably aren’t getting you the results you are looking for.
And just so you know, what I’m about to share with you applies to every aspect of writing – not just promo documents you’ll need to put together, but also to the lyrical content you create.
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Here are the kinds of written pieces musicians often need to produce:
• Social media posts. Social media is a good place to show your personality, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be forgiven for bad grammar and misspellings indefinitely.
• Blog posts. Only musicians who can maintain a blog long-term should commit to blogging. Writing an effective blog post takes work.
• Guest posts. Some musicians use guest posts to market their music and get in front of new audiences. No blog editor in their right mind is going to accept low-quality articles to publish on their blog.
• Emails. You should make phone calls or get in-person meetings if you can, but some industry people only accept emails. Plus, sometimes the only way to make out-of-town or global contacts is with email. Also, you’re going to be engaging with your fans via email campaigns.
• Biography. Whether you’re a solo artist or in a band, you’re going to need a bio. Musicians often don’t understand the purpose of a bio and because of that, don’t know how to write an effective one.
• Advertising. If you’re going to be doing any kind of advertising, you need to gain at least a basic working knowledge of copywriting.
• Grant applications. Grants are more abundant in Canada and in the U.S., but if you would like to obtain funding for your career, you must learn how to put together a thorough and compelling application – the same goes for crowdfunding campaigns.
I could go on, but I’m sure you are starting to get the idea.
How To Improve Your Writing Skills
Improving your writing will take time, so commit to your ongoing development. Don’t expect things to happen for you overnight.
Here are several tips to help you improve your writing skills.
Tip #1 – Read A Lot
Every writer communicates differently. You can pick up on their style by observing what words they use, how long their sentences are, what kind of rhythmic qualities their writing has, and so on. And over time, you should begin to recognize which writers are skilled at expressing themselves well, and which ramble on without ever getting to the point.
If you are saying, “I only read so-and-so’s novels”, it’s time to branch out. Your favorite writer may not be the best communicator in the world, despite your personal feelings around their works. Without new stimuli, you may not grow as a writer.
Read broadly. If you pay close attention to what you are reading, you’ll pick up on good spelling, grammar, and sentence structure (also take advantage of a free tool like Grammarly). And don’t just pay attention to the message that’s being communicated – also look at how people are structuring and formatting their book, article, or blog post.
Reading also gives you more examples, metaphors, and stories to draw from as a songwriter.
Tip #2 – Just Write
It seems logical that writing regularly would help you improve as a writer. But many people don’t get started, because they don’t like their own writing.
You may grow up in unfriendly learning environment and honestly your English may not be great. But when you have a desire to create, and write quite a bit. It will be amazing looking back, because you will essentially make a living from your writing tomorrow.
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Writer: musicindustryhowto
