Content Writing Book Sample [PDF]

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The Only

Content Writing

Handbook You’ll Ever Need

A Practical Crash Course to Write 30+ Content Type & Earn Online

By

KOUNAL GUPTA Founder & CEO, Henry Harvin®

40 under 40 Edtech Entrepreneur Columnist | Six Sigma Black Belt

Content Writing Handbook Copyright (c) 2020 by Henry Harvin India Education LLP, Delhi No part of this book, including interior design, cover design, and icons, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form except with the permission of Henry Harvin India Education LLP, 179, Sukhdev Vihar, New Delhi - 110025 (India) Limits of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising therefrom. The fact that an organisation or website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organisation or website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Henry Harvin also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

ISBN Number : 978-81-948768-0-9 Publishing Date : October 2020

Preface History is written by winners! And winners are projected as winners by writers. And successful writers are the ones who effectively translate their thoughts into words that sell! I remember confessions of 6 very different people (names changed) who changed my thought process of how I looked at a writer. •

Ria (Client #1): A student who recently completed a digital marketing course said- “I have successfully learned about marketing but how do I start?”.

I heard- “I have successfully learned content distribution but how do I create content?” •

Tom (Client #2): A business coach with immense knowledge, superb execution skills and great passion to write had a confession to make- “I can write, in fact I write good blogs. But it takes me 3x the time to publish it on Linkedin. This is so because I commit some very basic english mistakes which are very embarrassing”

I heard- “I lack language skills to be called a writer” •

Anu (Client #3): A retired journalist looking for a work from home jobs said- “I am addicted to Google, but how do I write on something on which I have no knowledge in? How do I create beautiful graphics for my newsletters? How do I create a blog site with no coding skills”

I heard- “I know internet but I lack internet skills” •

Raj (Client #4): A school teacher who happens to be an experienced writer said- “Thanks to Google, I can write on any topic. But my client thinks I can create any type of content. That’s insane!”

I heard- “How to create 30+ content types?” •

Ava (Client #5): A professional turned housewife due to maternity said- “Neither, can I sit idle nor can I go out and work. How do I work from home?

I heard- “How to earn online?” •

Mac (Client #6): A freelance content writer said- “I have immense knowledge of content and what end customer needs. I want to leverage my unique combination of skills. Is there any way out?

I heard- “How to become a content strategist?” So, here we are! Spending over 200,000+ man hours in seeking interest and understanding challenges of 36,514 individuals over a period of 6 years towards writing which was further boiled down to spending 5,500+ man hours in imparting content writing training to individuals from diverse backgrounds via a popular offering from Henry Harvin Education namely Certified Digital Content Writer (CDCW) course. Converting vast experiences into nuggets of wisdom ‘Content Writing Playbook’ incorporates tips, tricks, templates, strategies and best practices that can help anyone who wants to write just by devoting 1-hour to each subsection. And if you spend 1-hour daily for the next 32 days, you can complete the book! This book starts with 2 basic raw materials to write any form of content, language skills and internet skills. Once we gain insight on these two skills, we move towards developing skills to write 30+ content types, followed by learning about content strategy and then finally how to earn online work from home through content writing. From Creative Writing, Technical Writing, Research Writing, SEO Writing to writing EBooks, Emails & White Papers. This book covers them all! Let’s first meet Henry Harvin’s Digital Content Writer (DCW):

HH DCW’s will become accomplished in creating 30+ Content Types effortlessly and be capable of earning in 6 figures! Why say Digital Content Writer and not just Content Writer? Content writing today is nearly impossible to do without intervention of the digital world. In all aspects of writing today digital is involved. And over 90% of the consumption of written content is for the digital world. Thus, it is injustice to not give ‘Digital’ its due credit for shaping the content writing profession how we know today! Now the most obvious question- Why this Book? It is true that in today’s digital era the internet provides a vast ocean of information on almost everything beneath the sun, that is accessible to all, therefore, what’s the need for a book on this or any other subject! But this very factor, that is supposed to be a boon, turns into the biggest hurdle for an individual looking to gain specific knowledge. There is an extensive, almost immeasurable quantity of information available on each topic and just to sieve through it is a gruelling task- something which takes lots of time and energy! That is why- This Book: A simplified answer to all your needs and especially all at one place! •

No need to research: We have put in months to do it!

•

No need to weed out: We have sieved through mountains of material and brought the most relevant for you!

•

No need to panic: All types of popular content types are explained along with illustrations!

Acknowledgement I feel indebted to all the learners of Henry Harvin Education (a gang of 16-80 years) who have shown curiosity beyond the realms; providing us an opportunity to evolve and innovate continuously! I am equally grateful to my outstanding team ‘Team Henry Harvin’, a bunch of supremely diligent and talented individuals who ungrudgingly tolerated my fixation for ‘perfection’. I would like to dedicate this book to my dearest family members, Soka Gakkai International & BNI!

Kounal Gupta Founder & CEO, Henry Harvin ® 40 under 40 Edtech Entrepreneur Columnist | Six Sigma Black Belt

Contents at a Glance 1.

SECTION 1: Language Skills.........................................................1-54 CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Content Writing...........................................................2 CHAPTER 2: Learning Tone in Writing and Its Types........................................14 CHAPTER 3: Comprehanding style in writing and its Types...................................20 CHAPTER 4: Common Gramatical Errors..........................................................26 CHAPTER 5: The war of Spelling !.........................................................................33 CHAPTER 6: Long Live Punctuation !.....................................................................38 CHAPTER 7: Tips of Build your Vocabulary......................................................49

2.

SECTION 2: Internet Skills........................................................55-110 CHAPTER 8: Necessary Reasearch Skills.............................................................56 CHAPTER 9: Basic Graphic Skills......................................................................78 CHAPTER 10: Supplementary Internet Skills.....................................................93

3.

SECTION 3: 30+ Content Types...............................................113-312 DIFFRENT CONTENT TYPES AND THEIR FORMATS............................114 CHAPTER 11: Email Writing.............................................................................121 CHAPTER 12: Report Writing..........................................................................126 CHAPTER 13: News Letter...............................................................................131 CHAPTER 14: Press Release.................................................................................136 CHAPTER 15: Proposal Writing......................................................................140 CHAPTER 16: Landing Page.................................................................................143 CHAPTER 17: Brochure Writing...........................................................................148 CHAPTER 18: Product Description...................................................................153 CHAPTER 19: User Manual / Guide......................................................................158 CHAPTER 20: Grant Writing............................................................................164 CHAPTER 21: Cover Letter..............................................................................168 CHAPTER 22: Resume Writing.............................................................................173 CHAPTER 23: Academic Book Writing................................................................179 CHAPTER 24: Book Review.............................................................................183

CHAPTER 25: Research Paper..............................................................................188 CHAPTER 26: Writing for Academic Journals......................................................195 CHAPTER 27: Conference Papers.........................................................................199 CHAPTER 28: E-Learning Courses...................................................................204 CHAPTER 29: Instructional Design..................................................................209 CHAPTER 30: Rubrics..................................................................................214 CHAPTER 31: Fiction Writing..........................................................................219 CHAPTER 32: SEO Writing.........................................................................232 CHAPTER 33: Blog Writing.........................................................................239 CHAPTER 34: Article Writing..........................................................................251 CHAPTER 35: Copy Writing............................................................................259 CHAPTER 36: Writing for Social Media...........................................................268 CHAPTER 37: Medical Writing........................................................................278 CHAPTER 38: Statement of Purpose.................................................................283 CHAPTER 39: Linkedin Profile........................................................................289 CHAPTER 40: Capstone Project.......................................................................295 CHAPTER 41: Writing a Critique..........................................................................301 CHAPTER 42: Policy and Procedure Writing...................................................307 4.

SECTION 4: Content Strategy...................................................313-332

5.

SECTION 5: Earn Online...........................................................333-362 CHAPTER 43: Strategies and tips to Kill a content writers Job Interview..................363

1

SECTION

1

LANGUAGE SKILLS

H

i DCWs, this book’s primary aim is to provide you insight into the numerous aspects of Digital Content Writing in a simplified yet comprehensive manner. We have translated our vast experience of content creation into this book, breaking them into different chapters, in order to provide clarity on various aspects. In this introductory chapter, you will gain insight on the basic elements of content writingwithout mastering these you cannot aspire to create a niche for yourself as a Digital Content Writer. Divided into 2 broad sections, the first one throws light on content formats, flow and presentation; whereas the second part touches on the essential language skills

LANGUAGE SKILLS 2

CHAPTER

Introduction to Content Writing

1

Language Skills

3

W

ith the advent of the internet Content writers job has become a little more complex as apart from language you also need to be adept in internet skills, different content formats, strategies, etc. We have attempted to compile A to Z of content writing in an easy and interesting manner. Internet- the invention of the century, has drastically changed the way things work in the modern world. It has made the world shrink by connecting people living in any nation, developed or underdeveloped. The Internet is the most powerful tool today and it has changed the landscape totally in all spheres of our lives. Be it: a. Knowledge Sharing b. Online Business c. Digital Marketing d. Online Shopping e. Online Communications f. Social Sites g. Entertainment DCWs, you will surely agree that the dominance of the Internet has emerged because of unmatched benefits one derives out of it.

Seamless Connectivity Instant Communication Infinite Information Cost Effective

As the popularity of the internet and dependence on it has grown, people look for all kinds of information and here the role of content gains greatest importance. The scope of content creation has become boundless as online requirements have no boundaries.