f course not. You would discuss things in a casual light-toned manner, that was easy to understand. This tone is the key to reaching your target audience, every time.

Unless you are a journalist writing hard-hitting news stories where a lighter tone wouldn't fit or make the kind of impact you are looking for, you can in

Maybe you are an aspiring writer or maybe you have been writing for quite awhile. Regardless of how long you have been writing, every once in awhile you need to take a step back and look at your writing, really look at it.

There is all types of written material in the world, each with an different purpose. You may be writing a children's story or something more business-like such as a press release or even an ebook on dogs. Whatever you are writing, stop and take a look to see if you are writing with the right tone. By that I mean that some things that have been written that I have read were written for an entirely wrong audience, or the writing itself was too business-like and stuffy. It simply had the wrong tone to it.

The key is to know your audience! Those who will be reading what you have written. Having said that, let me also say that regardless of what you write, you can write it in a lighter more conversational tone. It doesn't all have to be straight-laced.

One way to approach writing is to think of each piece you write as a written conversation between you and someone else. Picture sitting down and having coffee with this person and having a casual conversation about your intended topic. In this setting, you wouldn't use big fancy, technical words would you? Of course not. You would discuss things in a casual light-toned manner, that was easy to understand. This tone is the key to reaching your target audience, every time.

Unless you are a journalist writing hard-hitting news stories where a lighter tone wouldn't fit or make the kind of impact you are looking for, you can inj

iting a children's story or something more business-like such as a press release or even an ebook on dogs. Whatever you are writing, stop and take a look to see if you are writing with the right tone. By that I mean that some things that have been written that I have read were written for an entirely wrong audience, or the writing itself was too business-like and stuffy. It simply had the wrong tone to it.

The key is to know your audience! Those who will be reading what you have written. Having said that, let me also say that regardless of what you write, you can write it in a lighter more conversational tone. It doesn't all have to be straight-laced.

One way to approach writing is to think of each piece you write as a written conversation between you and someone else. Picture sitting down and having coffee with this person and having a casual conversation about your intended topic. In this setting, you wouldn't use big fancy, technical words would you? Of course not. You would discuss things in a casual light-toned manner, that was easy to understand. This tone is the key to reaching your target audience, every time.

Unless you are a journalist writing hard-hitting news stories where a lighter tone wouldn't fit or make the kind of impact you are looking for, you can in

iting itself was too business-like and stuffy. It simply had the wrong tone to it.

The key is to know your audience! Those who will be reading what you have written. Having said that, let me also say that regardless of what you write, you can write it in a lighter more conversational tone. It doesn't all have to be straight-laced.

One way to approach writing is to think of each piece you write as a written conversation between you and someone else. Picture sitting down and having coffee with this person and having a casual conversation about your intended topic. In this setting, you wouldn't use big fancy, technical words would you? Of course not. You would discuss things in a casual light-toned manner, that was easy to understand. This tone is the key to reaching your target audience, every time.

Unless you are a journalist writing hard-hitting news stories where a lighter tone wouldn't fit or make the kind of impact you are looking for, you can in

ight-laced.

One way to approach writing is to think of each piece you write as a written conversation between you and someone else. Picture sitting down and having coffee with this person and having a casual conversation about your intended topic. In this setting, you wouldn't use big fancy, technical words would you? Of course not. You would discuss things in a casual light-toned manner, that was easy to understand. This tone is the key to reaching your target audience, every time.

Unless you are a journalist writing hard-hitting news stories where a lighter tone wouldn't fit or make the kind of impact you are looking for, you can in

f course not. You would discuss things in a casual light-toned manner, that was easy to understand. This tone is the key to reaching your target audience, every time.

Unless you are a journalist writing hard-hitting news stories where a lighter tone wouldn't fit or make the kind of impact you are looking for, you can inject a lighter conversational tone in just about anything else you write.

Take for instance Sales materials, you can write a "soft sell" article or one that leans more towards a "hard sell." However, on the hard sell side, most people will back away because they don't feel the need to be beat over the head with your pitch. They would prefer a lighter-toned, more conversational soft sell pitch.

So, the next time you sit down to write something, try to inject a lighter tone to all your writing and lighten up!

Copyright 2006 Lorraine Cote

This article may be freely reprinted as long as the author’s information and copyright notice remain intact.