Creativity is not a forced slave but a forceful master

Is creativity subjective? Do the boundaries of keywords create impediments before creativity to flourish? Does a pre-mindset cripple a content writer’s creativity? Almost 90% of the content writers are haunted by these questions at some point or other. Even one of my friends gone to the extreme by saying writing within the boundaries of keywords is a violation of writer’s freedom. And, at that juncture, my answer to my fuming friend was- “Creativity is not a forced slave but a forceful master”.

Just have a quick post-mortem of the word creativity. I find three important genes in the DNA of creativity (you may find more). First one is Logic, second emotion and the third is adaptability for changes. And, according to my knowledge as a content writer for last five years, keywords are never roadblocks for any of the three.

Anything logical is more or less a universal truth. As a content writer, your write-up should be based on facts related to topic. Can you write- Bathroom heating radiators are used for cooling purposes or Television is the latest luxury? But sometimes Logic makes your write-up a mere fact sheet. Here you should be careful to have a middle way between logic and your way of storytelling. Logic should be and must be there but not at the cost of emotion. It is the emotional quotient of your write-up that makes reader engaged. Tell your story with popular illustrations, take help of relevant images and simultaneously make sure that your emotional input is not driving the reader towards Mars instead of Moon.

Changes are the rules not the exceptions. Content writing and technology can not be separated from each other. Your creativity must have the rooms open for changes going on at technological front. Keywords here make your job easier. You know what should be the depth of exploration from the keywords. Along with it, you are also encouraged by the firewall of keywords to avoid technical jargons.

Balanced diet is always more helpful compared to taking lots of proteins. Hence have a judicious mix of Logic, Emotion and Technology and make your creativity a forceful master of web space.

Common mistakes made by Indian content writers

If I say two out of every three content writers of web space are Indians, it will not be an exaggeration of fact. Being a content coordinator for more than three years and a freelance writer for last five years, I have rather become confident that search engine crawlers love to index Indian content. Indian content writers with their impeccable hold over English, analyzing aptitude and quick summarization trait have emerged as the leaders. Still some where I find struck. It was last weekend. One of my clients of US returned a bunch 100 articles and blogs on quality issues. I was really upset as I am more than 500% confident of my team. I asked Tom (my client) regarding the feedback and it was a shocking but eye-opening one.

When I went through the write-ups( to be honest enough it is next to impossible for any coordinator to scan all write-ups before sending to client), and feedback sent by tom, I realized what should be the ideal(according to the need of client) way of story telling. Most of the write-ups were developed by warriors of words. But, the balance between algorithm of search engine and emotion of human mind was some how missing. And some expressions like ‘very very true’, ‘really very cold’ were points of worry for Tom.

And then only I thought regarding the tips for Indian content writers.

As a writer, I know the very fact that every creative person has his/her own way of story telling. That can not be and should not be altered. But, when we are working for client and money, the golden rule of business “Client is god” comes to force. The tips below are directives in nature and only confined to Indian web writing styles for SEO articles and blogs. They are

Ø Do not get emotional- Just recall Boman Irani in the movie Munna Bhai MBBS and his famous words- patients are on for treatment not for emotional attachment. It is a fact. Articles and blogs are our patients. We need to make them both search and user friendly. Who are we to confuse users with our own biases? Viagra might be an ethical taboo for me but is it fair to undermine its importance and portray a negative view that can hamper the business of client? We are getting paid because we know words not for our personal feelings. Hence never be emotional while writing as it can create biases.


Ø Avoid unnecessary superfluous adjectives- May be it due to the legacy of Monarchy or due to 300 years of colonialism, our writing heart is filed with blood of adulation. That is the reason why unnecessary use of adjectives is rather a rule than exception for Indian web writers. Take the example highlighted by Tom- “It is really very very cold”. Something frozen outside is frozen, not very frozen. Avoid such things. The best way for improvement as far as SEO copywriting is concerned is that never use a word or sentence until and unless you are 100% sure about its relevance.

Ø Stop thinking in your mother tongue- It happened to me too. Indian content writers, whose second language is English first think in their mother tongue, develop their ideas through this language and translate it to English. However, translation at sometimes may lead to disastrous sentence formation. We as content writers are earning life depending on our hold on English. Hence while writing, think in English and give your thoughts the final shape without translation. It is difficult and I was also a patient witness for this transformation I know that it took two long years to come out of “ think in mother tongue and translate” practice. In my next postings this moth, I will talk more about this.

Ø Take the help of internet- Before writing any article or blog make proper research on internet. While searching, search it in the geographically specific search engines. It means, if the production URL is in .UK domain, take help of Google.co.uk. Some luxuries for India are necessities for developed and European countries. Country specific search not only helps you to be free from contextual errors but also help you to be informed regarding the latest way of writing for the target audience of that country.


Keep writing, keep reading, all the best.

How I write for web?

Most my friends ask when I tell them that I am a full time writer- what are the novels or non-fictions written by you? How to make them understand that I am a full time web writer writing articles blogs, web-page and social media contents and earning a life from it? Is there any difference? Let’s see where the difference lies?


Talk straight-talk simple-talk in a hundred percent grammatically error free manner on the topic you want to say and write not only for the users but also for the search engines. This is the mantra of content writing and the best content writers of my knowledge follow the same sets of golden rule.

Why talk straight?

Believe me friends- web surfers take less than 30 seconds, once again only 30 seconds to approve or discard the relevance of your website. Do not tell and confuse them with the jargons like- we have received the best that is the best award in California- our products has made the win of Barrack easier- blah, blah, blah…….
Just inform them how they can be benefited from your website or product or service? There is no easier way to convince and engage some one except through a straight conversion.

Simple- are you crazy man!

In one of my interviews at a CMMI level-3 company, I was asked- what is your way of writing. I answered without any hesitation, I try to be simple. The interviewee was mute for a second and asked-trying???
Yes, I am trying and at every word I write I am trying to infuse simplicity in it- because it is not so simple to be simple. And, simplicity saves the day of a Content Writer everyday.

“Be error-free”- is it really worthy to say to a writer?

It is hard to believe but a naked truth that the whole web-writing field is populated by mediocre. They are here because nothing having a better opportunity cost was there for them.

We as human beings are prone to mistakes. But grammatical and contextual errors in web writing are not blunders, rather they are sin.

The primary requisite for a batsman is that he knows how to hold that bat. If he does not know it- irrespective of his tons cricketing general knowledge- he can never be called a batsman.

Experts have no substitutes. They may charge more as best things of life come only at a higher price.

Pleasing target audience and search engine- can the dual aim be achievable?

Yes, yes and again yes. The skill of a Content Writer is tested here. The job of a content writer is to abridge the gaps and develop content which is both user- and search engine friendly.

For users, I make sure that my write up is informative, updated, easy-to-understand and as much lucid as possible. For search engines, I always pay due importance to keywords, their perfect and judicious placing, and attractive titles.

Keyword stuffing, plagiarism and creating jargons through superfluous synonyms and adjectives are peccadilloes- the luxuries I can not afford. After all, client is investing his hard earned money on my writing skills.