1. Critical Thinking
I believe a fundamental requirement for effective writing is the development and constant nurturing of a critical thinking habit. Without this a writer is likely to struiggle considerably to come up with truly original and potentially profound insights to share with readers.
When your writing fails to strike the reader as useful, then your efforts have been wasted.
2. Reading Proficiency
Great writers are often good readers. In many ways reading feeds a writer’s mind with raw material that she can use to generate new insights.
But what you read also determines how much you reap from reading.
Gossip magazines are unlikely to offer quality content that can enrich your knowledge for instance. Except of course you plan to specialize in writing to report gossip, scandals etc.
3. Writing & Typing Proficiency
The ability to intelligently articlulate one’s thought in written form – and to do it using language that arrests or captivates and stimulates the imagination of the reader is a valuable one.
Achieving your writing goal requires that kind of writing competence, because only then can you be certain that your intended meaning will be understood by readers.
But you can be competent as a writer and still struggle to achieve your goal, if your typing is poor.
In this 21st century, writers who are good at typing often have an edge over those who don’t. The latter will tend to be forced by their lack of skill to endure delays in getting their writing done.
This is because they will usually have to get someone to do it for them, or they might also try to do it themselves. The former option has risks of poor work quality (necessitating extra editing) or possible theft of intellectual property.
The latter option offers more useful rewards, but still comes with a price of slow typing speed.
To achieve your writing goals more reliably, if your writing or typing is below par, find time to learn how to overcome that challenge. Enroll for a coaching class or get self help tools (e.g a typing tutor) to help you improve.
An important dimension here, is Proof Reading. Failure to pay enough attention to this aspect, and to editing, can negatively affect the quality of your written works.
4. Imagination
Sometimes being able to use our words to paint a picitroial message can make our writing more enjoyable for readers.
Great speakers and writers often demonstrate this ability. And it is the reason why many of them became successful.
Not all writers have this skill to write with picture building words. But it can be developed. And the effort would be worthwhile.
The human mind thinks better in pictures. Therefore when you effectively employ words that evoke the right images in the minds of readers, they will connect more readily with you, through your words.
5. Physical and Mental Stamina
If you’re battling with fatigue, or illness/stress – be it physical or mental – it will diminish your staying power. Let that happen, and you have a big problem on your hands.
To meet client deadlines, you need to be well rested. Otherwise your work volume, and quality, will suffer.
So always listen carefully to your body whenever you’re working. When you start dozing while typing, it’s likey to be a sign that you need to take a break.
Take it and you’ll come back refreshed and able to function at your productive best.
On a final note, you can also improve on your current level of work related stamina. One tried and tested strategy is doing simple physical exercises every day.
Push ups, sit ups, stretching exercises and similar others can help greatly in this regard.
The best part is that you get to kill 2 birds with one stone, because regular physical excercise boosts both physical and mental stamina!