Five tips to make writing about yourself for your website easier
As I write this, I’m in the middle of a frustrating yet essential project—redoing my freelance website. It’s my “face” to the world; a place to share the work I do and express my personality—because that’s who potential clients will work with.
But writing about myself always makes me uncomfortable.
“Write a 500-word profile for a client? No problem!”
Why, then, is it so hard for me to write about who I am and what I do?
I don’t know. But I turned to the people who never fail me—my Twitter friends—to ask if writing about themselves is something other writers also struggle with.
With the exception of a few people (tell me your secrets, please?), the answer was a resounding “yes”.
The replies ranged from, “it just feels awkward”, to “it’s the single most cringe-worthy piece of writing I’ve had to do”, to “it makes me want to hide under my bed and live with the dust bunnies”.
Here was a group of accomplished, professional writers who have trouble writing about how accomplished and amazing they are.
You can shout about imposter syndrome or being too close to your subject matter to write objectively. Whatever our reasons, we still need to show readers who we are and that we can deliver more than just good grammar and punctuation. We have to be able to tell our stories, because if we can’t tell our own, how can potential clients trust us to do justice to theirs?
Yes, this is easier said than done. But no one said it was going to be easy.
Combining some advice from my fellow writers and the methods I use for client projects, I’m sharing some tips on how to make writing about yourself less painful. If you’re anything like me, you may never love it. But there are a few ways to make yourself hate it a little less.
Treat yourself like a client
Copywriter Claire McCabe found writing about herself difficult when setting up her website:
“After faffing around for an embarrassing amount of time, eventually I pretended I was writing for a client. Mentally separating me from my business, so I could write authentically and not feel like an eejit about it!”
It’s an excellent tactic that addresses the issue of being too close to yourself to be objective. You can even try going through the exact process you would with a client—only this time, you’re responsible for both sides of the interview in your discovery session.
Prepare a list of questions that’ll help you discover what drives the person you’ll be writing about. Then, without thinking about your final bio or what you think you want to say, answer these questions as if you’re the client. You can always go back and...👇
Write first, edit later
Freelance writer Aatish Nath needed to get some form of his bio written as a foundation:
“After the first bio was written, the rest could be built on top of that/edited to suit different audiences. That's easier than staring at a blank screen.”
Like every other draft you work on, the first thing you write doesn’t have to be the final version. It doesn’t even have to resemble what you publish! You just need to get some words—any words—out of your head and onto the page.
Just get it done
It’s time for some tough love here—just write the damn first draft. Stop fussing over every word as you write it, stop editing at every step, and stop overthinking it. Get the hard part out of the way, and remember that no one else has to read this if you don’t want them to. You can (and should) edit it.
Claire puts personal projects into her calendar to hold herself accountable:
“It’s very important for me to actually set a deadline and timetable when I’m doing ‘my’ work, otherwise it very much doesn’t get done, or I apply my overthinking superpower and it never gets finished!”
Put the task into whatever to-do list or project management system you use and treat the deadline as sacred - just like you do with your client work.
Get someone you trust to read it
When I write for clients, I separate myself from the first draft by leaving it overnight before going back to edit. When writing for my website, I find it harder to distance myself from the drafts because there’s no distance between me and the subject matter. So I’ve asked a few people who know me well enough to share their honest opinions and feedback once my first draft is done.
It’s important that the people you ask are comfortable enough to be honest and share constructive feedback. It’s also important that you’re ready to hear their honest opinions and aren’t just seeking affirmation.
Stop comparing yourself to other writer bios and websites
Copywriter Megan Rose shared some great advice:
“The key is to stop comparing with other people's about pages/bios and just focus on what makes you YOU.”
There are millions of writers in the world, but only you have your methods, experiences, and writing style. Ignore the noise and focus on your strengths to be true to who you are.
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