When you’re working with a writer to produce personal or professional content, and where they really need to get inside your head, it’s important to be quite specific – and constructive – in the feedback you give them after the first draft. These are all instances of bad feedback: Rephrase this Say more about this
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New year, new you? Here are five writing resolutions to make your business writing pop this year: 1. Read more – especially the work of people whose writing you admire. Figure out why you like it, and apply those principles to your own. 2. Never write without your reader in mind – whether it’s one
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Often, when people are reviewing quotes or opinion pieces I’ve written on their behalf, they object the loudest to the places where I have quoted them word for word. And they’re always aghast to read in the transcript that, yes, they did indeed say the thing that is causing them to recoil in horror. Why
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I edit a lot of advertorial/sponsored content, and for the most part, it’s awful. The mistake most people make, is to use a tone and style that belongs in a sales brochure – it’s over-hyped, hard sell type stuff, and it’s offputting in the extreme. The trick, to write great advertorial, first, is to think
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Next time you’re poised to hit ‘send’ on that email, stop for just one moment. You’ve said what you want to say, but that’s only one half of the communication transaction. Have you considered what the reader needs to get out of your email? What is the purpose of the email? Do you just need
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Remove unnecessary capital letters: You don’t need to use capital letters when talking about your company, its board, the group or even job titles. The company’s managing director isn’t made any more important if you put their title in capital letters, I promise. And managing directors and chief executive officers are common nouns – you
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So, you’ve designed your website, app or platform to have a great user experience. Everything feels natural and easy. Everything flows and works seamlessly… but wait. What about the writing? So often the writing on companies’ digital offerings is neglected and you land up on a site, app or platform where the language feels stiff,
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One of the commonest misconceptions I come across is that in good writing, you can’t – or shouldn’t – repeat words. Sometimes, the word you’re using simply is the best word for the job: repeat it if it bears repeating. Sometimes, the repetition creates a kind of rhythm. Sometimes it just works. Engaging in lexical
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Here’s a quick tip that can instantly improve your writing: try to avoid starting sentences with “There is” or “There are”. Why? Because you’re dithering. You’re not getting to the point. Weak sentences frequently start with these two phrases, and if you can cull them, you’ll get something far more punchy. Example: There was strong
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