As many a writer will tell you, words and music are very similar. Here’s what learning the flute has taught me about being a writer. (more…)
Archive for the ‘How to be a writer’ Category
Twelve things my flute teacher taught me about writing
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011Why you need to write for the guy who stole the chickens
Thursday, February 17th, 2011JUDGE: The charge here is theft of frozen chickens. Are you the defendant?
DEFENDANT: No, sir, I’m the guy who stole the chickens.
Want to know the one big reason so many corporate types are resistant to the idea of writing like a human being?
They’re terrified of getting into trouble with the Legal department. (more…)
Five business writing tips from a best-selling author
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011If you read one book about the financial crisis this year (actually, if you read one book about anything this year), make it The Big Short by Michael Lewis.
It reads like a thriller – an unputdownable romp about collateralised debt obligations (CDO) and credit default swaps. Oxymoron? Not in the hands of Lewis, who has a real gift for making the complex compelling.
Last week, I heard Lewis speak about the book at his alma mater, the London School of Economics (LSE). When he touched on the writing process, I gleaned five tips for every business writer. (more…)
Six more sneaky ways to make them write it your way
Friday, January 28th, 2011How do you stop other people turning your clear, crisp prose into turgid, buzzword-ridden nonsense? It’s something every writer working in corporate communications has to deal with.
I’ve already talked about how small tweaks to your editorial process can massively improve your end result. But office politics are also a factor when you have to include others in decisions about your business writing. (more…)
Ten ways to stop that verbose exec from mangling your copy
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011Lately, I’ve been hosting business English courses for corporate communicators at a large corporation. By far the most frequent question I get asked is this: “How do I stop my manager/client/stakeholder from turning my writing into gobbledygook?”. (more…)
To Click Here, or Not to Click Here: That Is the SEO Question.
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009Today, I’m delighted to introduce a guest post by one of my favourite bloggers, web and social media expert Brad Shorr of Word Sell, Inc. Regular readers will know that here at goodcopybadcopy we like extremely detailed discussions of business vocab, but even I had never guessed that there was so much to know about those two little words “click here”. Thanks, too, to Brad for introducing me to the phrase “link juice”. Read on, Macduff.
To sleep: perchance to dream – click here.
Did you click on the link just above? Weren’t you itching to? That’s the power of the much debated “click here” link. (more…)
Strapline clichés to avoid: the alliterative triplet
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009Need to come up with a strapline that really sums up your company? Think carefully before going the way of the alliterative triplet.
Alliterative triplets are straplines where three words are chosen not because they capture the very essence of the brand they describe, but because, well, they just happen to share the same initial letter.
They’re the corporate equivalent of the bad poem that rhymes for the sake of it. (more…)
How to answer the dreaded question: “So tell me, what do you do?”
Monday, July 13th, 2009Like most writers, I’m a natural introvert (ignore what some of my friends will tell you). For me, the very phrase “working a room” has the same effect as:
catching your teeth on the opening of a canned drink
being trapped in a small room with a larger-than-average moth
insert your particular phobia or teeth-on-edge trigger here.
Twelve ways my PhD prepared me for blogging
Thursday, May 28th, 2009Today, in a post on his Word Sell blog, content optimisation guru Brad Shorr offers some great advice to anyone thinking about launching a business blog.
In his post, Brad asks other bloggers how we prepared for our entry into the blogosphere. Looking back – though I didn’t know it at the time – I think I prepared for blogging by doing a PhD. (more…)
Ask a stupid question . . .
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009The current financial crisis has been exacerbated by fear. Not fear of losing money, but fear of losing face.
At no point, it seems, were any of those self-declared smartest guys in the room brave enough to admit that they didn’t have a clue how the exotic financial derivatives they were spewing into the world worked.
Perhaps we’d have been spared financial Armageddon had one of them just put a hand up and said: “Actually, guys, can you run those CDO-cubed thingies by me one more time? How is it they make us money again?” (Hint: they don’t.*)
Why am I musing on this? Well, last week, two different clients told me they really appreciated the outsider’s perspective that I provided. It backed up what I’ve long said – that being able to admit you’re not an expert gives you an advantage. (more…)
