Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
Flipping through industry magazines, contributing to the blogosphere, and participating in trade organizations are a few ways to learn what’s going on in your trade. Litterateur talks about both the emotional enjoyment of experiencing a fellow artist’s work and the analytical process of discovering how it functioned. How do you learn from fellow creatives?
According to this article on usability guru Jakob Nielsen, the first two words of any headline (and one would surmise, e-mail subject line) are most important. Which means it’s okay to use passive voice to “front load” the headline content. From Boing Boing.
Most of the How to Write Web Copy articles I’ve read lately have said that using “click here” is old school. So I’ve been eliminating that call to action (although I really thought it wasn’t a bad idea to tell people what you want them to do….it works in direct mail!). Now I get an emailing from Copyblogger saying that using “click here” can lift clickthrough rates by more than 8%. Click here to read the article So what is everyone else doing?
There’s a great web site where you can share your reading tastes with other people. It’s called Shelfari. Warning, it is addictive! But I think it has potential for information sharing. Similar to LinkedIn, you have to invite friends, though anyone who wants to look at your list may do so. So far I like it.
The Chicago Center for Literature and Photography (CCLaP) recently interviewed two of our members. We send a hearty thanks to Executive Director Jason Pettus for his fantastic podcasts! Listen to Gapers Block Editor and Publisher Andrew Huff and me, Writing and Communications Consultant and mediabistro Chicago Host Chris Benevich. Visit GapersBlock.com for all the coolest art and entertainment activities in Chicago, and come to mediabistro Chicago parties to mix ‘n’ mingle with your fellow creative, content, and media professionals!
Tim Ferriss, author of the much-buzzed-about book The Four Hour Work Week, made a list of 10 common words you should stop using:
I’m not sure why the list leans so heavily toward religion/spirituality/morality — Ferriss seems to be hung up on their definitions being ineffable or hard to explain — but his underlying point is that we should try to avoid leaning on vague or easy language when we could be more specific. This got me thinking about the crutches writers lean on in their work. As an editor, there are certain phrases that bug me simply because they’re examples of lazy writing. Most of them seem to be related to transitioning, which is often hard to do well, so it stands to reason that there’d be a lot of crutches leaned on there. For instance, I find that I all too often read an introduction which serves as backstory to the true subject — and discover that the author has chosen to transition from backstory to story using the phrase “Enter [so-and-so].” I cringe every time I see or hear it. This little phrase’s origins lie in theatrical scripts, in the playwright’s notes to the cast indicating when an actor is to come into a scene. For non-actors, their likely first encounter with “Enter ___” is in Shakespeare’s plays, which nearly everyone reads in school. But since they’re reading it in English class, not Theatre, these stage directions are read as part of the narrative and incorporated into the text, and we assume that since it’s Shakespeare, it must be proper English. It’s not. It’s lazy writing, saving you from having to come up with a more clever segue, which you get away with only because so many of your readers have read Shakespeare, too. What crutches bug you?
I’ve hired Guiding Rights founder Mark V. Partridge to speak at a couple of writers’ events, and his web site is excellent - especially the free newsletter with tips (which I received today). His key product, Guiding Rights
Here’s a good “all in one place” resource for those of us who write. Bob Bly is a copywriter whose newsletter I get (I think Jenni does too). He has a “special” on his e-book, The Copywriters’s Toolkit. I’ve just skimmed it since I downloaded it last night, but I think I’ve gotten more than my $39 worth. Plus, you get a free pdf: 17 Secrets Successful Marketers Know (this I haven’t looked at yet). If anyone’s interested, here’s the link to his site.
Dee sent this around to the listserv, but I also think it deserves a little mention here in our blog. Gary Kamiya (at Salon.com) writes lovingly about the value of a good editor, and I raise my glass to him. Having just gone through an edit for a client, I can relate. Thanks for the idea, Dee!
What considerations crossed your mind when you hired your first employee, whether s/he was part-time, full-time, contractor, or subcontractor? I’m defining employee as a paid worker (not barter, intern, et al) with all the legal, tax, insurance, etc. ramifications thereof. Thanks! Chris Benevich |
, is an excellent resource on copyright and intellectual property issues. Happy reading!