Use your business casual voice
When my family moved from Tulsa to Houston, my siblings and I picked up the accent pretty quickly. When an aunt visited us from the Midwest, my 5-year-old brother proudly announced:
Writing and editing
How to create a conversational tone in writing
To write like you talk, read your copy aloud
When Don Murray arrived in the newsroom for his first day on the job as writing coach for the Boston Globe, he turned to his new boss and said: “I can tell you who your three best writers are.”… Read the full article
How to develop tone of voice in writing
What writing style, word choices should you use?
The hardest job I’ve ever done was writing and editing a microsite for H&R Block. It was designed to let survivors know how to handle taxes for their loved ones who had died in the Sept.… Read the full article
How to write simple sentences
Think subject-verb-object for most of your sentences
The best way to make your sentences tighter and easier to understand is to simplify them. That is, write mostly simple sentences.… Read the full article
How long should a sentence be?
Short sentences are easier to understand than long sentences
Add a word to your sentence, and you’ll reduce comprehension. Add another once, reduce it even further.… Read the full article
How to vary your sentences
Build drama, create rhythm and more
Short sentences are best. But make every sentence simple and short, and your copy will read like “See Dick run” primers.… Read the full article
Tips for organizing magazine articles
Romance meets finance in this feature
How do you organize a compelling feature?
Model this piece, which Loring Leifer wrote for Northern Funds’ marketing magazine, Northern Update.… Read the full article
What’s the best article writing structure?
‘From Tina Turner to Taylor Swift’
When Ian Jones needed to craft a — yawn! — diversity story for employees at Columbia Gas of Virginia, his first instinct was to go with a fact pack.… Read the full article
How to structure an email invitation
Sensus goes to the science museum
When I teach the feature-style story structure, communicators nod. It seems reasonable that readers would prefer concrete, creative stories to a hierarchical blurtation of facts.… Read the full article
How to structure a blog post
WCB-Alberta takes on opioid addiction
I love it when my clients send me their rewrites after I present a writing workshop.
For one thing, it’s gratifying to see that people’s writing actually improves after I visit!… Read the full article