Using clichés will suck the life out of your writing
Have you got the word “passionate” in your LinkedIn profile? The odds are you do – almost everyone does.
PR and marketing
writing
Don’t sell the steak (or sausage), sell the sizzle
If you work in marketing, you may have heard the saying: don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle (though some people, especially in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, say sausage instead of steak.
writing
Why curiosity will make you a better writer
Whether you’re writing a feature story or a business report, there’s one key characteristic that will make you stand out from other people: curiosity.
AI
journalism
PR and marketing
writing
Why you should never, ever use AI to write your content. Ever.
There are two reasons why using AI to write anything is a bad idea: writing needs to be new and unique – for your audience, your brand and SEO communication is a human activity.
editing
formatting
usability / UX
writing
Why less is more when it comes to word counts, column widths, paragraph sizes and article lengths
Limitations usually improve, rather than hinder, whatever you create. I learnt this when I first became an editor, back in the days of print.
editing
writing
The problem with using elegant variation to avoid repetition
Most writers have a fear of repeating words – and so they’ll strive, in often ludicrous ways, to come up with synonyms and alternate descriptions. For example, they might write: “Dan’s cat was evil.
verbs
editing
grammar
writing
Why turning verbs into nouns is often – but not always – a bad idea
Sometimes people get cranky when you use a noun as a verb, and I can see why. For example, instead of writing: We will make a recommendation about who to hire.
tone of voice
editing
writing
How to write a great tone of voice guide (and what the difference is between that and a style guide)
Now that organisations are pumping out more content than ever before across a wide range of mediums and platforms, there’s been a rapid adoption of tone of voice (TOV) guides.
