E is for Editing

I'm an avid reader. I read as much as possible. Sometimes to the extent that I've had less of a life because of it at times (a testament to the writer, who has written a gripping book!). 

There are countless times when I've turned the pages breathlessly, however, only for the ending to cheat me (and no doubt, thousands of others). Sometimes deus ex machina (a highly improbably event that conveniently wraps everything up) has been the culprit. Others the cavalry coming over the hill have been responsible. Then there are the factual books in which the conclusions haven't fitted the facts. 

It's all very frustrating. Those are hours of your life you'll never get back. 

But why does it bother us so much? What's behind it? Poor editing, that's what.  

How to edit

To be a good writer you have to be a good editor. Those aren't just my words: they're the words of the world's most famous copywriter, David Ogilvy, a man who did some serious selling back in the day.

Of course, being a good editor is easier said than done. Where do you start? 

Be objective
Editing is about honesty. Be objective. Is what you've written really any good, or are you just trying to make the word count? If it seems like a load of rubbish, it may well seem like it to others too, so take it out. 

If you can't decide, ask yourself: 'Would I be embarrassed to show this to a client or publisher?' If the answer's yes, you know what you need to do.

One other trick is to observe whether you're feeling smug and showing your work to everyone in the office, trying to give others a laugh. The part you love the most is normally the part that has to go. 

Ask if it makes sense
Take a look at your draft. Do the pieces fit together? Do the events happen in a logical order, or does something within the text feel out of place? Is everything you've written plausible? If there's something in there that's tenuous or doesn't fit, take it out. It's weakening the text. 

This is especially so with the conclusion. Check you're not drifting into deus ex machina territory. Remember the Stephen King novel Misery and how psychotic bibliophile Annie Wilkes went beserk about the ending of a novel? Endings should be fair to the reader.

Delete the first paragraph
Just like you don't start exercising without warming up first, you don't in writing. The first paragraph get our thoughts flowing and our fingers bashing away at the keyboard. Read it at the end of the piece and you'll find it rambles on aimlessly, struggling to find its path. You may even find that it has nothing to do with the rest of what you've written. Chop it out. You'll see how your writing suddenly becomes tighter. 

Cut out the fluff
Are you getting to the point, or are you saying more than what needs to be said? Is what you've written adding value to the text, or is it simply surplus? If it does nothing for the text, get rid of it. 

Cutting out fluff is important, especially in the day and age of emails, in which everyone feels more hurried than they used to. They don't feel as if they have the time to wade through a forest of words. If you're writing a novel, your words should be valuable. They should help carry events forward. Even if they're just reading for pleasure, readers won't hang around forever to find out what happens (at least I don't). They've taken the time to start reading your novel. Reward them with some plot and character development, not pages of filler.

For me, the king of plot development is crime fiction writer James Ellroy. It's only once you get to the end of his novels, twist after twist after twist, that you realise he was already starting the conclusion halfway through the novel. Fantastic!

These are just a few tips on the mighty art of editing. Like any other, it's a skill and isn't something you just develop overnight. It takes time and plenty of writing. If you've got any editing tips you'd like to share with me, I'd love to hear them. Meanwhile, if not, then happy scribbling, and until we meet again in F is for... 

Write Life

Write life
Write a diary.
Write a covering letter. 
Write to your family.
Write a love letter; how you can taste flowers when you kiss them.
Write a forgive me letter; how you're so messed up you don't who you are without them.
Write a break-up letter; how it's not them, it's you.
Write about change. 
Write about today's generation; how it's lost but can be found.  
Write about your dreams; how one day you'll make it and then write about how you did it.
Write to your friends; thank them for being there. 
Write about the good times; how you'd give anything to return. 
Write about the bad times; bury the memories.
Write about the future.
Write to your workmates; they helped you to the top.
Write about retirement.
Write about your kids; the story of their first word.
Write about strangers.
Write about singledom; the pleasures and sorrows of freedom. 
Write about travel, of seeing the wonders of the world.
Write about music.
Write about books.
Write about writing.
Write life.

C is for Concise

First a quick story...

If I cast my mind back to the days of my English Language A-level classes (seems so long ago), there's one exercise which has always stood out. 

In it we read a long, rambling letter about NHS funding. We then had to summarise each paragraph in as few words as possible.

There was one particular paragraph, packed full of long words and linguistic clutter, and it lasted some five or six lines. I can still remember the teacher, with a deadpan expression, chopping it down to just two words: 'Needs money'. Masterful!

The moral of the story: be concise
Fluff is something that you either pick out of your belly button or hoover up off of the carpet. There's no room for it in writing.  

Be concise. Don't use three words where one will do, especially if you're writing advertising copy. For instance, why say 'make a decision' when you can simply write 'decide'? 

Strip away adjectives if they don't add anything to the text. Don't write 'hit somebody hard'. The beauty of the English language is we have a whole load of colourful expressions for acts of violence. So why 'hit someone hard' when, instead, you can slug 'em, crack 'em one, thump 'em or lamp 'em! Bit colloquial, I know, but you get the picture. 

The more concise you are, the easier you'll get your message across. Bury it in a mound of adjectives and set verb + noun phrases, and mix it up with some lousy punctuation, and your message will be lost. Not only that, so will your reader. Ouch!  

B is for Blogging

Are bloggers journalists? 

It's the great debate. Bloggers, journalists and a host of other professionals will still be arguing this one on their death bed. My personal opinion - who cares?

For me, the truly magical thing about blogging is that you have your own little corner of the web. It's a place where you can write for fun and discuss your own interests (with people who share the same ones), get something of your mind, even give yourself a bit of DIY work experience, or make a little money for yourself.  

Whether for business or pleasure, you should write a blog. It's the ideal way to hone your writing skills and also to find out if you have what it takes. You learn to express yourself. You develop your own style. You learn how to write for a particular type of audience. Whatever lights their fire, you'll learn how to deliver it.

Just one question: how do you write a blog?
That's a darned good question! I mentioned in the A section that you should know your audience. If you know them, write for them. Discuss the things that interest them. 

The simplest way to do this is by choosing a theme for your blog. This could be a hobby of yours, such as martial arts or photography. You could also write a blog about your profession, such as marketing, computing or teaching.

A blog can be about anything, really, but remember that writing consistently about a subject that readers are interested in is the easiest way to build up a following. You'll also become known as an expert on the area. And we all like to hear from someone who knows what they're talking about.

How long should the posts be?

There's no hard, fast rule about how long your blog posts should be, but the general convention is 200 to 400 words. They can can be longer if you wish, but avoid writing posts of 1 000 words or more (unless you want to lose readers). If a particular topic requires lengthy posts, you can split it up into a series. (Brownie points for me for following my own advice!)

Make your posts easier to read by splitting them up with subheadings. When reading texts on the Net, people tend to skim-read them first to see if the content is useful to them. If it is, they'll read the whole thing. The subheadings will steer the reader gently through the text, and the easier your post is to read the more chance you have of people reading them.  

Feel free to break up texts with pictures, too. They add colour to the post. Besides, visually, long blocks of text just ain't schmexy!  

On a final note... Do your put your own picture in?

You'll notice that I have put my picture on this blog. The face behind the words. However, the late Italian writer Italo Calvino believed that if writers kept from making public appearances, their work took on more authority. He had a point, but really, what harm can it do? Just enjoy yourself.

The first in a new series...

I've been writing for a long time now. It's something I've always done, in one way or another. 

First it was a spoof diary back in the school days. 

Then in the college years, and even before then, I was scribbling letters by good ole snail mail to penpals. 

'A' levels out of the way, I was free to contribute to the student newspaper in my uni days. Email was also starting to become a friend of mine. There were the love letters, too.... Loves that are lost now. Only the memory remains. 

Now we're in the digital era, my writing has turned to copywriting and blogging. Both are fun. 

So yes, I feel I've a fair bit of experience in the writing department, either from writing professionally, writing as an amateur or writing from what life has given me. People have said I do it well. Some have asked me how I do it. All I can say is I have passion for it. I've indulged it by reading, reading about writing, and by writing, and I've decided to share a few things I've picked up along the way.

I'd like to kick off the first in my own little A to Z of writing tips. The series will do what it says on the tin. Like all good A to Zs, why not start with the letter A?

A is for Audience

It's a golden rule, especially in advertising, that you should think about who (or, if we're going to split grammatical hairs, for whom) you're writing for. Know your audience. What do they like? What makes your blog, column or stories so special that they're reading your work instead of someone else?

Knowing your audience will keep you and your writing focused on the task, or better said, the text in hand. It'll help you provide useful, engaging content that speaks to them, instead of generic, mind-numbing drivel that talks at them.

Our parents always warn us when we're young not to talk to strangers. That applies to writing too. Find out who your audience are, learn about their likes and dislikes and, even though you might not have met them, they won't be strangers to you any more. More importantly, when they read your writing nor will you feel like them one to them. 

This is your life?

Not sure what it is with me and (auto)biographies lately. I tend to think they're a vain kind of writing. 

Of all the subjects to write about, people write about their life as if we actually cared.  

Yet in a bizarre twist of fate, over the last year or so I've started to become quite interested in them. Since last summer, I've read:

• Motley Crüe: The Dirt 
• Marilyn Manson: The Long, Hard Road Out of Hell 
• Steven Tyler: Does the Noise in my Head Bother You? 
• A Book About innocent: Our Story & Some of the Things We've Learned
• Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time
• Onwards: How Starbucks Fought for its Life Without Losing its Soul
• My Dark Places, by James Ellroy
• I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan by Alan Partridge

That's three rock (auto)biographies, three business ones, a comedy one and a part-autobiography part-crime investigation, and still I'm thirsty for more (keep your eyes peeled for Keith Richards's Life, Karren Brady's Strong Woman and Walter Isaac's Steve Jobs going cheap for me, would you!).

Life begins at...? 

My disillusionment with the genre stems from seeing bookshops littered with biographies and autobiographies by people who have barely been in showbiz 5 minutes yet feel compelled to tell the whole world their story. Take Jedward - barely out of school and they'd already published a book about their lives! It's dumbed down the genre.

I've enjoyed the above (auto)biographies - except for the Marilyn Manson one! - because the subjects have had interesting life experiences and ideas worth discussing. The point of biographical writing is for someone to look back on their career, on their achievements and low points (and how they came back from the latter!) and share some of the magic behind it all. 

To my mind, these days, the memories don't even have time to begin before the memoirs are already being published. But maybe I should get with the programme and think about writing my own memoirs?

What do you think? Do you think biographical writing has somehow lost its purpose?

Get people to go your way with Lenny Kravitz

Remember Lenny Kravitz's old school rock 'n' roll hit Are You Gonna Go My Way? ? Was listening to it just today and it dawned on me that in the song lyrics he gives two great pieces of advice for copywriting. So without further ado, I thought I'd share with you how he informs how to get people to go our way!

'We must engage...'

Spot on, Lenny. You're writing to persuade. You want your audience to buy your product, hire your service, subscribe to your newsletter, return to your website, etc. Unless you're hoping to lull them into a deep sleep and sell to them using the power of hypnotic suggestion - in which case, change your day job- your words have to engage. 

So keep your audience interested. Hook them with your words. The longer you hold their attention, the more likely they are to do what you want them to.

'.... And rearrange...'

Well sung again, Mr Kravitz. 

Maybe the ideas aren't coming to you. Maybe you've done your first draft but aren't particularly happy with what you've written. 

So rearrange the paragraphs. This sometimes reveals a new, better angle from which to persuade your audience. It can strengthen your copy, too, by exposing weaker paragraphs or points. You can give them the snip and, by doing so, tighten up your copy and make it more persuasive. 

Easier said than done - so how do you do it, Mr Clever Clogs!

There are any number of ways to engage with your copy:

• Open with a strong sentence. - Remember the cliché 'SEX! That got your attention!'? Think of something that will hook the reader. It could be a question. It could be a powerful statement, such as 'How I made more money by.... ' . Tap into the reader's interests and write something that twigs them. 
• Be original in your writing - Avoid clichés. They look lazy. If the readers feels you haven't made the effort to write for them, they won't make the effort to read for you. And why should they, says I!
• Challenge the reader - Not to hand-to-hand combat, though! Say something like 'These are just 5 ways to engage your reader. Bet you can't think of more.' They'll be itching to defy you!
• Break long pieces of text up -  Copy that looks like one neverending block of text looks dull to the reader. Split it into sections, with bullet-pointed or number lists or even with images. This makes copy visually more appealing. More importantly, it makes it easier to read which, you've guessed it, also holds the reader's attention easier.
• Vary sentence length - Short sentences of 10 to 16 words work best in copy. But don't keep every single sentence to that length or your copy will become monotonous. Write longer sentences, too, to keep the text inflected.

That's engaging, but what about rearranging?

One good approach is to start at the middle. Save your first draft, delete the first few paragraphs (or place them towards the end of your text) and see what emerges. As well as revealing possible new, better or more original angles, the second benefit of this is that it can put your points into perspective. Changing the order of paragraphs can make the copy more persuasive. That's because it highlights the weaker points, which you can either leave towards the end or simply leave out. 

The third benefit is that it makes the copy stronger in general. A lot of the time, our first few paragraphs act as a warm-up, helping us to hit our stride. Delete them and you'll see how the copy suddenly seems tighter. After all, you're audience is busy and wants you to get to the point, too! 

What would you do?

So, Lenny Kravitz has spoken me to from the music studio with some helpful words of advice. Now I'm passing them on to you.

Have you got any suggestions on engagement or rearrangement for me? Are there any musicians you think have given us some sound advice on copywriting? Surely we could draw something from all those rock ballads that are out there!

What makes a good writer?

A lot of people have said to me in the past 'I love reading your letters' or 'I love reading your emails'. In my earlier years people said I should be a writer.

I've often wondered: 'What's the secret?' Or even, what are the secrets? What am I doing that makes the words special to others? It's only now, in my adult years, that I've finally come to a few conclusions:

Show your soul

All writers have something of the romantic... of the idealist... of the dreamer in them. That's my personal belief. In all the letters and emails I've ever written, I've hardly ever held back. Some of my deepest feelings - love, joy, sorrows, fears, hopes, aspirations, wishes, regrets - have permeated the pages or the screen. I've put a lot of myself into the words. By doing it, I've connected with the reader.

Love what you do

Possibly the key to success in anything we do, not just to writing well. Enjoy what you do and you'll do it so much better. I love writing. I love it! And back in my years as a translator, some of my very best literary translations came from my passion for words, from the wish to reproduce the original text's elegance for the reader.  

Be original

This has a lot to do with personal perception. The work of the Impressionist artists was great because they painted scenes they way they perceived them, not the way artistic norms dictated. For instance, they would sometimes paint hazy grey skies instead of clear blue ones, because that was the impression they had of the sky on the day. 

And so you must be original with your words. Avoid clichés. Describe things as you perceive them. The chances are your description will be much more original. An honest description is much more rewarding both for you as a writer and for your reader.   

Be a bookworm

As well as being passionate about writing your own stuff, be passionate about other people's stuff. See how others express themselves. Find out what themes interest you. Discover new authors, new words, new ideas, new perspectives, new narrative techniques and even new worlds. Develop your own style. There's more fact in fiction than you'd imagine.

Time to spare a few thoughts?

And so I snap out of 'reflexive writer mode' now, to ask what you think makes a good writer. Do you agree wholeheartedly with me, or do you disagree violently! 

In fact, what do you think about this blog? Have I been practising what I've preached today? Or should I pick up a few more books and learn from the masters? Do tell!

Why write?

Feeling reflexive lately (as I always do when Christmas is near!), I started thinking about why I write.

In fact I started thinking about anyone's reasons for putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard.

Here are some of my own. They could easily apply to you:

• Because we have something to say to the world. Not only that, we want to say it in the nicest, most effective way possible.

• Because we're dreamers, idealists and romantics. Writing is an escape from the everyday world. Why else would we create a different reality!

• Because we hurt and need to banish the pain from our system. I've written some of my most meaningful words while my life has gone through the grinder!

• Because it's in our nature to think about how the world turns... life... death... the way people are. Actually, if I say we think about everything, I can't fail to cover it.

At the start of 2011, I read a beautiful biography about Roald Dahl, the children's author. The bio told that he wrote for children more than for adults because he understood them better... got on with them better. 

So maybe writing is all about understanding the world and getting on with it. Perhaps we write not because we understand the world, but because we're still trying to figure it out. 

It's possible we don't even want to understand it, don't want to get along with it. That's sometimes the joy of writing!

What would your reason(s) be?

'I just felt like... writing'

Ever seen Forrest Gump?

If you haven't, there's an inspiring scene where Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks) just gets up and starts running nonstop. Hair long and beard raggy, he runs nonstop from town to town to town. The people start to run with him just to see how his journey will end. 

Suddenly, he comes to a halt and just turns around to walk home. When asked what was the point of it all, he answers: 'I just felt like running.' Brilliant.

And that's how I'm feeling today. At odds with my own style and at a loss for a topic, after two weeks away from my blog and a few copywriting books later, I just felt like writing! 

Today I've freed my mind and recaptured my creative spark and spirit. Normal service will resume next week!

Let the good (writing) times roll once more.

What Did You Just Call Me?

'I will hate you till the day I die and wish you nothing but ill will in every career move you make. I will be watching with interest and schadenfreude.'

This gloriously hateful line was allegedly posted online by Alain de Botton after a scathing review of his latest book at the time The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work.

Coming from such a serene thinker, t'is most unusual. Normally, Big Al shows us how philosophy can help us deal with this kind of thing ... illustrates how it can make our lives easier. That's why his work is so refreshing - and why the comment above is so surprising. 

But if you were a writer and had been on the end of a jolly rotten review, how would you have dealt with it?

Going back, there used to be a time when harsh words hurt me. Now I just take them on the chin instead. Picture Robocop marching down a street, all the bullets richocheting off his armour, ping after ping. I try to be like that.

With plasters, bandages and Surgical Spirit all at the ready, I willfully accept any criticism of this blog. Be as cutting or as gentle as you like. Then I can get my trusty writer's toolbox out afterwards and give it a damned good tweaking for the better!

I reckon writers should take a leaf out of my book, or page out of my website as it were, and use negative feedback to make them stronger.

They say the truth hurts.

Yet at the same time, they also say it sets you free.

I know which one I prefer!

Born to Write?

27/08/2008

Some people, when they put pen to paper or sit themselves down at the keyboard, convey the impression that a high register and complex vocabulary make for good writing. Almost certainly you can't write 'good' and 'bad' for every single negative and positive. That much is true.

But personally, I've always felt that good writing was simple but colourful, words with a voice, elegant phrases. Never should the choice of adjective, noun or expression alienate the reader. I can't tell you the number of times I've put down a book, feeling I was somehow beneath the writer, and too stupid to be reading the book in question in the first place. Am I or is it just poor writing?

In his book Like the Flowing River, the international best-selling author and one of the giants of reflexive literature, Paolo Coelho, recalls his investigation at the age of 15 into what being a writer is. His young mind of then drew, amongst other things, these conclusions: 

• that writers have interests in topics no one else does
• that all writers are fans of James Joyce's Ulysseys
• that all writers understand concepts that would scare others
• that what they're reading at the moment is a book no one else has heard of
• that writers express themselves in a complicated fashion
• that writers impress women at dinners by stating their profession, then following it up by writing a poem on a napkin, which always works for them.

So I find myself now asking if writing was something I was meant to do or not. In terms of my interests, I'm a fairly regular guy: keep fit, literature, music and sport. And I've read Dubliners, but not Ulysseys, and would by no means consider myself a fan. As for concepts that would scare others, that's not my style: if it's too complex for me, I don't absorb it and I certainly don't discuss it with others! Complicated expression - I'd like to think I get to the point. Impressing women by writing a poem on a napkin; well, the romantic in me once wrote an invitation to dinner with me in my finest Italian to a girl with Italian blood. The outcome? - a request to explain what the invitation itself said, followed by a swift but polite and excruciating rejection. You were saying, Mr Coelho?

I look back on that last incident and remember it with a smile! Maybe that idealism, that romanticism suggests a potential of sorts. My own style is based on my own theory, but is it the right one? Does it have colour? Does it have a voice? And is it one you want to keep on hearing? Or just background music in print?

How I need to know.