Business Copywriter

Will politicians cut the jargon?

With a general election on the horizon, will politicians finally get the message that clarity trumps jargon every time?

Last year, the Local Government Association (LGA) issued a list of the 100 most over-used buzzwords, including such gems as “step change”, “holistic” “sustainable” and “synergies”, and asked local councils to stop using them.

LGA chairman Sir Simon Milton said that if councils did not explain things in proper English, “local people will fail to understand its relevance to them or why they should to turn out and vote. Unless information is given to people to explain why their council matters, then local democracy will be threatened with extinction.”

Extinction may be pushing it, but certainly, talking to people in clear, plain English instead of hiding behind buzzwords, jargon and bluster might help retain people’s interest, rather than turning them off politics at both the national and local level.

Posted by: Chris on Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Copywriting Agency - Is it 'c' or 's'?

Is it ‘c’ or ’s’?

English is renowned for its quirky, often logic-defying spelling rules. Gives it character, a mark of our mongrel heritage, we’re told. It doesn’t make it any easier to write, though.

One common area of confusion is when seemingly the same word has two spelling variations – one with a ‘c’, and one with an ’s’. Words like practice and practise, or licence and license.

The simple answer is that you should use the ’s’ version if it’s a verb, or the ‘c’ version if it’s a noun.

So verb: the solicitor plans to practise law in the City.And noun: He hopes to build up a strong commercial property practice.

Or verb: the magistrates refused to license any more bars on the high street.And noun: So the bar owner did not receive his new licence.

One way to remember is to think of advise and advice. Because these two are pronounced differently (the former with a ‘z’ sound, the latter a soft ‘c’ like in ice), they’re not confused as often. But they do follow he same rule – the verb form uses an ’s’…to advise your colleague…while the noun takes a ‘c’…it was useful advice.

So, if you’re using the word as a verb, like to advise, to practise or to license, it’s spelt with an ’s’. If you’re using it as a noun, like my licence, a practice, or good advice, it’s a ‘c’.

Archived in the category: Write words, Writing tips

Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Sunday, July 12, 2009 0 Comments

The meaning of the word Pettifogger

Pettifogger – someone who argues over something petty or trivial, or who is excessively concerned with unimportant detail.

What a lovely word.

Example:

‘Stop being such a terrible pettifogger and focus on the main points of the case!’

There’s a few people not a million miles away that this would apply to…

Archived in the category: Word of the month, Write words

Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Monday, July 20, 2009 0 Comments

Business Copywriter - Newsletter July 2009

WriteWords newsletter

There’s been a few changes since the last issue of Write Words. We’ve moved offices (still in Manchester, just a nicer part), and we’ve had a personnel change (goodbye Sally hello Chris . We’ve also decided to change the frequency of Write Words to once every two months, to lighten the load on your Inbox.

On the client side, plenty of exciting new projects to get stuck into. We’ve been commissioned to plan and write the content for a new departmental website at the University of London, we won a tender to plan, write and edit a quarterly magazine for the Northwest Regional Development Agency, we’re working with Celerant Consulting on writing some sector brochures, and a we’re doing a monthly newsletter for Career Management Consultants.

That’s on top of the regular stuff from the likes of KPMG, Britannia and Savills, plus a whole host of smaller (but no less important projects), so plenty to keep us busy!

Archived in the category: General musings, Write words
Posted by: Gareth Chadwick

Business Copywriter - Write it down!

Write it down!

As well as spending our days writing about the delights of the aerospace sector, corporate law or enticing graduates to sign their lives away, some of us at Wordsworks Towers like to pen a bit of fiction too.The problem is, ideas come at you at all times of the day and night. Often you get the most fantastic ideas when you are in the most random places. Great ideas, even, that are then lost in to the oblivion that is your mind.

The other night, I had a fantastic dream and woke up reeling from it. It was so fantastic I knew it might lead to some impressive story writing project yet to be defined. Alas,I didn’t write it down and now it’s gone! Never to return again.

What I learnt from this maddening experience is that you really should write your ideas down. Creative or not it really is no matter. Your brain only has so much temporary information it can store at any one time and given that working life can be hectic there’s absolutely no chance of us remembering everything we want to.

So in the name of great ideas that are wasted on brains that act like a sieve, buy yourself a notebook or get using your notes on your mobile and make sure that wherever you are, whatever you are doing, that if a good idea for a story, feature or news item brightens up your imagination you have no excuse for letting it slip away.

June word of month

Archived in the category: Word of the month

Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Saturday, June 6, 2009 - 0 Comments

How about this:

Humdudgeon - An imaginary illness

The urban dictionary actually gives a few definitions.

1) A person down on his/her luck

2) A grumpy simpleton

3) Someone who sits in the corner of parties angrily eyeing guests, or pervertedly leering at the young female guests

4) Someone who sits in the corner at a party POKING other guests as they walk by…usually with a drink in their hands.

‘Oh my goodness, what a humdudgeon you’ve met there.’

‘That hundudgeon really rubs me up the wrong way.’

Archived in the category: General musings, Write words

Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Sunday, June 21, 2009 - 0 Comments

Copy Writing Agency - The Meaning of Deipnosophist

Words Works - The Meaning of Deipnosophist

How about this:

Deipnosophist (dee-ip-noso-fist) - one who excels at conversations at the dinner table.

Two things that we all love: eating and talking. What could be better?

This comes from two Greek words: deipnon, the chief meal or dinner, and sophistes a clever or wise man. It does in fact originate from a 15-volume work entitled Deipnosophistai, written by the Greek Athenaeus after AD 228, about a group of learned men talking about food at a banquet. But we all knew that didn’t we?

Nowadays it’s probably best used to refer to the more trivial idea of pleasant chit-chat to pass the time while having tea.

“Oh Charles, you simply must come for dinner with my Uncle Fritz. He is an amazing deipnosophist.”

Archived in the category: General musings, Word of the month, Write words
Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Friday, May 15, 2009

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Copy Writing Agency - Simple Like Da Vinci

Simple Like Da Vinci

When he wasn’t busy painting masterpieces or inventing helicopters, all-round-Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci found was one of the leading thinkers of his day.

He was a simple man though, Da Vinci. The illegitimate son of a country girl and a rural notary, he regarded simplicity as the foundation of his genius. His motto was: “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Although writing wasn’t one his greatest strengths, we can learn a lot from the bearded Florentine.

Simplicity is at the core of great copywriting. The sentences that work best are the ones that use simple, clear, straightforward language and structure. A sentence doesn’t get better the more words you stuff into it. On the contrary, it almost invariably gets worse.

Many people fall in to the trap of over-writing, trying to sound more impressive or to demonstrate their knowledge by using unnecessary words or flowery phrases.

But the most effective corporate writers make their point quickly and clearly. They use precise words and simple phrasing.

Don’t write:
“The company does not intend to remove the automatic bollards, but it is necessary to carry out repairs to the bollards for the purpose of keeping them operating effectively.”

Keep it clear and simple:
“The company does not intend to remove the automatic bollards, but it must repair them to keep them working properly.”

Or how about:
“Overestimating on one type of the relevant material could have a detrimental impact on cost-effectiveness for the client.”

Instead of:
“Overestimating one type of material could cost the clients more.”

So next time you’re tempted to throw in a few ‘corporate’ sounding phrases or flowery language to sound more sophisticated, just remember the words of our old friend Leonardo da Vinci. If simplicity was good enough for him, it’s darn tootin’ good enough for me.

Simple Like Da Vinci
Archived in the category: Write words, Writing tips
Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Monday, February 25, 2008 - 0 Comments

Six Words to Remember

Six words to remember

You may have heard the tale of how, in the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway bet ten dollars that he could write a complete story in just six words. He wrote: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.” He won the bet and often referred to the story as his best work ever.

There are now dozens of websites devoted to six-word stories (just try Googling it). One of the best, recently featured on Radio 4, is from US online magazine Smith, which tweaked the rules by asking its readers to sum up their own lives in just six words.

The results are surprisingly poignant; often funny (”No more kisses, whisker burn lingers.”), sometimes sad (”Two sons. One died; now none.”), sometimes regretful (”Wishing I’d jumped sooner, missed mark.”), even a little scary (”He seemed ok at the time”). You should try it; we did.

As business copywriters, we’re always banging on about conciseness and short sentences. And while we don’t expect you to turn your firm’s client newsletters, your website or your marketing material into heart-wrenching six-word stories (wouldn’t that be fun, though!), it’s a reminder of just how emotional and powerful words can be, even just six of the little blighters.

So think of that, next time you’re trying to explain to your boss why your ten word sentence is better than his 30-word jargon fest.

Archived in the category: General musings
Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Thursday, February 28, 2008 - 1 Comment

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