02 Dec 09 Writing and Power of Metaphor

Metaphor is a powerful tool used by wise orator, astute politicians, seasoned writer, professional bloggers, etc., to persuade audience to a certain way of thinking. If you want to be successful in persuasive copy and/or content writing then you have to master the art of using proper metaphor.

Metaphor as described by Merriam Webster dictionary is:

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.

Read the following two sentences and tell me which one sounds more compelling to you:

“He was silent, very silent, and completely motionless.”

“He was as silent and stationary as the dead.”

Of course, the latter one. The former sentence didn’t have the punch required to make us realize how much the person was silent and how much immobile he was, but once we supply the metaphor of dead, everything becomes clear, as we know how silent and motionless a dead person can be.

Metaphor helps us inject emotion in the written words. It helps us make the passage of texts relatable for the reader. The metaphor makes the read feel what has been written. A proper use of metaphor transforms the text making it meaningful for the readers.

Caution

Metaphor is a cultural thing. A wrongly used metaphor will push the audience far, far away. Hence, you should be careful in using it in your writing, and understand the cultural background of the users before infusing a metaphor in your writing.

A metaphor that works well in India may or may not produce the same result in Brazil. Culture plays an important role in it. If you are in doubt, use neutral metaphor. Like the one I have used in above example. No matter where you go, what cultural background you have the dead will be silent and stationary. Similarly, sky in the moonless night will be dark, stuff out of refrigerator will be cold, mid summer’s afternoon will be unbearably hot, etc.

Do not walk the cultural line while using metaphor if you are not sure.

Tags: Analogy, Audience, Brazil Culture, Caution, Dead Person, Doubt, Emotion, Figure Of Speech, Likeness, Merriam Webster, Metaphor, Mid Summer, Moonless Night, Orator, Persuasive Copy, Politicians, Punch, Refrigerator, Sentences, Webster Dictionary

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09 Nov 09 The Process of Writing

Writing is an art. There is no denial about that. No one can contest this fact, but there is some pattern to it. There is a particular way in which we approach writing, and that gives writing a being-a-science feel. The idea part of the writing is creative, but the process of writing is scientific. In this article, we will see the scientific part of the writing, i.e., process of writing.

Stages of writing

The process of writing can be divided into three stages. These are:

Pre-writing
Writing
Editing and Proofreading

Let’s discuss each one of them in brief.

Pre-writing

Pre-writing is the phase in which we ideate about what we have to write. We prepare a structured layout of the piece we have to write. In this stage, we accomplish the following things:

We find the topic to write on.
We research the topic.
Read some articles on the topic.
We brainstorm and jot down in bullet points the things that should go in writing..
Prepare a layout of which point will go where. It is in the pre-writing stage that most of the writing happens.

Writing

This is the phase in which you give shape to the ideas generated in the pre-writing phase. In this phase, concentrate on the writing only, do not go for editing or anything like that. Write through the end without worrying about the errors in this phase.

Editing and proofreading

This is the phase in which we give final touch to our written piece. We make the changes if required, proofread it for grammatical, structure and punctuation errors. You can also shift sentences or paragraphs up and down to make the article more cohesive.

Any writing, no matter what you are writing, follows these steps. Some writer follow these steps intuitively, i.e., in their minds, while other have to use paper and pen to go through these.

Tags: Bullet Points, Creative Process, Creative Writing, Denial, Grammatical Structure, Jot, Paper And Pen, Paragraphs, Process Writing, Proofreading, Punctuation Errors, Research Topic, Science, Scientific Writing, Sentences, Shape, Writing Process

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07 Nov 09 Get Maximum Value out of your Marketing Writing

The marketing writing is different from any other form of writing in the sense that the former kind of writing requires people to take some kind of action, while general writing just aim at informing and persuading people. Thus, you need to make your writing clear, concise, and emphatic. You need to entice your customers into reading your stuff to the end, and to achieve this goal, you need to follow the following guidelines.

Use emphatic headlines

The goal of a headline is not to sell the product, but to push the audience to read further by generating interest in them. When writing a marketing copy or copy for print ads then write headline in such a way that audience get curious after reading this and decide to read further.

Use descriptive sub-heading

The purpose of the subheading is to explain the promise made by the headline and push the reader to read the body copy.

Write focused body copy

This is where you need to sell your stuff. Your body copy should fulfill the promises made by the headline and the sub-heading. Use a conversational tone, do not preach your target audience. They hate it like anything. Each word of the body copy should lead you to the next word, and the next word to the next word, and so on. You can achieve this only by using measured words.

Tips for writing body copy

Use short sentences.
Write the body copy using active voice.
Keep the writing jargon-free. No one likes to read technical details.
Express the benefits not the features.
One size doesn’t fit all, therefore, right body copy with the target audience in mind. The copy you will write for a doctor who is 26 years of age and an artist of the same age will be different. Keep this subtle difference in mind.
Talk, do not preach.
Tell the reader, how you can help him solve his problem.
Use direct sentences.

Add Call to action

The marketing copy will fetch no result, if there is no call to action included at critical juncture in the marketing copy. A call to action tells the user what is expected of him. What action you want from him. This is very, very important.

Conclusion

Marketing copy writing is as much a science as it is an art. You cannot achieve anything meaningful by just making the writing flowery. Always remember, you are not writing a birthday card, its marketing stuff that you are writing.

Tags: Active Voice, Aim, Audience In Mind, Conversational Tone, Critical Juncture, Doctor Who, Headlines, Jargon, Marketing, Maximum Value, Persuading People, Print Ads, Promises, Sell Stuff, Sentences, Size Doesn, Subheading, Subtle Difference, Target Audience, Technical Details

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02 Dec 09 Writing and Power of Metaphor

Caution

09 Nov 09 The Process of Writing

Stages of writing

Pre-writing

Writing

Editing and proofreading

07 Nov 09 Get Maximum Value out of your Marketing Writing

Use emphatic headlines

Use descriptive sub-heading

Write focused body copy

Add Call to action

Conclusion

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