Archive For January 29, 2016
A key to success in writing, and reader or listener understanding, is always thinking in terms of creating a storytelling framework. Every story that we tell should have a beginning, middle, and end. Otherwise, we present snippets of information that may or may not contextually connect. The shortest story is the sentence. Good sentences have…
The television commercial dazzled us with the attributes of the SUV and proclaimed it as the “most awarded” vehicle in its class. The prominent headline on the front of the direct mail piece for the cruise line said it was the “most awarded.” As passengers step into the airplane in Atlanta they see a large…
One day the newspaper editor received copy from a young journalist that was filled with long and rambling run-on sentences. Exasperated, the editor typed a page filled with dots, printed it, walked over and handed it to the budding writer. “These are periods,” the editor said. “Use them. When you run out, come back and…
Mark Twain wrote “the difference between choosing the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Precision in words is one of the most important decisions a writer makes. Think, for example, of the images evoked in the listener or reader’s mind by the word “vehicle.” The…