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Ever read something and wonder, "What is this writer trying to say?" Often, the problem is a lack of structure. Just as a house needs a solid foundation, strong supporting walls and a sturdy roof, a piece of writing needs a robust and clearly identified structure.
Any piece of writing that reaches beyond the basic communication goal of an e-mail or blog post should be fashioned from three primary structural elements: introduction, body and conclusion. Put another way, you can build a worthy piece of writing by following these three steps:
1. Tell the readers what you're going to tell them.
2. Tell it.
3. Tell them what you just told them.
Writers often fail in their introduction to clearly tell readers what it is they're going to tell them. Too many writers tiptoe into a piece, failing to get to the point of why they're writing and why the audience should read it. Before long the reader is confused or frustrated and is unlikely to keep reading. Depending on the communication, you must either get to the point immediately (a business letter is a good example) or within the first two to three paragraphs (as might be the case if you're writing an article for a corporation's e-newsletter).
Once you've stated the purpose of the piece, then share the information that's at the heart of it. Are you making an argument, sharing details, offering a proposal, presenting evidence? This is the "tell it" part I referred to above. Make sure you arrange your information in a logical order.
Next, write a conclusion that reviews and sums up what you've just written. This is where you tell the readers what you've just told them. A forceful conclusion briefly reviews and reinforces the information you wanted to share. Try to construct a memorable ending. If you've kept the reader's attention until the end, you can make a lasting impression by finishing strongly.
Instances abound in writing that involve confusion between the use of various pairs of words. Often, the confusion exists because the two words in a pair sound alike. But not always. Take the example of since and because.
These two are often used interchangeably although they sound nothing alike and each has a different meaning. Since should be used only when were referring to a specific time or a period of time as in, "I haven't eaten since 6 a.m." or, "The weather's been lousy since yesterday."
Because provides a reason or refers to a cause: "Because you were late, we've missed the start of the show" or, to use because and since properly in a single sentence, "I'm hungry because I haven't eaten since 6 a.m."
Usually the offending usage occurs when writers swap since for because: "Since you were late, we've missed the start of the show." That's wrong.
How did this confusion come about? Because seems to be one of those words that have a murky, though undeserved, reputation, often as the result of something people vaguely remember from junior-high English class. Many teachers once scolded their charges for using because to start a sentence, claiming it was a no-no. That simple but incorrect rule stuck, and now you have many people using since when they should be using because.
Scrap that idea! There's nothing wrong with using because to start a sentence, as skillfully explained by Joanne Feierman in the "Five Lies Your English Teacher Told You" section of her book on grammar and usage.
I hope this clears things up. Because I believe I've fully covered this topic, I'll close now and have lunch. I haven't eaten since 6 a.m.
If you want some good tips on dealing with the media, check out the Reporters and Editors blog at Public Relations Ideas. There are some sound suggestions there.
I wish I could say the same for other public realations ideas I see online. Though I'm in PR myself now, I previously worked as reporter for a large daily newspaper for 20 years and have a journalists' natural wariness of PR. I've always believed that good PR practitioners are invaluable aids to journalists. But, frankly, there are a lot of them who don't understand the news business and see reporters as nothing more than troublesome but necessary conduits to getting their clients some ink.
That attitude often is evident in online advice by PR people on how to grab reporters' and editors' attention. Many of the tips are good, but there are also loads of weak promotional gimmicks being suggested that reporters will quickly see for what they are. Nothing irks a reporter more than having a PR person pitch a "story idea" that's no more than a thinly veiled ruse aimed at getting a news outlet to give a client some free advertising. Journalists don't like being used any more than anyone else does and asking them to bite on a cheap PR stunt is the same as calling and saying, "Look, I think you're so stupid that you'll go for this ..." Make a pitch like that and your credibility with that journalist will instantly plummet.
One online PR pundit recently suggested having a magician perform at a bank opening. Please. That's one step up from a ribbon-cutting or check presentation, but not much of an improvement. Small dailies and weeklies might cover this fluff, but it's rare that you'll get a bigger outlet to pick it up unless maybe it's a slooow news day.
If you want reporters to publicize your event or do a story on your business or organization, you need to tie your pitch for coverage to something newsworthy. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't stage an event with the hope of getting news coverage. Just try to put on something of real interest like a 5K intended to benefit a good cause. One of my clients recently created a program in which construction contractors donated time and materials to rehab the homes of disabled veterans wounded since 9/11. That worthy effort netted lots of coverage.
If you're stumped for an idea on what to stage, try thinking about something that will help others or the community as a whole. Then write a well-crafted news release and make your pitch. Even if a reporter or editor doesn't go for it, they'll at least appreciate that you didn't try to outwit them with a flimsy promotional ploy.
In my last post, I offered a Sherlockian tip on how to polish your writing by paring out the clutter that often creeps in. Below are other tips on smoothing the rough edges of your text before it's sent on its way.
Once you have gone through a few rewrites and you've applied the 10 Percent Solution (see my last post), walk away from the piece for an hour at least. If you have time, shelf it for a day or two. Then try any or of these proofing and polishing techniques:
-- Read through your copy backward. Doing so breaks up the tendency of your brain (as the writer) to miss typos, poor sentence constructions and a gaggle of other problems.
-- Read it out loud with feeling, as though you were presenting it in a packed auditorium. This is another way of catching flaws, particularly awkward phrasing and repetition.
-- Have someone read it out loud to you. Listen for where they stumble on your words. Watch to see if they're scrunching up their brow at something that puzzles them or doesn't sound right. That should alert you to trouble spots.
-- Most of us write on a computer. Try printing a hard copy of what you've written and scrutinize it with all the care of a fortune-teller peering at tea leaves. Sometimes just looking at something you've written through a different medium helps you catch mistakes.
-- As a corollary to the tip above, temporarily format your piece in a huge point size, like 24 or even bigger. This large-print version breaks up sentences more and forces your eye to move differently over the piece, often exposing blemishes.
OK, now I'm going to sound like your junior-high English teacher for a moment, but somebody has to do it: Well-crafted writing is all about revision. If you're in the habit of knocking something out and shipping it with barely a read-through, please stop. The rough draft is just that – "rough." Rare is the writer who gets it perfect the first time. Think of it this way: Proper polishing prevents piss-poor prose. Class adjourned.
Everyone's heard of Sherlock Holmes, but only serious fans are aware of a nasty addiction he had – cocaine. When bored, the fictional detective sometimes plunged a syringe in his forearm and shot himself up with a "7 percent solution" of cocaine.
So, what does Holmes' illicit habit have to do with good writing? A few years ago columnist Chip Scanlan, who writes for the journalism Web site Poynter.org., recommended a writing-revision method inspired by Holmesian lore. It's known as the "10 Percent Solution." Scanlan noted that Stephen King actually coined the term for this effective method of polishing a letter, memo, article or any other piece of writing. Whatever the origin, it's a great idea, and here's how it works:
Once you have a piece in fairly good shape -- meaning it's structured the way you want, includes all the detail you want and you've revised it at least once – then count how many words its contains (most word processing software has a handy word-count function built in). Let's say your word count is 1,500. Then, applying the 10 Percent Solution, you would take 10 percent of your count, 150 words, and reduce your copy by that much, paring the 1,500-word piece to 1,350 words. Here's an important concept to remember, though. Don't trim by trashing important information or other structural elements. Do so by cutting out the clutter: cliches, intensifiers like "very" and "really," awkward sentences and the like.
Properly administered, the 10 Percent Solution will help you produce more readable, concise copy. Like Holmes' fondness for cocaine, this method of revision works so well it could even become addictive.
Kenneth W. Davis' excellent writing blog, Manage Your Writing, recently referred to a quote by 17th-century philosopher Blaise Pascal: "I have made this [letter] longer, because I have not had the time to make it shorter."
Pascal's quill pen certainly scratched out a truism. Regarding Pascal's observation, Davis cogently notes that "economy in writing takes time. But it's time well spent."
I agree with both writers. In writing, more is rarely better. Whenever you can, take the time to polish and pare your early drafts. The best writing starts with a thicket of thoughts, ideas and insights that is then pruned into the stuff of pure inspiration. Boil your writing down into language that communicates with the reader with all the energy and immediacy of a lightning bolt. Learn to review your work and chop out the clutter, the cliches and the awkward constructions. Trash intensifiers like "very" and "really." Repetitious thoughts, words and phrases are another set of traps that lengthen a piece of writing and string cobwebs in the reader's mind. As Thoreau said, "simplify."
Don't worry that all this cutting and simplifying will make you sound like a first grader. It won't. Instead, your writing will be lean and muscular. Every word will count, and that's what you want.
Want to get your business or organization talked about in the press or online? Would you like to land a spot on the nightly news? Then you need to recognize your "story." What is it about your enterprise that people will find interesting?
Many companies and organizations have great stories but they fail to recognize them. Instead, they send out news-less news releases cluttered with promotional fluff and wonder why they can't get any press – a subject I discussed in my last post.
Recognizing your particular story isn't always easy. You need to think like a reporter. News folks are always looking for something new, unusual or interesting. They want stories about people and how they've overcome challenges. They want tales that will make for captivating photos or video. A good way to get attuned to those features is to read news and to watch TV news programs, then scrutinize your own organization or business. It's rare that there's not a story buried there somewhere.
Maybe your enterprise was founded by a couple of blue-collar, hands-on guys who are now millionaires. The public loves those rags-to-riches yarns. Does your company manufacture an unusual product, or has someone found a new way to use what you make? Could be a story there, too. Perhaps you've instituted a program that trains underprivileged youths in your trade. That could earn you some ink as well.
There are countless situations that could qualify as news. Focus on "story" and you may find some hidden gems in your own enterprise that the public would like to know about. Then it's time to write that news release. Just don't open with "Once upon a time. ..."
During a recent session of my media writing class, I asked the group to name the most important aspect of a news release. I received lots of good answers: accuracy, conciseness, readability, etc. But I didn't get the response I was looking for from my students, many of whom are prospective public relations practitioners.The most important element of a news release is that it contains news. That may sound simplistic, but an astounding number of news releases don't convey news. They're ads or self-serving bits of promotion that have been tarted up to look like news releases. They provide details on sales campaigns, pricing plans, a change in a product line or some other bit of information that is rarely of any interest to news outlets.You won't trick many editors or news directors into running a free ad for you on their news pages or in their newscasts. In fact, if you send out enough news-less news releases to the same media outlets, you'll soon lose your credibility with them.As someone who spent more than two decades in the news business and who has looked at thousands of news releases, I can tell you that promotional fluff will be spotted in seconds and instantly pitched into the trash or erased from an e-mail inbox.A book could be written on writing news releases. But if you start from the standpoint of issuing them only when you have actual news to convey and then putting that information at the very beginning of the release, you'll have licked the biggest obstacle to getting a placement.So, what's news? Generally speaking it's any event or occurrence that could be described as new, unusual or of interest to a fairly broad audience of news readers or listeners. Your new pricing plan or branding effort probably isn't news. Your decision to hire a new CEO, add employees or bricks and mortar probably is. To help you establish a better sense of what constitutes news, routinely read the publications and Web sites where you'd like your news to appear. You'll soon get the idea of what makes it on the page and what doesn't.
