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‘Crime….”!”–and- —Punctuation: ; , . (?).’
‘Aaah, the crimes we commit against punctuation,’ sighed a student, after we concluded the punctuation segment of my Copy Editing class at the Centre for Adult Education in Melbourne this week. This...
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Fire your copywriter and hire a journalist instead
Lauren Quaintance, Head of Content, Storyation How do you turn typical marketese-speak like this: Be inspired to travel on a journey with APT to a destination that will excite, thrill and leave you...
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Why a great writer is a keen listener.
‘Do you know that our soul is composed of harmony.’ Leonardo da Vinci, Notebooks (1451-1519) Can you hear the rhythmic resolutions in all your sentences (like the beats in a song)? Can you hear the...
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The Mojo of Three
What gives the rhythm of three such magic, charm, allure or in a word, mojo*? Composing words and ideas in a group of three adds rhythm and cadence to the sound of the words and emotion to the carry...
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Let’s wordeate (verb: to create brand new words)
Are you al desko (overworked)? Perhaps you’re hangry (bad-tempered as a result of hunger). Or could it be that you’re still thinking about that rando you met the other night (Someone so unknown to...
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About the Second Most Important Page You’ll Ever Write.
The About page of any site would have to be the second most visited page after the landing page (labelled as Home in the menu). And it should go without saying that you need to spend some serious...
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Visualise This: You’re the Art Director.
Copywriter/Art Director: Nic Di Tempora. Illustrator: Chris Grosz. The flip side of copywriting is art direction. Pictures and words (art and copy) go hand-in-hand. Both the copywriter and the art...
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Open Letter to the Next Generation of Artists by Wayne Shorter & Herbie Hancock
Even though I work in the realm of creativity, one thing I know for sure is that we are all creative. Every job we do can be a creative act — from writing an email to setting the table. In short,...
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Six Genres of Writing: How and When to Use Them [Part 1]
The four purposes of writing are to inform, instruct, persuade, entertain or a combination of these. But how do we make sure that our purpose is properly executed in words? This is where style comes...
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The Six Genres of Writing: How and When to Use Them [Part 2]
To inform. To instruct. To persuade. To entertain. These are the four purposes of writing. But how do we make sure that our purpose is effectively executed in words? It’s all a matter of style,...
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Part 1: The First 5 Reasons Why You’re Not Great at Copywriting.
Empathy is all in this job. And relationship is the love. As we all know, quality relationships are made of mutual respect, rapport and trust to keep it tight and true. In most circumstances, it...
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Part 2: The Next 2 Reasons Why You’re Not Great at Copywriting.
Welcome back to what’s turning out to be a magnum opus of a blog post. I’ve decided to break it down too two reasons at a time so as not to overload you with TMI. It’s also a good idea to just focus...
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Part 3: The Last 3 Reasons Why You’re Not Great at Copywriting.
Welcome back to the third and final series of what not to do in copywriting. Properly practiced copywriting requires focus, intention and empathy — three things easily overlooked when the mind is...
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The F Shape Pattern and How Not to Get F’ed.
Having recently read a number of posts researching the latest insights into the notorious F Shape pattern (based on Jakob Nielsen’s Eye-Tracking Studies in 2006), I have come to the realization that...
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Does your story have a strong back bone?
Waffle. Ramble. Repetition. Pointlessness. These are clear signs that your narrative spine is out of balance, causing pain, stiffness, floundering, disorientation and even nausea in your body copy....
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Copywriting toward a more meaningful life.
A month doesn’t go by without me seeing my therapist. I need regular relief from the mind-sapping double whammy of the digital and material worlds. My nature demands that I stop the world for a few...
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The Idea Whisperer: An Interview with xxMegg @ Bennetts Jazz Club.
Just like love, the idea of Christmas has inspired many a song rejoicing in it, wishing upon it, rockin’ to it, and making merry about it. The fact that there are over a million Christmas songs tells...
View ArticleTONE IS ATTITUDE — ATTITUDE IS TONE.
‘What is tone?’ Maybe it’s in the air this year but a lot of people have been asking me this question. The short answer is attitude. This is a particular view or feeling you show on a subject....
View ArticleRHETORICAL DEVICES: THE WRiTER’S HERBS AND SPICES
They breathe life into the dead facts, they give flavor to bland content, they make melodious the monotonous, they make memorable the eminently forgettable. In short, rhetorical (literary) devices can...
View ArticleCopywriting Strategies Toward a Strong Conclusion
When it comes to copywriting strong conclusions, my go-to inspiration is the last line of the last song of the last album by The Beatles: “And […] The post Copywriting Strategies Toward a Strong...
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