The Hindu Business Line : Writing is like fishing

Every word and sentence you write must mean something to your reader, advises Andy Maslen in Write to Sell: The Ultimate Guide to Great Copywriting ( www.ravemedia.in ). He compares writing to fishing. “Keep the line taut and you can bring it safely to the net. Let the line go slack — through sloppy writing, or just plain boring writing — and off it goes downstream…”

Your opening sentence is your main chance to hook readers for the journey, says Maslen. “Address them directly, start talking about them and their concerns, needs and wants, and you have their undivided attention.”

He urges the wannabe writer to imagine that the readers are sitting opposite. “Talk to them. Try to gauge their reaction to each new sentence. Have you just said something interesting? Or are they staring out of the window, or looking at a newspaper?”

Brevity is another commandment, in the chapter on ‘what works’. Maslen bemoans that we all have a tendency, at times, to keep writing when we should stop. “Perhaps we feel we are on a roll and don’t want to interrupt the creative flow. Maybe we just CAN’T stop.” A common myth, he says, is to think that important subjects call for long-windedness. “For example, big projects call for big proposals. Yet all too often their authors are forced to resort to padding.” Brevity is the sister of talent, he says, quoting Anton Chekhov. “If you have the talent to be a good writer, you must pair it with a ruthless desire to cut your copy to the bone.”

A chapter devoted to ‘what doesn’t work’ begins with ‘showy writing’ as the foremost taboo.

“The one thing we don’t want our reader to know is what good writers we are (although, paradoxically, you have to be a very good writer in the first place to avoid this trap).”

Think of your writing as a window through which your reader sees the view on the other side of the glass, exhorts Maslen. “We want them looking at the view, not the window.” Jargon is another trap to avoid. “Some of the worst culprits are management consultancies, accountancy firms and government departments.”

There is a distinction, however, between essential technical vocabulary and jargon, the author clarifies. “There is no substitute for ‘derivative’ if you are in the arbitrage business, but if you habitually refer to a spade as a soil excavation facilitator, you have some work to do.”

Imperative read before you begin to write!

D. MURALI

BookPeek.blogspot.com

More Stories on : Books | Linguistics | Write Right

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page