Comments for Magneto writing training

Comment on Distractions make you dumb by magnetoblog

magnetoblog — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:14:08 +0000

Hi Jenni,

You can read more about the study here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2005/apr/22/money.workandcareers

Cheers,

Paul

Comment on Is your writing “Old Style” or “New Skool”? by Jenni Beattie

Jenni Beattie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:04:53 +0000

Great article and a timely one.

There certainly is a new way of writing these days -the extreme would be Twitter – the microblogging tool (writing in 140 characters or less certainly hones your skills!).

Cheers
Jenni Beattie
http://www.digitaldemocracy.com.au

Comment on Distractions make you dumb by Jenni Beattie

Jenni Beattie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:58:33 +0000

I found this a particularly interesting study as online social networks such as Twitter and Facebook gather speed within Australia. These are naturally interruptive media by nature.

Is there a url link to the study? I would be very interested in reading more.

Cheers
Jenni Beattie
Director
http://www.digitaldemocracy.com.au

Comment on Using Google to write right by Jenni Beattie

Jenni Beattie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:53:55 +0000

Interesting post.
Writing for Google re SEO you may in fact have to break the rules sometimes to gain the eyeballs of your readers. For examples many companies spell common mispellings incorrectly as they know they will garner the eyeballs that way. Ensuring you get the visibility you need with the right content is paramount.

Jenni Beattie
Director
http://www.digitaldemocracy.com.au

Comment on Using Google to write right by magnetoblog

magnetoblog — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:21:06 +0000

I think we actually agree, Sadhbh. I said the former (without the apostrophe) was correct, not the latter.

As to whether it’s “five nights’ accommodation,” (apostrophe after the “s”) I get the same result (1420) for both – with and without the apostrophe. As I said, this is a quick ‘n’ DIRTY technique, and you should only let it guide you if the Google results are wildly different.

In that case, I’d go to an official source, like the Australian Government Publishing Service’s latest Style Manual, which says to leave the apostrophe off. They’re not infallible either, of course, but these things are a matter of “convention” anyway, so you could be pretty confident following their advice.

By the way, your point about “Mr. Rudd” vs. “Mr Rudd” is good. At school and uni I learned that if an abbreviation ended in the same letter that the word it was abbreviating ended in, you didn’t need a period. So “Mister” could be “Mr”, but “Professor” should be “Prof.” (with a period). Anyone disagree?

Comment on Using Google to write right by Sadhbh

Sadhbh — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:26:51 +0000

I’m going to have to be pedantic here. Five night’s accommodation was just plain wrong as you placed a singular construction with a multiple noun. While there is a personal usage bias and the evolution of language means that solutions we use grammatically can look “quaint” twenty years on (Mr. Rudd vs Mr Rudd, for example”) but you get about 1,340 for “five nights’ accommodation” which is actually what I would consider correct.
Money and time take apostrophes in some cases, so you need to decide whether they possess the object in question or not. Five night’s was wrong, regardless. Whether five nights’ could be correct is still being debated, from what I can see.

Comment on Procrastinator Terminator (don’t read this later) by Write or Die « Magneto writing training

Write or Die « Magneto writing training — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 01:49:44 +0000

[...] (If procrastination’s a problem for you, see also Procrastinator Terminator.) [...]

Comment on One rule to rule them all by Wendy Buckingham

Wendy Buckingham — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:31:08 +0000

Thanks Paul. I guess it’s horses for courses.

Comment on One rule to rule them all by magnetoblog

magnetoblog — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:52:28 +0000

Thanks Wendy. I hope some of the other comments from Glenn and I have shed light on your question.

Your point about being impatient with sales pages that don’t let you choose what to read (the main points, the story, history, etc) is a good one. Some news stories are actually written in a way that can be useful here. It’s called “hourglass” structure (visualise an inverted triangle on top of a triangle), and is explained in more detail here.

They start in inverted-pyramid fashion, giving the big news first (e.g. “The first cow has made it into space…[second most important point]; [third most important point]“), then flip into story telling (“Daisy Butterbell was thrilled. ‘I’ve always wanted to jump over the Moon,’ she said…etc”).

As I said in a previous comment, it’s all about reader reactions. If you suspect your business reader may be annoyed by you launching into a story because they have unanswered questions (e.g. what’s this about? How much is it? Is it relevant to me?), then answer those up front, and then follow with a story about someone like them who had similar problems, in the hope that they’ll identify with them.

Comment on One rule to rule them all by magnetoblog

magnetoblog — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:24:01 +0000

That’s a great point, Glenn. It does depend on your audience. It depends on how much they know already (so your point about educating is spot on), and it especially depends on reader reactions. If you give them the big news first, what will their reaction be – satisfaction, or no interest? If no interest, consider story telling/selling.

Inverted pyramid is the “default” mode I encourage our students to apply – probably to about 90% of their normal, everyday business writing.

But persuasive writing is a different animal. As you say, the “whole persuasion slippery slide.” Persuasive writing is a process, and a story can be used as part of that process, to get attention, build interest and desire, encourage readers to identify with your story’s protagonist, etc.