Written by a former Sydney Morning Herald editor with decades of experience across every field – from travel to technology – Dealing with Grumpy Editors explains what does and doesn’t work when it comes to pitching story ideas and press releases… Read More »Dealing with Grumpy Editors – the book you need to make your press releases sing
What I love about writing is that it exercises so many different parts of our brain. You need to know how to craft great sentences, you need to know exactly what you need to say – and then you need to… Read More »Top 6 writing tips for content marketing
Every sentence needs a subject and a verb – and the stronger your verb, the stronger your sentence. Instead of writing: I really do not like boiled asparagus. write: I loathe boiled asparagus. A single strong word is always better than… Read More »Boost your writing by using strong verbs
One of the most well-known writing sayings is show, don’t tell. The idea is to paint a picture in the reader’s head by using specifics. There’s a big difference, for example, between simply saying someone is upset and describing how… Read More »How to show, don’t tell by selling both the sizzle and the steak
I once knew an editor who refused to hire someone purely because he didn’t like their use of the serial comma – a punctuation mark so insidious, contentious and divisive that it even goes under several aliases (it’s also known… Read More »How to use the dreaded serial or Oxford comma
It might sound like the name of a strange sex cult, but the inverted pyramid is the most common way you can structure a story. Usually associated with hard news stories, it can also be used for press releases, web… Read More »How to write in the inverted pyramid style
David Ogilvy was one of the world’s best copywriters, and although his book Confessions of an Advertising Man is now over 50 years old, it’s still worth reading. Although a lot has changed since then, good writing will always remain… Read More »How to write great headlines (tips from David Ogilvy)
As a contradictory person, I used to be both annoyed and pleased as an editor when writers would send me copy that was far longer than I’d commissioned. I’d be annoyed because when an editor asks for a certain number… Read More »How to cut copy (and why it should bring you joy)
Writing in the active voice is key to making your copy sharper and easier to read. Yet while many people have heard about it, there’s a lot of confusion about what it means. Some think it’s about tone or style, others think… Read More »How to write in the active voice – and to know when to use the passive
Short sentences are easy to read. They grab our attention, increase the reading pace, and make it more likely that we’ll move from one sentence to the next. They’re also easier to understand. Research by the American Press Institute (API),… Read More »Why short sentences will improve your writing