Be a Better Writer

Hey gang; it's time to do something fun :-)

For just a moment, think about the symbolism of caterpillars in various artfoms. Ponder the journey of a caterpillar and all it represents.

Now, put yourself inside the mind of the caterpillar, and tell us what and how you feel. Describe your world and your existence intensively. Put us, your readers, right there in your world with you.

And use this as an opportunity to actually say something meaningful.

You've got three sentences and three sentences ONLY in which to accomplish this, so make them count. Exercise that literary muscle; make good use of metaphor, simile, personification, metonymy, onomatopoeia, imagery, and any other literary devices you can fit in. Post it as a comment, and feel free to comment on the work of others. However, keep in mind that we are all different writers at different levels in our craft. Be constructive if you dare criticize :-)


Alright guys - give it your best shot,

I.C. Jackson

With the onset of Web 2.0 and the blogging revolution, conversational writing has become the predominant writing style on the internet. Communication is becoming more casual even on corporate websites and in business articles. Everyone wants to appear to be real.

Including you.

So how do you master this style? We know that writing in a conversational style can make the difference between connecting with your audience and looking like yet another internet peddler. However, we also know that improper implementation of this style can make you look like an uneducated idiot.

You've seen poorly written blogs, forum correspondence, and web copy that made you cringe a little bit. Throw in some inappropriate vernacular, and you've got the online equivalent to your drunk Uncle Larry who shows up at every family event to show the teenagers that he can be hip, too...and he's NOT. He looks like a lame old guy pretending not to be, and in kind, your writing can make you look like a lame old internet marketer trying to pretend to be the reader's cool friend who just happens to have some recommendations on what they ought to do with their money.

That's actually not as cool as it sounds...

So, here are five simple tips to mastering conversational copywriting and sounding like an information guru instead of a snake oil salesman:

1) Tell true stories. Conversational writing is founded upon the concept of storytelling. When you discuss the hottest new widget with your friends or give a close acquaintance a bit of advice, there is usually some personal account involved. People love to talk about themselves, so even when they are helping others, they end up talking about their own experiences. If the person possesses any valuable insight or information, their story can be clearly and appropriately connected to the original problem or question, thereby making it effective. Tell stories that are from the heart and interesting to listen to, but make sure that they are crafted in such a way that the reader gains a clearer understanding of the subject at hand because of your story.

2) Use literary device. Apply sound to sense and give your writing a more artistic flair by utilizing some simple literary devices like personification, metaphor, simile, consonance, assonance, alliteration, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, etc. If you don't know what any of these terms mean, you'd better look them up - they are part of every good writer's arsenal. Literary device exists to make writing more colorful, whether it be formal or informal. Therefore it is paramount for writing in a conversational style it mimics speech, which is colorful by nature. Good conversationalists use colorful language, and therefore, conversational writing must do the same.

3) Break all the sentence structure rules. We all (should) know that you aren't supposed to write sentence fragments, and that you should never start and end sentences with prepositions, etcetera. Bologna. You HAVE to break these kinds of rules in order to write effectively in a conversational style. Why? Because real-conversations break these same rules! Breaking the sentence structure rules on a blog is not the same as breaking them in your phD dissertation. We are smart enough to know that you know the difference, and we are real enough to appreciate you not being a stuffed shirt when all we really want is a little friendly advice.

4) Write with genuine personality. Don't try to be something or someone you're not; accentuate who and what it is that you really are. For example, you may want to be a punchy political pundit, but if your personality is sweet and funny, you trying to mimic Rush Limbaugh will come across as disingenuous and laughable. Don't try to please everybody by adding a little of everything or by trying to sound like whoever is popular this week. People who do that in real life are awkward and repulsive...just like people who do it in their writing. Just be yourself - and ONLY yourself. It's genuine, and trust me, there are lots of people who think that your real personality and your actual voice are pretty cool.

5) PROOFREAD! Conversational style is not to be mistaken with ranting off the cuff. Don't just write something and then click "publish" to ensure that you keep it edgy and "real". When readers say that they want to read a 'real' writer, that realness is actually warmth and sincerity, not unpolished raving or musing. You will catch more than mistakes this way - you'll get to digest your work the way the reader does, and then be able to judge how conversational it really is...BEFORE the critics do.


If you take these tips to heart and put them into practice, you'll find yourself increasing your readership and appealing to an audience who is responsive to you. That's what makes writing effective - the reader's response.

So, start getting a greater response by writing like a real person with a real personality.


To your continued success,

I.C. Jackson

There are three little secrets that can greatly improve the flow of any piece and spice up any writer's style INSTANTLY.

It's that effective!

Yet, you'd never know that a writer was using these techniques because the effect is so subtle you enjoy it without noticing. I guarantee you that if you start using these three closely related literary devices, you'll find it will perk up your work and liven your style without taking away from your originality.

Okay, enough already; what's the secret?

Consonance, assonance, and alliteration.

That's right, the stuff your high school English teacher taught that you never heard about ever again. THAT consonance, assonance, and alliteration.

Let's do a quick review:

Consonance - correspondence or recurrence of sounds especially in words ; specifically : recurrence or repetition of consonants especially at the end of stressed syllables without the similar correspondence of vowels (as in the final sounds of “stroke” and “luck”).

Assonance - repetition of vowels without repetition of consonants (as in stony and holy) used as an alternative to rhyme in verse.

Alliteration - the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables (as wild and woolly, threatening throngs) —called also head rhyme initial rhyme.


Remember them now? Applying sound to sense in writing helps to give a composition life, even if it isn't a piece of creative writing. Sometimes we have to write about boring stuff, so what do you do to make it more bearable? Tell jokes? Use inappropriate vernacular or an unfamiliar tone?

Of course not! So, what do you do?

You turn to subtle literary devices like consonance, assonance, and alliteration to help brighten up your rainy writ. Just go back and read through this post again, looking out for the consonance, assonance, and alliteration.

Didn't notice that before, did you?

It's cool, and it works. Now leave a comment and get some practice in!


To your continued success,

I.C. Jackson

So, it's January 1st again, and most of us are making promises to ourselves and others that we probably won't keep. It's customary. So, of course, there are the New Year's Resolutions concerning our writing habits. Will we write more? Will we hone our skills? Will we challenge ourselves, become more controversial? What specific improvements will we make?

It all depends on the foundation we build upon.

So, I'm going to try something a little different this year: instead of resolving to achieve specific milestones in my writing, I pledge to build a more solid writing foundation. I am committing to reading more, writing for myself more often and not just for clients, and to use more literary device in both my practical and creative writing. My theory is that if I do those simple things, more complex developments will come as a result.


What do you think?