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Even before Aristotle identified the seven rules of story in his Poetics (335 BC), audiences have enjoyed a ripping yarn. The best stories excite, feature great characters (sometimes flawed) and take us with them on a journey through life’s ups and downs. They linger...

I see my dentist about twice a year, routine stuff mostly... He’s an excitable chap, but in a good way. He loves his job, loves his tech, and will talk for hours about the latest goings-on in dental care. Now for most of the year, I’m about as interested in dental...

It’s so easy to say, but can be so difficult to do – write like you talk... No, not literally – imaginative spelling to approximate your accent sho’nuff won’t help you communicate better – but it’s much easier to read text that appears conversational. Trying to sound...

Sometimes long form copy works... Like extensive magazine features, in-depth reports or books. Things that readers buy into. But on the web, as a rule, readers haven’t invested anything, they haven’t paid. So they scan, they browse, they graze – and that means you...

I got a letter the other day – somebody trying to sell me something... Well, it happens. Sometimes it even works. But in this case the wannabe marketer sabotaged their sales attempt from the off. I might have been interested in what they were selling, but I never...

Writers can be a funny bunch... Many dream of being appreciated for their bons mots and insights, imagining that their ability to construct an argument or inspire an emotional reaction elevates them above the hoi polloi. Some writers fall in love with their clever...

Of course your product or service is the best there is... But ramping up the language to match your opinion of it won’t necessarily convince your target audience. Samsung might claim its Galaxy S4 smartphone is “one of the most amazing products to hit the market since...

I heard an interesting story the other day... Sir Isaac Newton (that’s not him in the picture, by the way), after the publication of his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy in 1687, was asked why he had written such an impenetrable book in dense, scholarly...

If you try to write for everyone, you’re likely to be wasting your time. Try shouting through a megaphone in the centre of town, you’ll probably get more ‘hits’. We’re surrounded by messages and we attune ourselves to them, zoning out what isn’t relevant – and bland,...