The connection that any business craves with its customers starts with a story. A story like all good stories. One with a beginning, a middle, and while not an end, certainly a future. Your story needs to connect your audience with you - your characters, your setting, the arc of your narrative, the world you inhabit and to emotionally invest them enough to care what happens to you next. What that story is, and how we tell it, that is what I'm here for.
Or you could just do it yourself. No, really. Write it yourself.
A HANDY GUIDE TO WRITING
I've made a good living from writing, but I have never really worked out how. Not because I doubt my ability, but because I am amazed that you doubt yours.
If English isn't your first language, then it is understandable that you might lack the same eloquence or nuance that you have in your native tongue. But what excuse have you got? With fancy tools such as Grammarly, you can't even use poor spelling or the fear of being hunted down by the Grammar Police as an excuse. English is your language. You use it every day. So what's up?
Time, of course, is a valid reason. You have so many other things to do, and you need to delegate. However, the real reason most people don't write is fear, and what sort of chap would I be if I took advantage of that without first trying to help?
So here are my handy writing tips for doing it yourself.
1) Download Grammarly. The best spelling and grammar checker available. The free version does all the necessary things, but you are about to save yourself a fortune by not hiring me, so you can afford the premium version, which has lots of fancy features.
2) Plan what you want to say. You would have to brief me anyway, so just do it for yourself instead. Not sure how? See my Even Handier Than My Handy Guide To Writing, Handy Guide to Briefing (I really must work on a snappier title).
3) Start writing and when you get to the end of a sentence, ask yourself if that was the best sentence that you could have written. If yes, then move on and write the next. If no, then you know what you need to do. Keep doing this.
3) Start writing and when you get to the end of a sentence, ask yourself if that was the best sentence that you could have written. If yes, then move on and write the next. If no, then you know what you need to do. Keep doing this.
4) Loosen up and write like you talk. Take out the "ums", "ahs", cliches, buzzwords and expletives (unless you are Quentin Tarantino, in which case you can keep the expletives), and you are good to go.
If you wouldn't say it, then probably best not write it. Think of all those TV cop shows when a witness is giving their statement: "I was proceeding down the road in a westerly direction...". Really? Who talks like that? You were walking along the road towards Maccas.
Go easy on those exclamation marks too, they are usually just an indicator that your last sentence wasn't very good.
5) Be merciless with your editing. If you're not sure if something should stay or go, then think about the fishmonger that wanted a new sign for his shop:
"FRESH FISH SOLD HERE"
Sold? Why would you put up a big sign if you weren't selling anything?
Sold? Why would you put up a big sign if you weren't selling anything?
"FRESH FISH HERE"
No one would advertise rotten fish.
"FISH HERE"
The sign is above your shop. So why do you need the location?
"FISH"
That's better
And that is pretty much it. So relax and give it a whirl...
Still don't fancy going it alone or just don't have the time? Then feel free to get in touch
Thank you!
alex@travelscribe.com - (+61) 0434 080688