Writing is as straightforward as we make it. Some prefer it simple and succinct, some prefer the outlandish and bizarre, but some… prefer the eloquent – which can often contain both bizarre and succinct writing styles melded together. Mark Forsyth’s book The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase unveils the many literary techniques used in English. In this article, we examine his thoughts on the literary trio of hendiadyses, epistrophes and tricolons.

Writing for online audiences is a little more complicated than for their offline counterparts – due to the inclusion of search engine optimisation (SEO) requirements in the copy. When you integrate keywords and links into an article, search engines like Google pick up on these – and they affect your website’s ranking when displaying search results.

In the past, we’ve explained that a well-written article with cleverly weaved keywords and links will help you climb the SEO leader boards, but also, we’ve recently learned that it’s not always the case. So how does SEO truly work? Read on to find out more…

During these unprecedented times we may be in isolation, but acts of solidarity and cultural expression across the globe show us we’re far from alone. With Italians hosting spectacular one-man symphonies on their balconies to Londoners launching work out classes on their steps in the hopes of fostering community spirit in their neighbourhoods, these unfolding scenes show us that in times of crisis, people strive to help each other persevere.

However, when it comes to content marketing strategies and brands' actions during the coronavirus pandemic, it’s a far cry from ‘business as usual’. Many businesses and services may find that they need to completely reposition themselves and their offerings to avoid pushing products that no longer fit consumers’ needs, and should take some time to reflect, rethink and repurpose their marketing efforts to be a positive instigator for social good in this global “hour of need”…

Copywriters’ greatest assets are their quick wits and adaptability. However, in times of market uncertainty (like with the coronavirus), our workflows are often disrupted – be it due to work-from-home policies, a reduced amount of client projects, a slowed global economy, etc. With an inconsistent flow of jobs, it’s up to ourselves to keep our wits sharp. Here are three simple exercises to give your copywriting muscles a good workout at home.

Reading can offer a wondrous escape – taking us to faraway places with tales of space pirates, heroic knights and cunning wizards. However, literature is not always exciting and fantastical. When we are forced to read less interesting material against our will (like Shakespeare’s classics, random bits of poetry and whatever else makes it onto the school reading list), the excitement quickly fades.

While poring over Shakespeare for hours on end hardly sounds fun at all, expanding our reading list does bring us into contact with plenty of new vocabulary. While some words may be too archaic for modern use, many lesser-used words can add flair to our writing. However, English is a tricky language with many near-identical word pairings that can trip up even clever wordsmiths. Continuing our series (click here for part 1, part 2 and part 3), here are 10 more words and phrases to watch out for!

With most marketers having deemed it necessary to attract potential customers in as few words as possible, short copy is all the rage. However, shortness does not necessarily equate to conciseness. To be concise is to perfect an art form – like determining the optimal ratio of spices to use in a dish, every word or pinch of herbs must serve a purpose – ensuring both your sentence structuring and cooking is clean and uncluttered. Eager to become a curator of conciseness? Read on…

Writing is an essential part of our day-to-day communications in business, and yet for its importance, most of us are overly hesitant about writing to anyone that extends beyond the audience of our email inbox. However, any marketer worth half his salt can no longer deny that when done well, written content can do wonders for your business: such as turn a brand into a legacy, create a robust marketing strategy, generate leads, skyrocket your profit margins and win the loyalty and affection of key audiences, to name just a few.

At Wordsmith, we love to make words dance. So we’ve gathered up intelligence from our trusted group of word aficionados to explain why every brand (big or small) needs to have writers creating wonderfully rich, spellbinding content. Don’t worry – you can thank us later.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known by his pen name Dr. Seuss, was the brilliant mind behind the books The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and many more illustrious titles that are staples in any new reader’s bookshelf. Although he wasn’t a medical doctor, he was a surgeon with words and short sentences – teaching us important lessons like cleaning up after ourselves or not judging something based on its appearance. However, there’s more to Dr. Seuss’s teachings than what’s available in his books! Join Wordsmith as we celebrate his work and life philosophy through several of his most memorable quotes!

As cases of coronavirus continue to propagate around the world, it’s becoming more apparent that limiting social contact and working from home is probably the most prudent option – at least until doctors and scientists can establish a firmer grasp over the epidemic.

However, with the economy stunted and clients cutting back on advertising budgets, work can get a little slow for professional scribes – combine this with being stuck at home and you have a recipe for boredom, restlessness and unproductive guilt. Are you a copywriter desperately searching for ways to keep occupied (that don’t involve “becoming one” with the sofa)? Have a peek at how we Wordsmiths keep ourselves occupied at home on a rainy day (or in this case, a coronavirus monsoon).

A tale as old as time. Brand storytelling isn’t exactly a new concept – but with the explosive growth of social media channels and online marketing, telling compelling brand stories should always be an integral part of your content marketing strategy.

The facts speak for themselves. With stories being 22 times more memorable than facts and figures alone, many industry leaders are now beginning to realise that storytelling is the new strategic imperative of business. Don’t worry, customers are not asking you to reinvent the wheel, but they are asking you to dig deeper when it comes to creating brand stories that resonate with audiences. In an overly-automated, digitally-driven industry, it’s humanity that is becoming the new premium, with brand stories that pull at the heart strings of your audiences being the most effective. Never underestimate the power of a good story.

Writing with brevity has little faults, but sometimes, all that conciseness creates a fierce craving… a craving that can only be filled with a little eloquence. Join us as we explore deeper into the literary world of Mark Forsyth’s The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase and let’s explore the next set of strategic writing techniques. (Click here to read parts 1, 2, 3 and 4)

Ask a linguist what they think about English and you’ll be surprised to learn that it’s one of the messier languages in the world. Many of the words used in English aren’t even from England, but are instead cobbled together like Frankenstein’s monster from the vocabulary of other European countries. Then there are also “English” words that are shamelessly stolen from other languages, like foie gras or teriyaki.

The average adult has a vocabulary of about 20,000-35,000 words, which means we should have a decent grasp of these everyday words… right? Far from it, because we often get lost when deciding what word to use next – caught between using one that’s boringly appropriate or one that’s outlandishly flamboyant (and possibly completely wrong). From words with near identical spelling (but completely different meanings) to phonetically indistinguishable homonyms, join Wordsmith as we explore the world of frequently misused diction.

Information was at a premium in the days of yonder. Regardless how trivial or important the news may be, both peasant and king were at the mercy of the messenger’s pace. Nowadays, just about anyone can take on the coveted messenger’s status by simply creating a social media account. With information flowing so freely, the threat of false information is at an all-time high – creating ill-informed conspiracy theories, biased truths and even nationwide panics – much like the recent cases of people believing the outbreak of the Coronavirus to be linked to Mexico’s Corona beer, or fears that the virus would shut down borders and disrupt the flow of essential goods to Hong Kong.

In this age of instant communication, it is everyone’s duty to keep their finger off the omnipresent “share” button and to avoid creating fake news frenzies until the information is deemed trustworthy. Join Wordsmith as we explore how to combat the tide of misinformation.

The arrival of 2020 marks the Year of the Rat, and according to Chinese lunar mythology, the rat symbolises quick wits and resourcefulness. If you’re like us and run a blog regularly, coming up with new post ideas can quickly become a stressful ordeal. However, what if we told you that you could refurbish your old posts (or parts of them) to generate new content? Join Wordsmith this Year of the Rat and let’s explore how we can repurpose old material! 

The numbers speak for themselves. Content marketing generates over three times as many leads as outbound marketing and costs your company 62% less to create. And that’s not all: the conversion rates for producing content are six times higher than any other marketing method – yet most brands still do not have an effective content marketing strategy in place. 

Content marketing has the potential to transform your business. High-quality content increases brand reputation by building trust, influences conversions, increases website rankings and improves SEO efforts while remaining cost-effective. But, above all, content solidifies your commitment to your audience by providing knowledgeable, quality content for their benefit, and helping to promote your brand as a thought leader in your field.

In short, content always will be king. But not all brands and entrepreneurs are maximizing their content efforts. In fact, 70% lack a consistent or integrated content strategy. At Wordsmith, we strongly believe that every piece of content must serve a purpose – there’s no point in writing content just for the sake of creating content. All of your content should support your content marketing strategy.

We live in an era where instant gratification is all the rage. When looking at a news headline, the heading of an advert or the message on a picket sign, we expect to learn the point in but a scant few words. Our ancestors of centuries past certainly had a flair for the dramatic and the eloquent, but whether it’s due to modern consumerism, the abundance of choice and/or a shortened attention span, we now seemingly always want the short and punchy – if one brand reads too long, we can simply pick up the next and be equally well off.

What if we told you that a long headline can be just as effective when used under certain circumstances? Join Wordsmith as we try to make long headlines great again.

The English language is as beautiful as it is tricky. Take the word “blue” for example – everyone shares a different interpretation of what blue looks like, hence the creation of more explicit words like sapphire, cerulean, azure, cyan or aquamarine to provide finer distinctions between shades. Although you can use visual aids to help audiences understand the variations in colour, other words can be far less discernible (and tangible). Join Wordsmith as we take a look at 10 word pairings that even writing veterans can jumble up!

It’s estimated that 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are generated every day. As we’re about to enter 2020, research indicates that there will be 1.7MB of data created every second for every person on earth. We’re no data scientists, but we do know that’s an unprecedented amount of data, and it’s only expected to increase. But what does this have to do with content marketers? 

We can no longer deny the inextricable link between big data and great content. In today’s marketing world, our content decisions are no longer guided solely by hypothesis and past success. Truly influential marketing content is now created from insights attained through consumer analytics and big data. Far from being a vacuum of numbers on a spreadsheet, by successfully utilising consumer data and predictive analytics, brands can not only create unique, personalised content but also generate better return on investment (ROI) with raw insights that have an overarching effect on brand strategies and decisions that have the potential to impact the business as a whole.

There’s more to creating a compelling narrative than just throwing words on a page. If you’ve followed our previous articles featuring Mark Forsyth’s book: The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase, then you’re already familiar with several nifty literary devices used to manipulate word and sentence structuring (click here for parts 1, 2 and 3). Join Wordsmith as we examine how to apply poetic devices to improve your copy.

There’s a saying that two heads (or more!) are better than one, but how does collaboration fare in the world of writing? Although copywriters are stereotyped as lone wolves by many, there are instances where we need to work with others to clear large hurdles – especially for time sensitive or bulky assignments. While having more opinions and perspectives can be beneficial during group writing tasks, improper planning may cause more headaches than good! Curious to find out more? Read on…