Coming up with new ideas is tough. As much as we want to innovate and set new trends, more often than not we resort to rehashing existing content. Not that it’s a bad thing, mind you. This is especially true in the case of pop culture media, as brands need a multitude of ways to resonate with their customers. There’s only so many times McDonald’s can rely on the 100% beef guarantee in their quarter pounder burgers to promote their product, but what if they roped in celebrity rapper Travis Scott for an endorsement deal or catered to the DIY craze with a “new” way to enjoy the quarter pounder? Boom! Fresh new content from the same old product.

While celebrity deals are powerful, they require deep pockets or ties to pull off. On the other hand, connecting your content with relevant and/or contemporary topics is much more viable for everyday use. There are some rules to integrating trending topics into your copy though… Join Wordsmith as we examine the dos and don’ts of pop culture references in writing.

Pronouns are pretty straightforward to use in a sentence. Imagine if you were reading a short story about a character named Jeff where every sentence has the word “Jeff” in it. Not only would it be incredibly repetitive seeing his name all the time, the story would probably be written like “Meet Jeff and his dog Spot. Look at Jeff and Spot go.” By substituting in personal pronouns like him, her or they, we can mix things up while also ascending beyond a first-grade reading level. However, what happens when we deal with the pronouns referring to ourselves? Both me or I mean the same thing, but it can be confusing determining which to use. With some help from Caroline Taggart and J. A. Wine’s book My Grammar and I (or Should That Be “Me”?), let’s clear up the uncertainties around this mischievous pair of pronouns!

We’ve heard this phrase from digital marketers before, but in 2020, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is really having a moment. As a result of the pandemic, more and more customers are opting for digital interactions with brands instead of visiting brick and mortar stores, which means now is the time to keep our fingers on the pulse of the ever-changing landscape of search engine algorithms. Search is now one of the main avenues we as content marketers have at our disposal to attract and retain customers. Capitalising on new and emerging SEO trends can not only please the Google bots and help give your online real estate the boost it needs to rank on the first Search Engine Results Page (SERP), but is also one of the most cost-effective ways to increase brand awareness and ultimately your ROI.

The film Mulan (2020) is Disney’s latest live-action adaptation of their classic animated films. However, instead of being a blockbuster like its predecessors Beauty and the Beast (2017) or Aladdin (2019), Mulan received only a lukewarm response – especially in China. How did Disney fail at retelling a story that everyone knew and loved, and why do we think Pixar (a subsidiary of Disney) is a better storyteller than Disney? Join Wordsmith as we learn about crafting stories the Pixar way.

Being concise isn’t the only way to capture the attention of your readers. Although picking the most optimal and efficient words gets your point across quickly, it can feel rhythmically lacking when some clients are after catchier options. To help us put aside our tendencies for brevity, we return to Mark Forsyth’s book The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase to discover more literary tricks that have been used throughout the ages.

When we read, be it a news article, an annual report or a knock-knock joke, we always read it from top to bottom – the same exact order, every single time. It makes sense because the intro, the hook, the body and supporting points all flow naturally into one another. If the reader were to rearrange the structure and read the body before the intro, you can probably imagine their confusion as they tried to decipher what the article was about. Indeed, readers need logical consistency when they read, but does the restriction also chain writers to do the same as well? Join Wordsmith and let’s find out…

How often do you use adverbs in your writing? Words like quickly, shortly or always are among the most popular adverbs used in day-to-day writing and conversation – providing a quick and handy way to augment our verbs. While adverbs are indeed efficient at telling, they are awful at showing – an important skill that any seasoned storyteller must possess. Why are adverbs seen as metaphorical junk food in storytelling? Read on…

Humour has been used as a tactical marketing ploy for decades, but what makes cracking jokes so effective? Believe it or not, infusing humour into your content marketing and advertising has the potential to break down customer’s psychological barriers, encourage positive brand associations, build brand awareness, enhance recall and even increase the likelihood of purchasing intent.

When we think of humour and advertising, we can all list a couple of iconic side-splitting ads that have stood the test of time in our subconscious minds. But one of the trickiest things about using humour is that it’s subjective. So what makes that quirky punchline, funny satire or hilarious slogan stand out and get people talking? We delve into the science behind the art of comedic messaging and show how three different brands have hit the sweet spot when it comes to making their audiences laugh.

A good story works like magic. Just as our ancestors eagerly huddled around a bonfire to listen to tales, we are equally susceptible – unable to resist the “play next episode” prompt after discovering a good show on TV. Despite our fondness for stories, we’ve grown rather impatient over the centuries. Rarely are we willing to sit through an hour of exposition and backstory. We demand immediate action, romance, comedy and thrills… but how do we tell a good bite-sized story when traditional storytelling takes too long to set up? Dan Harmon, the creator of hit television series Community and Rick and Morty shares his quick and easy formula to episodic writing. Join Wordsmith as we explore storytelling… Rick & Morty style!

With customers’ increasingly shrinking attention spans, content marketers need to keep up to date with marketing trends and adapt their strategies to continue drawing in customers. Whether it’s presenting key industry insights, offering free tips in the form of e-books or adding that hint of humour, every content marketer has a go-to method for creating spellbinding content that grabs viewers’ attentions. But are traditional attention-grabbing marketing tactics becoming outdated as the world enters a new normal? Here are three key ways you can create content-led campaigns that attract attention, increase recall and most importantly instil loyalty with your customers during these challenging times.

Dialogue is a core component of any creative writer’s arsenal. Offering readers a break from lengthy expositions, dialogue also provides insight into your characters’ thoughts. However, while dialogue is a handy tool, it is notoriously difficult to write effectively – how we speak in real life and how a character speaks on the page are two completely different worlds. If you want to enrich your written dialogue and to create more credible conversations, read on…

It goes without saying that a curriculum vitae (CV) is an essential component of any job application, but is it all you need to land a job?

As the CV only provides employers with a snapshot of your educational and occupational merits, employers and headhunters have little way to gauge an applicant’s character outside of an interview. However, given that most employers may be going through dozens of applications, only the most outstanding CVs will secure interviews. But if an outstanding CV is the golden ticket to an interview, what chance do regular folks have against their Ivy League competitors?

If you aren’t someone of a prestigious pedigree, don’t fret – you still have a fighting chance with the “About me” section. Although not a traditional part of the CV, this often overlooked element lets employers learn more about potential hires. Play your cards right, and it may give you the boost needed to stand toe-to-toe against candidates with shinier accolades. Interested in beefing up your resume game? Read on to find out more…

There’s a saying that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. There are many ways to write poetically, but not everyone has the same preferences when it comes to prose – some favour the punchy pronunciations offered by assonance and alliterations, while others lean towards the rhythmic repetition of diacopes. To help us better understand the obscure world of literary devices, we return to Mark Forsyth’s book The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase.

Whether you’re still trying to expand your poetic repertoire or figuring out which writing style is write for you, perhaps syllepses and isocolons are what you seek!

Jobs are becoming more diverse as demand for multi-talented employees grows. In the past, agencies were satisfied having graphic designers or copywriters who focused solely on design or copywriting – now it’s common to see job postings seeking designers with photography or website experience, and copywriters with social media management skills, journalism experience and possibly more.

While writing is one of the core skills of journalism, it is also heavily dependent on social and planning skills. For copywriters who have never ventured beyond the comfort of their workstations, going out to conduct an interview can be a daunting task. Worry not. Wordsmith is here to help transform you junior journalists into seasoned hacks!

Throughout the last decade, content marketing has continued to change, driven by constant shifts in the global market, technological advances and diversifying consumer preferences. But since the outbreak of COVID-19, successful content marketers have risen to the challenge and kept an ear close to the ground to produce content that’s not only relevant, but highly sensitive – crafting copy that truly resonates with target audiences.

Given the current situation, we at Wordsmith have gathered our 4 essential tips that will help you create content your audiences will appreciate during these uncertain times.

The Terminator film, despite mostly depicting Arnold Schwarzenegger as a killer cyborg going on a rampage, has dark themes about the dethroning of humanity and the rise of the machines. Although the creation of an artificial intelligence with the power to cause a nuclear apocalypse probably won’t happen any time soon, people have long been pushing the boundaries of AI – some to analyse and calculate logarithms at breakneck speeds, and others to simplify and bring convenience for our everyday tasks. But this begs the question: will AI one day become so efficient that our copywriting brains become obsolete? Join Wordsmith as we take a look at the progress of AI writers so far…

With only 26 letters in the English alphabet and finicky rules between vowel and consonant placements, there are only a finite combination of simple and unique spellings and pronunciations before things start overlapping. Of course, things wouldn’t have to be so difficult if we could replace homonyms with new spellings (ie. replace there with tharr so that you couldn’t possibly mistake it for their), but until our dictionary overlords decide there is a need to do so, we have to rely on sentence usage contexts (or tiny nuances in pronunciation) to determine which spellings or definitions to use – making mix-ups and embarrassment more prone to happen.

Fortunately, Wordsmith is here to help shed some light on the confusing world of English diction!

Whether you’re a PowerPoint Pro or a Keynote Convert, copywriting for presentations is a job that takes considerable planning. Presentations live and die by their content – you can have the greatest speakers and presenters in the world leading the conversation, but if they have to work with an unruly mess of a presentation deck, then you are doing both your presenters and the audience a disservice. Want to find out what makes a talk engaging? Read on…

During these unprecedented times, most creatives will find themselves working remotely in an effort to socially distance and help combat the global spread COVID-19. While working from the comfort of your own home does have its benefits, many businesses are finding it difficult to keep creative ideas flowing and team collaboration alive while working remotely, without being able to get every team member in one room for a brainstorming session.

Brainstorming, when done right, can be a powerful tool for making creative magic happen. It can increase your team members’ excitement, engagement and investment in trying to find novel solutions to a problem. But when everyone is working in separate locations, can you create the same atmosphere for success? Read on for Wordsmith’s top 3 tips on how to brainstorm effectively when working from home.

There is no greater element to storytelling than detail. Strong narratives are exciting to read, and the more complex they are, the more enticing they can become. However, not all complex stories are equal. Have you ever read one that felt disjointed or unnecessarily convoluted for the sake of being complex? Often, this happens because of a poorly chosen conjunction – the greatest offender being the two words: “and then”. Conjunctions are best known for binding together phrases and sentences, but transitioning key plot points and details are also one of their essential uses. If you want to know why some writers choose to steer clear of “and then”, read on…