Tight Writing - How to Make Your Writing Snappy
Lesson 7 from: From Structure to Style: Master Your CopywritingShani Raja
Tight Writing - How to Make Your Writing Snappy
Lesson 7 from: From Structure to Style: Master Your CopywritingShani Raja
Lesson Info
7. Tight Writing - How to Make Your Writing Snappy
Lessons
Chapter 1: Copywriting Fundamentals
1Class Introduction - Overview of the Course Content
03:50 2The Five Aspirations of a Superior Copywriter
05:28 3The Importance of Defining Your Intention & Audience
06:02 4The “Secret Sauce” of Good Copywriting
04:29 5Quiz - Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Simplicity
6Introduction - The Power of Simplicity
02:06Tight Writing - How to Make Your Writing Snappy
05:43 8Tell it Straight - How to Write Plainly & Straightforwardly
03:36 9Don’t Overcomplicate - How to Avoid Unnecessary Complexity
04:59 10Quiz - Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Clarity
11Introduction - The Power of Clarity
01:33 12Nailing Down Your Ideas - How to Fix Fuzzy Ideas In Your Copy
04:07 13Place Words With Care - How to Avoid Misplacing Words
03:49 14Be Specific - How to Avoid Ambiguity, Jargon & Abstract Writing
09:09 15Quiz - Chapter 3
Chapter 4: Elegance
16Introduction - The Power of Elegance
01:57 17Present Elegantly - How to Make Your Writing Look Good
04:10 18Narrative Flow - How to Structure Your Copy Beautifully
04:09 19Musical Writing - How to Give Your Writing Rhythm
05:31 20Quiz - Chapter 4
Chapter 5: Evocativeness
21Introduction - The Power of Evocativeness
02:28 22Add Variety - How to Reduce Monotony in Your Writing
03:10 23Be Bold - How to Steer Clear of Weak Words
03:34 24Create Pictures - How to Make Your Writing Jump Out
06:23 25Quiz - Chapter 5
Chapter 6: Editing With Style
26Introduction - Get Ready to Edit
01:31 27The Quick-Smart Editing System
16:11 28Quiz - Chapter 6
Chapter 7: The Road Ahead: What’s Next?
29How to Nurture Your New Skills
03:06Final Quiz
30Final Quiz
Lesson Info
Tight Writing - How to Make Your Writing Snappy
in this lesson, you're going to learn why you should try to eliminate unnecessary words from your writing whenever you can in order to make it as crisp and concise as possible. And by the end of the lesson you'll have several tools in your toolbox for making your writing more as they say punchy. Now, one reason why writing sometimes feels slow and heavy is because it contains too many unnecessary words. Conversely good writing often feels light or tight or springy precisely because all of that hot air has been removed from sentences. I imagine you're writing an email to your coworker asking her to do something for you and it came out looking like this Becky. Please have a talk with Sheila at some point and ask her what she thinks about Mark's idea about how to redesign the current logo and then get back to me and let me know what she says. Now in such a sentence, you may notice that there is a lot of room for cutting wood, pause the video and have a go at whittling the email down to it...
s bare essentials without losing any critical content or tone. Okay, done that. Well, I managed to get this punchier version of the sentence Becky. Please let me know what Sheila thinks of Mark's new logo design there. We have more than halved the number of words without even sacrificing it's basically polite tone. Now here's another example I like to use because it makes the point so well, this sentence on your screen at first sight seems pretty straightforward, doesn't it? The specific point I am seeking to make here is that the colors red and gray go well together. Now have a quick go yourself first at cutting back on words in that sentence. Okay, let's see how I might approach it first off. Do we really need the word here? Not really right. It's redundant. So you could just rip it out and say more simply the specific point I am seeking to make is that the colors red and gray go well together. Now points are by their nature specific aren't they? So we could also get rid of the word specific two without really losing anything. And that would leave us with the point I am seeking to make is that the colors red and gray go well together? But why do you need to say the point I am seeking to make, You could shorten that to say even more simply. My point is that the colors red and gray go well together. But you even need to say my point, after all, anyone would presumably know that it's a point being made, right? So you could simply say the colors red and gray go well together. Now, does it need to be said that red and gray are colors not really right. So we could say even more economically red and gray go well together and going well together. Really just means that the two colors match, doesn't it? So how about we just say red and gray match. Now? Just take a moment to notice how much real estate we've saved by actively tossing out unnecessary words. Not only that we've actually managed to give the sentence more power and charge by getting rid of all those wasteful words, haven't we? Now? Remember that how far you go in cutting words in a sentence will depend on a number of things, including your audience, your intention and the particular type of writing that you're doing. All I'm really saying here is that leaner meaner sentences will give your writing a lighter and faster pace, making it more engaging and don't worry, you can always add words back in if needed to achieve either more clarity, more elegance or more evocative nous if you feel that any of those qualities are lacking now, thankfully there is a lot of low hanging fruit when it comes to making your writing punchier that I want you to be aware of for instance, think of carelessly twin words like the companies discussed the potential for a joint collaboration. Well, a collaboration is always undertaken jointly, isn't it? We'd like to learn more about your future plans. Well, you always plan for something in the future, right? He received an unexpected surprise when he entered the room. Well, a surprise by its nature is unexpected, isn't it? Now you can also make your writing title by not carelessly repeating an idea that you've expressed before in the same sentence as here, Almost half of the population, or close to 50%, is vulnerable to contracting the disease Now, almost half and close to 50%, essentially mean the same thing, don't they? So I encourage you to actively look for these sorts of hidden redundancies in your prose and to do away with any wasteful words that you find now focusing on redundancy is just one way of getting your writing to be more punchy. In the next lesson, I'll teach you how to magnify the impact of simplicity by being direct and straightforward with your language rather than pointlessly formal or fancy.