Copywriter news, musings, ideas, and tips
Proof that the devil really does find work for idle keyboards
A writer’s guide to diacritics and special characters
Can’t tell a horn from a hoi or a caret from a circumflex? Here’s a beginner’s guide to those confusing hooks, strokes, and squiggles.
Are there words for the ideal healthy snack?
How would a consumer describe their ideal snack? And what words do healthy and unhealthy conjure up? Dutch research offers some clues.
Tips and science behind writing Christmas cracker jokes
The groan-inducing cracker joke is a festive staple. If it’s not bad, it’s not doing the job. Here’s how to write your own.
Copywriting solutions still needed after all these years
Marketers continue to peddle solutions to undefined problems. Here’s a fresh reminder of why you should strike the word from your copy.
Playful creative projects and artistic activities for lockdown
Lockdown goes on. Sort of. So here’s a collection of artistic projects to keep boredom at bay. No glitter and very little glue, just oodles of imagination.
Playful family word games for all ages in lockdown
Stuck in lockdown? Kids bored? This varied collection of word games will fire their imaginations. Play at home or with friends online.
67 tools and resources to make your copywriting life easier
Here, on one page, are the online resources to resolve a million-and-one everyday commercial-writing problems. All suggestions welcome.
What can we learn from writing for Bristol Life?
Even media-savvy people can be herded into predictability. It’s time to break out of your copywriting straitjacket.
Does jargon have a place in copywriting?
We copywriters are hard-wired to bin jargon, but does that serve our audience? Guest blogger, Nigel Graber, raids the linguistic refuse sacks.
Look for emotions not flavours from a food packaging copywriter
‘Delicious’ is your opinion. If you want a customer to drop your food product in their basket, reach out to their emotions.
Honest copywriting is the antidote to lies and boastfulness
Don’t tell your audience what to think about you, help them make up their own minds. That’s a much more powerful result.
No more confusing instructions – call in a freelance copywriter
Confusing or ambiguous instructions are an annoying time-waster. Maybe you need a proper writer to put things right.
Coin your own dictionary definitions
Crowd-sourced dictionaries may be fun, but are they helpful to copywriters? Probably not.
Research tips for copywriters
AccessLab is a British Science Association programme to give people the skills to research original scientific papers. Here’a report from my day of discovery.
Don’t apologise – you’ve done nothing wrong
Had enough of corporate insincerity? People want helpful customer service not endless apologies for the minor things that go wrong.
Alliterative alimentation alleviates allegory
Holland & Barrett is selling Perky Pecans, Happy Hazelnuts, and Cherished Cranberries. But where are the brand truths in a copy scheme driven by alliteration?
Did you know (you’re wasting your readers’ time)?
Those innocuous ‘Did you know?’ snippets are corporate time-wasters. If the point needs to be made, spell it out. If not, cut it out.
Why be one of the crowd when you could be unique?
It’s easy to be vague and boastful – to be ‘one of’ the leading brands in your sector. But who wants to be ordinary when they could be magnificent?
And the (copywriting) winner is …
Reach Contact win at the UK Customer Experience Awards. I helped them wow the judges with a written submission and scripted face-to-face presentation. Could you, too, be an award-winner?
It’s National Punctuation Day. Period.
And I’m celebrating with a string of homespun one-liners. Stuff like: « A group of exclamation marks ordered a round of drinks in a pub. “Whose shout is it?” asked the landlord. »
Not all letters are created equal
When crisp-eaters threw themselves into Walkers’ Spell & Go promotion, what kind of letter distribution were they expecting?
Foolproof proofreading for proud self-publishers
A typo isn’t the end of the world, but it may leave you feeling red-faced. Follow my proofreading guide, and you’ll always be publishing work you’re proud of.
Instructions for winning at solitaire
Could you explain the 31 moves in solitaire in just 220 words? We did it to prove a point: that we’re pretty good at writing instuctions. Here’s how in words and in pictures.
Copywriting head cases: title case and other headline styles
Title case … sentence case … all caps … there are plenty of ways to set your titles. Some are easier to read, and some look a shade more elegant. Here’s my guide to the best and the worst.
Copyright symbol for online copywriters
It’s hard to stop people ripping off your web copy, but you can at least flag up your ownership. So how do you apply that © symbol? Do you even need it?
Is your brand identity and style guide idiot-proof?
Design guidelines depend on words for clarity, as well as layouts. If your designers aren’t as handy with text as they are with graphics, your guidelines could be leading people astray.
Collective nouns: singular or plural?
‘The band is in full swing’ or ‘the band are in full swing’? ‘The band is drinking coffee’ or ‘the band are drinking coffee’? I look at some of those tricky questions of plurality.
Legal stuff
Text Wizard® is a registered trade mark
Text and images © 2000–2020
Text Wizard Copywriting Ltd