On 3 July, we were joined by Robert Bullard a copywriter and business writing trainer with PerfectText.
Robert used to be a journalist in (as he put it) the days when people had to pay to read the news. These days there is less money in journalism due to news being readily available on the internet and so Robert has diversified into writing for, and teaching writing skills for businesses.
Robert sought to persuade our attendees that young people are perhaps better equipped for quality writing than their parents and grandparents were at the same age. He argued that because social media is restrictive in terms of the space available and young writers are more aware of their audience, they manage to avoid waffle and passive language in a way that their parents’ generation did not.
Writing for business runs the risk of being boring, especially when jargon is used. Robert explained how stepping back from the micro-detail to examine how the picture looks overall is important to obtaining balance and interest. Journalism teaches the importance of skills which help the writer to decide what is key, and what is engaging, for example:
- Writing for limited space and limited reader time;
- Explaining the subject for new readers;
- Effective structures and writing styles;
- Finding stories and creating flow;
- Keeping to a deadline.
When writing within a business common themes are regularly encountered. For example writers lose their objective, there can be too many writers involved, the word count can become overly long, and different writers come at the document with different instructions and assumptions.
Robert extolled the virtues of headlines, making points in threes, using good powerful words, painting word pictures, appealing to the audience, repeating quotes and telling a story.
Overall he recommended that we aim to write like an artist:
- Keep the big picture in mind;
- Critique (edit);
- Copy good ideas;
- Have an angle;
- Be brave; and
- Change where necessary.
It was really enjoyable to be reminded of these points, and Robert illustrated his talk to us with some fun quotes, such as “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed” (often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, although probably wrongly).
