Anyone Can Master These Easy Writing Tricks
Copywriters know a handful of basic construction tools ANYONE can learn – techniques that help make a point stick out.
These practical tricks help make your point obvious to the reader – so obvious that it’s hard to miss.
Content order. Put your most crucial point first, followed by the next most important, and so forth. This “inverted pyramid” format, widely embraced by journalists, gives your reader the good stuff right out the gate. Avoid the tendency to build up to your argument and leave the fireworks until the end – your piece is not a novel, and readers won’t wade through character and plot development to get to your point. Grab them right away instead.
Outline form. Subheads and lists make your most important point or set of points stand out. Readers like to scan to get the gist of what you’re saying. If you get their attention, they’re more likely to read the fine print for details.
Font manipulation. Italics, bold, underlining and CAPS draw the eye in and reinforce your point.
Visual separation. Set apart a single sentence or word to make your point visually with tools like commas, ellipses … (parentheses) – dashes –
or even skipping a line!
These techniques are simple. How did I do in demonstrating them? Go back to the top. Identify at least ten examples using these simple tricks. (There are plenty more than that, by the way).
See – it’s easy, isn’t it?
About the author
Kathy Widenhouse (www.kathywidenhouse.com) is a freelance development writer who specializes in producing materials for the faith-based, nonprofit market. She also provides strategic consultation to help nonprofits get their message out and get results. Kathy’s 90+ articles have appeared in more than 40 periodicals, and she has written 5 books.