Content strategy: The latest buzzword

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Susan Perloff

free speech
I went to a meeting about content strategy so I could learn what content strategy is. No one dared say it out loud, but “content strategy” is what we used to call “writing”: Deciding which words to write and in what order to write them.

I learned another contemporary term: “content inventory.” That’s not about counting how many cartons of size 9 blue sneakers you have in the basement. It’s about, uh, writing. To write for the web today, apparently, you need to know how to “craft message architecture,” create “deliverables” for clients who love buzzwords and even – hold on! – prepare a “prescriptive content matrix.”

Silly me. I thought it was plain-old writing.

I remember when the job titles of trash collectors morphed into sanitary engineers. When the guys who fixed broken pipes and painted walls advanced from superintendents to facilities directors. When people who poured coffee wore handkerchiefs and name-tags that said “waitress.”

Now people whose business cards say “content strategist” offer to “get more granular with that.” They want to provide a “holistic user experience,” abbreviated, amazingly, as a UX.

No message architecture for me. No content audit. I just read, write and edit.

Posted in World of words, Writing tips, Writing website copy | 2 Comments

Buy a car, any car

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Susan Perloff

move over
You didn’t buy a new Ford last weekend, did you? You wanted to, but you couldn’t, right? You had been scrimping for 3 years, and you had saved almost enough to buy that 2103-model Mustang convertible, right?

I saw that full-page ad in the newspaper, too. Made me laugh out loud. I was already salivating over the thought of the free barbecue (OK, BBQ) from 11.m. to 3 p.m.

Of course, I drive a Toyota. Here’s a grammarian’s tickled view of that all-caps-all-the-time advertisement.

  • 2103 is actually not the current year, and Ford has not yet issued its designs for that year, which is 90 years into the future.
  • The 2012 model Fusion must have gilded steering wheel, mink seats and a radio station to Venus, because it’s price is the comma-challenged $15,9995.00.
  • Although the dealership publishes its own website name in extra-bold 1-inch type, with the toll-free phone number below, it still leaves some questions unanswered. Such as
    • What time does the showroom close?
    • Where, exactly, is the car store? The ad says “minutes from all bridges,” but it doesn’t name the bridges – nor, to be sure, the state. My favorite bridges are the Golden Gate, the Scripps Bridge in San Diego and the bridge named Bob in Avon, Colorado.
    • The street address?

I wanted that “twelve (12) month or twelve (12) thousand mile comprehensive warranty” so I could drive six (6) colleagues to a meeting fourteen (14) miles away – and because I love to repeat myself.

Can’t keep myself from editing. Those one hundred (100) vehicles are probably still on the lot.

Posted in World of words, Writing mistakes, Writing tips | 2 Comments

10 unusual writing exercises

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Susan Perloff

13 half st nw
Try 1 or more of these topics to loosen up your writing muscles.

  1. Write one sentence about each of 8 people you know.
  2. Write a 300-word autobiography.
  3. Write your obituary. List all of your life’s accomplishments. You can write it as if you died today or decades into the future.
  4. Write 200 words about your bedroom.
  5. Take a passage from a book, a favorite or a least favorite, and rewrite the passage in a different style such as Gothic romance, horror story of newspaper commentary.
  6. Pick an author you like, though not necessarily your favorite, and note the strengths of the way they write. Do this from memory first, then reread some of their work. Analyze the elements of their writing style that could enhance your own. Write about it.
  7. Take a piece of your writing that you have written in first person and rewrite it in third person, or vice-versa. You can also try this exercise changing tense, narrators, or other elements.
  8. Write about an early childhood memory, from your current perspective or from the perspective you had at that age.
  9. Remember an old argument you had with someone. Write about it from the other person’s point of view. This is an exercise in writing, not in proving yourself right or wrong.
  10. Write 200 words about a place. Skip its appearance. Describe what it feels like, sounds like, smells like and even tastes like. Try to write the description in such a way that people will not miss the visual details.
Posted in Writing essays, Writing tips, Writing training | 1 Comment

College-application essays

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Susan Perloff

need$ money
Q. I need to write my college-application essay. What do you recommend?

A. Start now.

Start early to write your college-application essay. Start as soon as you know you will need to write one. Allow time to reflection, prepare and revise. Give yourself time to start all over, if you feel the need.

Choose a fascinating topic. You know that your application includes your grades, awards, activities, and so on. Write about something different or unique that will educate, amuse or answer questions for admissions evaluators. Use the personal statement to show another side of yourself.

Present your information and ideas in a focused, thoughtful and meaningful way. Support your ideas with examples. Do more than list your qualities or accomplishments.

Proofread. Print the essay in horizontal (“landscape”) format and read it again. Proofread. Switch between Arial and Times New Roman and read it again. Print it in 18-point type and read it again. Proofread.

These tips work for writing all personal essays, too.

Posted in FAQ, Worth 1,000 words, Writing essays, Writing tips, Writing training | 1 Comment

Verbs, active

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Susan Perloff


When I teach adults to write, I say that using the active voice is the single best way to improve any nonfiction writing. I always include this paragraph from Psychology Today, Spring 1995, based on research at UCLA:

“When men read rape-and-battery stories written in the passive voice, they attribute less blame to the perpetrator – and less harm to the victim – than when reading the active-voice versions. The reason? Probably, says Nancy Henley, Ph.D., because passive-voice sentences don’t mention the attacker. As a result, male readers ignore the perpetrator and blame the victim.”

I follow it with this active-voice sentence – John Doe raped a woman at Suburban Station – tells a story in a terse, straightforward way.

And this passive-voice sentence – A woman was raped by John Doe in Suburban Station – which talks around the story by focusing on the victim, not the perpetrator.

I  teach this example to reinforce the strength and power of active verbs.

For a writing workshop I taught last week, I included this item in the hand-outs. And received this surprising response from the organizers:

“We received your hand-outs today and are a little uncomfortable with the reference used to demonstrate the passive/active voice scenario.  Not that we are prudish but it will be a mixed audience and I am afraid it may offend some people or make them uncomfortable.”

I reminded them that the lesson was about verbs, not rape. They deleted it anyway.

If you have another powerful example of the muscle of active verbs, please share. I can keep it on tap for future squeamish writing courses.

Posted in Advanced writing techniques, World of words, Writing essays, Writing life, Writing mistakes, Writing tips, Writing training, Writing website copy | 1 Comment