Even the Big Guys struggle to write enticing headlines. The cover story of July’s issue of The Costco Connection focuses on “unconventional” Costco members. In his letter from the editor, David W. Fuller writes: “…We tried to boil down to a few words the concept of our cover story. In a full sentence, here is […]
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Yesterday, I challenged you to figure out what’s wrong with the way an author used attribution tags in her novel. Now, let’s talk about where you should put attribution tags (said so-and-so) and how to punctuate them. (Note: this information comes in handy when you’re writing blog posts that tell a story or re-create a […]
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As I was skimming through a Young Adult adventure novel, I couldn’t help but notice the author’s use of attribution tags (said so-and-so). Here’s a sample, excerpted from five pages of dialog between the narrator (“I”) and her new friend, whom I’ll call “Sara.” I spelled each attribution tag exactly as the author did. I’ve […]
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Here’s a creative writing exercise that may spark ideas for future blog posts. Combine two movies you’d never associate with one another into one new blockbuster. Examples: Iron Music Man A combo of The Music Man (1962) and Iron Man (2008) A billionaire genius, Professor Harold Stark, invents an indestructible suit of armor made from […]
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The owner of a car lot narrated the following radio ad:
“…These cars are heavily incentivized…”
Incentivized?
I’ve heard of “offering incentives.”
But incentivized? I had to check it out. Sure enough, it’s in the dictionary, and it means “to give incentives to.” Another form of the verb is incentivizing (what a mouthful!).
I stand corrected. Incentivized really is a word. But is it the appropriate word to use when advertising cars — or anything, for that matter?
I hate it when people use big, impressive-sounding words when small ones will do.
[ Read more ]I have Google Alerts set up for my name and my business name (you should, too, if you don’t already). Whenever something is published online that includes the words, “Laura Christianson” or “Blogging Bistro,” I receive an e-mail with a link to the article. I received an alert that a monthly column I wrote for […]
[ Read more ]Here’s a whopping bad example of putrid prose from a direct mail piece I received. The following sentence is an amendment to a Custodial Account Agreement for my retirement fund: The Custodian shall vote all shares that are held in the Participant’s custodial Account on the applicable record date for which proper instructions have not […]
[ Read more ]This is the Bonus Session in our 12-part e-course about the types of blog articles. Combination Model The Combination Model is just what it sounds like: a combination of two or more types of article types. I’ll give you some examples of combination posts, but first, let’s recap the 12 types of blog articles (click […]
[ Read more ]This is Part 12 in a 12-part e-course about the types of blog articles. But stay tuned — there will be a bonus session! Factoid A Factoid is perhaps the easiest type of blog post to write. A factoid is a one-line fact, definition, statistic, current event, or newsworthy tidbit. You can write an entire […]
[ Read more ]This is Part 10 in a 12-part e-course about the types of blog articles. As I was researching issue-oriented articles, I came across a tongue-in-cheek article titled, “How to Write About Africa.” When writing about Africa, the author advises, “Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls, and eat […]
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