P is for pace
Pace matters. Most good content moves along at neither breakneck sprint nor plodding dawdle. And varying pace – choosing the right spots to do so – is important for keeping the reader engaged.
It also allows you to control the impact of important points. You don’t want your reader to zip through without noticing what you intended to say. They shouldn’t finish reading feeling dissatisfied, with writing so sparse and speedy it feels insubstantial.
But neither should your reader find it’s taking so long to get to the point they are tempted to go and make a cup of tea instead.
Varying pace can help build a relationship. Your opening sentence should be short and zippy. It needs to grab the attention. Avoid preamble. But a little judicious meandering later on – perhaps a relatable, engaging anecdote – lends a friendly, conversational feel. It’s a good way to introduce some personal or brand character.
That is not the same as waffling though. (See W for waffle – or rather how to avoid it.) All your writing should be relevant. An anecdote must explain your message. Lobbing a few more adjectives or longer words in is not the answer.
Extra statistics or details, on the other hand, can help set up your argument and slow the reader before they hit the key points.
When editing your work, consider the pace. If it feels a bit stodgy, try stripping out some detail, any points which don’t need to be made and long clauses. Shorter sentences will give the writing more zip.
Punctuation and subheadings are also helpful for maintaining energy, content indicating where readers should pause and creating space around key points.
Content writers need to tweak the traditional saying. This is a marathon AND a sprint.
N is for narrative
When you are in a hurry, it’s best to walk straight from A to B. But if there’s more time, going from A to B via C might be more interesting, especially if C includes a scenic river walk.
In fact going via C and then getting lost and encountering a flock of belligerent sheep would make the journey even more memorable.
The same is true of content writing. A less predictable structure sometimes works, especially if there are elements of set-up, conflict and resolution.
While we’ve explained that you should always put your key points right at the start of your text, we do find that experimenting with the narrative structure of the piece can lead to a better pay-off for the reader.
If you haven’t planned a seemingly unrelated introduction then it’s always best to set off in the right direction – be clear on what you’re talking about. But do start to add some colour.
This doesn’t mean you need to clutter up your text with a set of five characters, each with their own backstory, or some other literary device, but do try to work in an additional hook. This could be an imagined scenario, a set of facts woven together, a look at past events or posing a broad question.
Don’t let your story stray too much from your goals though. Weaving your diversions – the via C elements – through the structure, with brief but frequent mentions works better than a solid splurge of off-topic writing.
And of course do remember that even if you are going via C, you must still end up at B. Otherwise you have not so much taken your reader on an interesting route as simply lost them somewhere on the way.
O is for originality
There is no shortage of content out there. If yours is to attract attention and have any impact, it needs to stand out from the crowd.
Originality is one of the hallmarks of good writing. That doesn’t always mean finding an entirely new subject – though do share it if you do – but it does mean your writing should offer something different.
It should find new ways to express ideas; it should say something new and valuable; and it should be well-written.
So how can you ensure what you write is original?
Be creative. You might be covering a well-known or unavoidable topic. You need to move the story forward; reward your readers for their attention. This might mean sharing expertise, offering research or even making a joke. (See L for laughter.)
Avoid statements of the obvious. This means pitching the knowledge level right for the expected audience. If you are writing about mortgages, for instance, you need to think about whether your reader is a financial professional or a first-time house buyer.
Try varying the format. Could you tell the story in graphics or lists rather than following the well-worn path? Perhaps the opinion of a third-party expert could bring new insight. Would a podcast offer a fresh take?
Ultimately ask yourself whether your reader will be better informed by what you have to say. If not, it might be best not to say it.
Q is for questions that guide content
“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers”, said seventeenth century Voltaire.
It might seem like a handy get out in the event of not actually knowing the answers, but in fact questions are very important in structuring and writing good content.
If your writing is to be valuable, insightful and – as importantly – actually found in the sea of internet content, it must answer a question which your audience is genuinely asking.
Think about what it is that people actually want to know about your subject. Is there a why, what, when or how you can address?
If there is, you have probably found your headline. And you should keep that question in mind all the way through your writing.
Questions also provide a useful writers’ checklist, helping to formulate the plan (you do need one). Provide the structure and achieve the purpose.
Questions to ask before you start
- Why am I writing this?
- Who is my audience?
- What is keeping them awake at night?
- What excites them?
- What is their level of knowledge
- What is the message that I want them to take away?
Questions to ask after you have finished
- Am I offering something practical?
- Am I pitching my language at the right level for this audience?
- Have I guided them through my material and moved the story forward?
- Above all, will they be better informed, having read this piece?
Any questions? Do let us know.
Z is for zing
And so we come to Z. As well as all the other characteristics already outlined, good writing calls for something more. It needs some zing or zest. (We did have Z options, see.)
Zing, according to the Collins dictionary, is the quality which makes something “lively or interesting”. Injecting personality into your writing will make it more enjoyable to read, more memorable and therefore more successful. It can also help to build a relationship between your readers and brand.
Of course there are no rules for zinging. It is not a tangible, off-the-shelf quality. But there are plenty of ways you can try to introduce character to your writing.
The starting point is an interesting subject or angle and a clear sense of purpose. Articles, and indeed paragraphs and sentences, which set out without a clear target tend to plod rather than sparkle.
Consider your format, too. It might be that what you want to get across is better conveyed visually. Infographics can be a good way to bring facts and stats to life.
Avoid clichés and jargon and try to adopt a natural, informal but professional tone. A good way to do this is to imagine how you might explain what you want to say to a friend.
And reading your work aloud after you have finished is a good trick, too. Be honest. If it’s boring or entirely predictable, have another go.
Adding a few relevant anecdotes, analogies and details – something a little unexpected – can bring the zing.
Y is for YMYL
The 2015 release of Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines gave us two new acronyms. Suddenly everyone was talking EAT (See E for Expertise, A for Authority and T for Trust) and YMYL.
If you are either an old-school highwayman* or a writer keen to climb the SEO ladder, YMYL, Your Money or Your Life, is a useful phrase.
Websites and content which Google deems to be YMYL – in other words where inaccurate or deceptive information could harm readers’ health, financial stability, safety or wellbeing – are, rightly, subject to high levels of scrutiny.
For material on news or current affairs (such as business, science, politics or technology); law or government; finances (taxes, investments or retirement, for instance); medicine or health, the stakes are high.
Of course, your writing should display expertise, authority and trustworthiness whether it fits these categories or not, but those stakes are especially high if it does. Slipping up on EAT will have a negative impact not only on what you are writing right now, but also on your brand or profile more generally.
Ensure that what you write is factually accurate and that it demonstrates your expertise. Including biographies and links to other published material is a helpful way for the reader and the SEO bots to verify this and to build audience confidence. If you don’t have expertise on the subject, get someone who does to write it instead.
Check data and sources very carefully and include citations and links. And if your content encourages feedback and reader interaction, make sure this is moderated.
*If you actually are an old-school highwayman, Highbrook is unable to help.
After all, we have to keep our own YMYL status in mind.
X is for Xennial
From generations Alpha to Z, via the Xennials, the population is always changing. It isn’t all about millennials. And we aren’t the only ones doing an A-Z.
Good writing tends to know who its reader might be. And while catchy demographic categories don’t tell us everything – or allow for much individuality and nuance – they can be a good starting point.
You most likely do know your target customer or audience. So it pays to think about the kinds of concerns, interests, lifestyles and ways of doing things which they might share.
Snapchat content might be better suited to a Generation Y reader (also known as a millennial), born no later than the mid-1990s, than to a post-war baby boomer, for instance. Demographics help us understand how customers find information and buy products and services.
Researching your market also means you can ensure topics, cultural references and pricing are appropriate.
Tread carefully though. The content equivalent of trying to be too down with the kids will make readers cringe. While assuming that an older audience will only be interested in pensions and retirement homes is downright offensive.
The Office for National Statistics produces annual information (in the UK), which helps unpick the geography, income and technology issues in population.
Xennials, by the way, were born in the late 1970s to early 1980s. They are characterised as having gone from analogue childhood to digital adulthood.
The current generation Alpha has around four more years to grow. From 2025 on we can look forward to meeting generation Beta – and updating the A-Z.
W is for waffle
Waffle should be avoided (but waffles should not be).
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the act of waffling as to “speak or write at length in a vague or trivial manner”. It is, by definition, incompatible with good content, which should have purpose and insight.
Rambling or unnecessarily lengthy writing can leave its readers unclear about the key messages. And that’s on the rather charitable assumption that they see it through to the end. People are short of time. Don’t waste it.
The key to waffle-dodging is planning. Have the key points you want to make and the structure you will use in your head before starting. It is much easier to avoid padding and detours if your path is clearly defined.
Clarify your purpose. What do you want the reader to know and do? Identify the most important messages to share. You should then know roughly where you will start and end up; and what you will say along the way. It can be helpful to plan sub-headings and fit your key messages around them.
When you do start writing, keep sentences and paragraphs to sensible lengths. (See F for full stop for more on this.)
This is not to say there is no place for personality, anecdotes and detail. Some of these are welcome, perhaps even vital. The aim is not writing by numbers. Just be sure that key points are not obscured and that extras bring something to the party.
Finally, edit your work. Waffle can creep in when you are trying to fill a page, and is often easier to spot with hindsight.
V is for verbs
Whatever else you have forgotten since school, you probably remember that verbs are ‘doing words’.
Without them our sentences wouldn’t go anywhere, do anything or achieve much. Cats wouldn’t sit on mats, if you will forgive further rummaging through the primary school grammar archive.
Verbs explain actions and states of being. And good writing relies on them for its heavy lifting.
So it pays to think about your choice of verb; to make sure it delivers maximum impact without relying on too much adjectival padding.
The most commonly used verbs in English are to be, to have, to do, to say and to go. Variety is nice. If we endlessly trot out the regulars it can feel a little plodding. But don’t get carried away.
If you have an interviewee, it’s fine for them to just say things. They needn’t be laughing, smiling, interjecting and so on every time they need to speak.
And while it’s actually rather good fun to play around with language (well, we think so anyway), there’s no need to behold something when you can see it, or partake of it if you can just use it.
Choose a simple verb form rather than a wordy verb and noun combination if you can. You can ‘investigate’ rather than ‘conduct an investigation’, for instance.
Favouring the active voice over the passive is also generally advisable. This means cats sitting on mats, rather than mats being sat on by cats. The active generally has more impact and takes up fewer words.
George Orwell, in his essay Politics and the English Language, set out six rules for good writing. Two of these instructed his readers to avoid both the passive and the long word respectively if active or shorter words were available.
You probably remember another rule from those school grammar lessons. If there’s no verb, it isn’t a sentence.
More from Orwell on his own rules: Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
A sentence does need a verb. But sometimes you don’t need a sentence.
We like to follow the rules. Usually.
U is for useful
Neither you nor your reader want to waste time. Content must be useful to both you (or your company or brand) and your audience. If it’s not, then both parties would be better off doing something else. In the case of the reader, they might not be back either.
A good starting point for content is to think about what your audience wants or needs to know. How can you offer something which will help them? Showing off your skill in growing apples is of limited value if what your readers actually want to know is how to grow pears.
Think carefully about the key issues and the level of knowledge your likely audience will have. The language and the content must be pitched appropriately. Highbrook has an aversion to what it terms the Statement of the Obvious (SOTO). If your reader already knows it, don’t waste their time by telling them it again. It’s not useful, is irritating and possibly patronising, too.
That is not to say that covering topics which are already out there can’t be useful; rather that your take on them must add value. You could share some new insight, research or information.
Usefulness should work both ways. Ask yourself what the value of your writing will be to your brand. It might be a question of building reputation and authority or it might be intended to support a particular product or service.
Finish off with a clear call to action. This should explain to readers what they should do next. This will maximise its usefulness to both parties. It could be a signpost to further reading, an invitation to subscribe or an option to purchase.