Noisy Writing

Why we use innuendo

david — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:56:30 +0000

Why bother using innuendo if the whole point is that we both know what we really mean? Psychologist Steven Pinker explains in another great animated talk from the RSA.

How working memory affects writing

david — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:25:17 +0000

Working memory is the part of your mind that holds information while you try and process it. We have much less than you might think. In the 1950s, psychologist George Miller found that the working memory can hold only five to nine ‘psychological units’ at any moment: Seven digits (plus or minus two). Six letters. [...]

So what? Ask it, before your audience does

david — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 11:57:59 +0000

A compelling and persuasive message needs a clear benefit that its target audience can understand immediately. As an example, I saw the sign above outside a beautiful Georgian house in Hackney. Making quite a lot of assumptions, I thought, wow, isn’t it great that there are these social renegades subverting the system, saving unused buildings, [...]

Create more effective adverts in less than two hours

david — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:36:30 +0000

In 1999, a team of Israeli researchers took a bunch of total amateurs and taught them how to create brilliant adverts in less than two hours. That’s less time than you’d spend sharpening pencils, surfing the internet or doing whatever it is you do to put off starting work on something difficult. The researchers gave [...]

How to write an advert

Alfie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:21:32 +0000

Posters, leaflets and adverts all have one thing in common – they make people care enough about what you’re offering to take action. They do that with a compelling headline: “At 60mph the loudest noise in this new Rolls Royce comes from the electric clock” They laughed when I sat down at the piano but [...]

Finding your core message

Alfie — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:20:45 +0000

What’s so hard about saying what you do? I mean, you’re doing it every day after all. But faced with 30 seconds to make someone interested enough to want to get in touch later (and remember who you are when you do), it’s all too easy to mumble something about engagement, support, and helping people [...]

Writing a better funding application

Alfie — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:57:51 +0000

Throughout the application form, explain everything as if the person reading it knows nothing. Imagine you’re writing for a child who says ‘whhyyy???’ after everything you say. If you don’t answer them, you are giving the funder a reason to deduct points. Use clear and simple language. Be as specific as possible with your proposal [...]

What funders are looking for

Alfie — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:46:53 +0000

Funders often have such broad, abstract outcomes, you wonder what they don’t fund: Our four primary areas of interest are: The cultural life of the UK. Education and learning. The natural environment. Enabling disadvantaged people to participate more fully in society. (Esmée Fairbairn Foundation) Which is why they had more than 5,000 eligible applications in [...]

Why learning about writing just makes it harder

david — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:06:22 +0000

Learning about style and grammar helps you produce a better finished product. But it also increases the gap between your idea of good writing, and the type of writing you produce in the instant you write it down. You might become a better editor, but you also get better at inhibiting you writing.

Applying for funding? How to beat the odds

Alfie — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:33:58 +0000

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about looking for funding is that most funders do not fund ongoing running costs, however amazing you might be. Funders usually fund specific projects. This project-based approach doesn’t mean you have to think of new things to do: it’s an opportunity to find new ways of doing what you do: [...]