by Sue Horner | Jul 23, 2014 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Any writing can be improved by careful attention to words that convey meaning or emotion, or metaphors and analogies that bring a concept to life. The July issue of my newsletter, Wordnerdery, shares some wonderful examples of expressive writing I’ve found...
by Sue Horner | May 8, 2014 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
One of my clients had a standing request to find a photo for each article written for the employee newsletter. No wonder; “Photos attract even the most casual reader,” says The Canadian Press Stylebook, and that makes captions “probably the most-read words…after...
by Sue Horner | Jul 4, 2013 | Most popular posts, The Red Jacket Diaries blog
“I grew up sort of basted in words.” That wonderful evocative sentence comes from Richard Bach in The Bridge Across Forever. The line explains his childhood, where his father read stories in German – translating as he read – and the boy’s mother...
by Sue Horner | Jun 3, 2013 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
“Grizzle makes me sizzle.” You can bet that I will never mispronounce (retired) Judge Stanley Grizzle’s name again. For the record, it’s “Grizz – ZELL.” But mispronounce it I did when calling to set up an interview with the...
by Sue Horner | Apr 25, 2013 | Most popular posts, The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The easier we make it to read our newsletters and other material, the more people will read, understand and retain. Sometimes copy reviewers – engineers and lawyers spring to mind – will challenge you. They’ll try to turn simple words into stilted, formal...
by Sue Horner | Apr 5, 2013 | Most popular posts, The Red Jacket Diaries blog
Some days I look at the topic a client has asked me to write about and think, “How on earth am I going to make this interesting?” You know the topics. They’re necessary, but they aren’t the sexiest. Safety reminders, maybe, or a potentially dry...
by Sue Horner | Feb 27, 2013 | The Red Jacket Diaries blog
The mail this week included a short printed newsletter from a local real estate agent. She always includes a chatty page about family and seasonal activities. It is all very heart-warming and she’s a lovely woman. But! One! short! page! Had 16 exclamation marks!...
by Sue Horner | Feb 7, 2013 | Most popular posts, The Red Jacket Diaries blog
“Write for impatient users.” If you take nothing else away from the latest study done by web usability expert Jakob Nielsen, that would be it. While Nielsen was specifically looking at how teens navigate online, you could make the case that everyone is...
by Sue Horner | Aug 9, 2012 | Most popular posts, The Red Jacket Diaries blog
It can be easy to just go along with formal, wordy and awkward wording, especially if your Legal team has a chance to review articles before you publish them. (Sorry, lawyers, but you know you aren’t comfortable with informal!) But please don’t. I’ve...
by Sue Horner | Jun 12, 2012 | Most popular posts, The Red Jacket Diaries blog
There used to be a service that provided “canned” content to be used as filler for employee newsletters. I never understood why. A newsletter is precious real estate. Even an e-newsletter only has so much space available before the reader gets distracted...
