Unmasking the Battle for Genuine Communication in a Formulaic Content World
A few thoughts about generative AI and LinkedIn “bros.”* * LI bros: Heavy LI posters (essentially always men of a certain generation) who promise to 10x everything, and provide you with frameworks, templates, courses, etc. ** Heat death: A hypothetical end state of any system, up to and including the Universe, in which energy is […]
Why Not Everyone ‘Getting You’ is a Good Thing
There’s a possible downside to a personal brand.* What if people don’t get it? Or they don’t get you? The fear is that “not getting you” means some people don’t understand you or even like you all that much. But keep in mind that when people don’t get you, they also don’t get the benefit […]
Creation or Convenience
Printed dictionaries are amazing! Earlier this week, I needed to break out my Italian dictionary to write a comment in Italian. It reminded me of how much fun it is to look up words, seeing how the various options both do and don’t match depending on context and nuance, looking at example phrases, exploring other […]
Writing Tip: Illuminate What’s There
The best writing should be like the light in the desert. Sharpness that verges on the hyperreal Clarity in the relationship between foreground and background Wide perspective and intense focus on every nook and nuance of a topic No detail beyond what is vividly and presently there Strive for these goals in the framing of […]
Don’t Start Sentences With “This”
It’s #writingtiptuesday. No, that’s not a thing, but maybe it should be? Don’t start sentences with “this” as a way to refer back to your previous sentence. 🚫 “This is a bad idea.” Why? It’s never entirely clear what you are referring to (i.e., the antecedent is vague). Do I mean that my rule is […]
New Hire: Vanessa Drucker Joins Syncresis as a Senior Writer
Experienced financial journalist Vanessa Drucker is joining Syncresis in the role of Senior Writer. She specializes in writing, editing, and research across a wide range of thought leadership and marketing content formats. In her work, Drucker draws on both her legal and academic background.
Book Review: The Practice, Seth Godin
Seth Godin’s latest book, The Practice, may read like a manifesto about doing creative work, but beyond the apparent surface, it makes a beautiful, inspiring case for generosity and commitment in whatever we do. The concepts apply much more broadly than to work such as writing, music, or the visual arts. Arguably, we are creative in how we lead, how we solve problems, and how we interact with others, too. We can bring many of Godin’s ideas to bear in those dimensions of work as well.
An Unexpected Reason Why Grammar Matters
Grammar matters because it expresses relationality. That is, it specifies the relationships between and among entities, events, and ideas. Most readers do not map this out in their minds, But for writers, the more precise they are, the more likely they are to bring an intense focus to the syntactical dimension of grammar, i.e., constructing sentences, linking those sentences, and, finally, orchestrating their flow into a complete piece of writing.
Twelve Months of Two Drops
This year I have had the good fortune of working as a monthly contributor on Two Drops of Ink, regularly recognized in annual lists of the best blogs on writing for writers. It’s been a wonderful opportunity, and I am looking forward to another year interacting with the editors and writers who make up the […]
Four Things You Should Expect from a Ghostwriter
Not everyone has the time or talent to write. While I have not seen any specific studies, it is not unreasonable to assume that the majority of C-level executives do not develop their own articles or speeches. In my own experience, most people with a significant span of responsibilities within a company prefer not to […]