Plain language – it doesn’t have to be boring

There are some writers in the world who don’t merely love words, they have acquired logolepsy (which also means a love of words – but this is a lofty kind of love). These people aren’t simply signed up to word-of-the-day emails – but to something like this http://highvocabulary.wordsof.org/, so that they can learn words like ‘gormless’, ‘minatory’ or ‘oleaginous’.

These lexiphanes (people who use really long words – or rather, eschew monosyllabic iterations) also tend to memorise a few showy Latin phrases to pepper into their writing. ‘Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur’ (everything sounds more impressive when said in Latin), after all.

But enough of that – the point I’m getting at is this: If you’re trying to impress an academic at an intellectual conference, then sure, use your verbose language. But if your main aim is to write copy that communicates with the public – you should aim to be understood by as many people as possible.

That’s where plain language comes in.

Now don’t get the wrong idea – plain language doesn’t all mean simplistic, ‘dumbed-down’ or boring language. It simply means language that is straightforward, clear and precise – language that has had all the unnecessarily complicated words chopped out. It can still be vibrant and exciting – using strong, visual words – without being complicated.

As copywriters, we should be creating content that connects people to the information they want, right? So it makes sense that we should make it easy for people to understand.

‘The key to making things understandable is to understand what it’s like not to understand,’  said Richard Saul Wurman, an American architect, graphic designer and pioneer in the practice of making information easily understandable – a very wise man.

So what is the best way to make your content easy to understand? It’s simple – use everyday words that your audience can understand the first time they read it.

Think of long, complex words as hurdles in the race to understanding. Using simpler words doesn’t mean you’re insulting your readers’ intelligence – it just emphasises clarity above formality.

In conclusion, the only apodictic method for avoiding misapprehensions of Brobdingnagian proportions is appropriating plain language!

Plain language is the way forward, because:

Also In Vino Veritas, Carpe Diem and all of those good things. 

Since when did everyone become a foodie?

The year 2012 ended innocently enough, the world was as it should be and everything was in its rightful place. But then the sun rose on 2013 – and everything changed!  Suddenly and inexplicably everyone was a foodie. Friends, family, acquaintances and co-workers all fell prey to the craze, taking up arms in the culinary crusade and, quite frankly, I worry for them.

Because I DO NOT think it’s okay to think that a dark chocolate, citrus infused pigeon is ever okay.

I have a strict policy: I DO NOT eat at restaurants that serve saffron anything, or have the words “Balsamic reduction” or “deconstructed” on the menu.

I find this kind of cooking disdainfully avant-garde. Yes, yes, I’m a pleb. I like baked potato and steak. I do not appreciate food like this:

Apple caviar with Banana foam. Lychee Bubbles filled with Sage Vapour on Oysters. Chocolate mousse infused with Tobacco and quail eggs cooked at three different temperatures for three hours. (WHY?)

I want to draw your attention to this website: http://stuffycheaks.blogspot.com/2011/02/16-course-molecular-gastronomy-tasting.html

It presents us with an example of a 16-course molecular-gastronomy-tasting menu (I’ll come back to that molecular gastronomy part in a paragraph or two). But after reading through their menu, I feel I need to ask the chef a few questions:

1. What in the name of normalcy is a sweet and sour tangerine veil?
2. What, pray tell, is bacon dust?
3. And who on this holy earth mixes compressed watermelon, mango 'egg yolk' and dehydrated capers?

As promised, lets take a look at that phrase, “Molecular Gastronomy”, which is described as follows: a whole new emotional and sensory experience of eating, serving dishes such as crab ice cream and snail porridge. If I were served crab ice cream, I guarantee you I’d definitely have a whole new emotional experience (and it wouldn’t be good!) Other treats include Mango Ravioli, edible sea sand foam, parsley champagne and frozen Parmesan air.

I have another strict restaurant policy: I don’t eat at restaurants called “The Singing Avocado” or “The Purple Orange” or “The Pirouetting Pig”. Names like this just confuse me. No, I eat at simple restaurants with self-explanatory names like “The Meat Company”, “The Punjab Chicken King” or “Jimmy’s Killer Prawns”. No confusion there!

You know exactly what you’re getting. And you can be sure their menus do not boast: Smoked Reindeer, smothered in a Spicy emulsion of fois gras and jasmine infused air, floating gracefully down a babbling brook of balsamic reduction, shrouded in a veil of tart strawberry foam, nestled in a pillow of aromatic anchovy soufflé, sprinkled with a fine pork rind dust and doused in a beetroot champagne.

Green Pea Jelly & Egg:

Would you eat this?

Grilled Watermelon Salad:

How is this a salad?

How to Write More Powerful, Professional Email Subject Lines

It's all about first impressions. Before opening the email, that one line is all that your readers will have to go on, and it's what they'll use to decide whether to bother reading it or not. Today, a vast amount of emails that anybody receives is spam, so you have to make sure that your subject line sets your message apart and authenticates your message as non-spam.

Think it over
It's important to take a few minutes to consider the appropriate subject line. Many people don't put much thought into it, they simply ramble off a quick sentence and focus more on the content of the actual email. It might be a better idea to write your email first and then, once you have a better idea of what exactly you're saying in your email, formulate your subject.

Make it personal
Keep your intended recipient in mind when you're trying to come up with the best line. Think about the types of keywords and phrases that will catch your reader's eye and use them. You should also consider what part of your message would be most important to your reader and focus on that for your subject line.

Be specific
Why are you writing this email to the reader? That's the question in their minds when they receive your email in their inbox. So to write a more powerful email subject line, you need to get straight to the point - this is not the right place to waffle on. Include details that help the reader to figure out what you're talking about in your email quickly and without confusion. E.g. if you're emailing a painter to find out his rates, you would say something like, "Enquiry: hourly painting rates."

Take action
If your email is requesting an action from your reader, include it in your subject line. If you are inviting your reader to a meeting you might say, "Invitation: Body Corporate Annual Meeting, Clubhouse Jan 19." (Remember - you're trying to be specific, so include the date) The same applies for any other action, or maybe you're sending a reminder - say so! Start your email off with 'Reminder:" If there's a deadline involved, it might also be helpful to include that in the subject line too.

Make the cut
Because you're trying to be as specific as possible - you're basically trying to fit as many words as you can into just one line. This doesn't mean you should try to use more words, you should keep it to one short line with about 70 characters. Here's the trick - leave out unnecessary words. It doesn't have to be a full sentence, so leave out articles, adjectives and adverbs.

Jo Watson Productions is a writing collective that offers full writing services. Check out our website for more information. 

Why Should You Use a Professional Proofreader?

So you have some natural flair with words, and you don't need to use a copywriter. But no matter how amazing your writing is - if it doesn't get your message across as clearly as possible, or if it has any spelling or grammatical mistakes, it immediately loses credibility.

No problem. You have spell check. That will take care of everything, right?
Wrong.

"Its possible to still have mistakes in you're copy after you've put it threw a spellchecker, even tough you might think its suppose to fix all you're mistakes: You won't believe the affects this could have on you're copy; you'll be left wandering watt went wrong."

Did you pick up all 12 mistakes in that paragraph?

Spell check wouldn't have found a single one. A proofreader on the other hand would have found and corrected every single one for you:
"It's possible to still have mistakes in your copy after you've put it through a spellchecker, even though you might think it's supposed to fix all your mistakes. You won't believe the effects this could have on your copy; you'll be left wondering what went wrong."

You might be able to count on spell check to spot all the obvious mistakes. But a computer can't figure out when you've simply used the wrong word and it doesn't spot all the punctuation errors.

Or maybe you think you can simply proofread your own work. You have a generally good grip on the English language, that's good enough right? Well, here's the problem with that: Proofreading your own work is the most difficult thing to do. Even professional writers - who are also professional proofreaders - will send their writing to other professional proofreaders. With your own writing, you already know what's coming next and so your brain might fix the problems automatically. And that means there's always a (fairly big) chance that you could miss a mistake - from something as simple as a little spelling mistake to something like getting the meaning of a sentence completely wrong.

That's why, before you submit any kind of writing for distribution or publication - you need to make sure it gets your message across as clearly as possible. This means it should be organised well and free of any grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and spelling mistakes. Proofreaders will find and correct mistakes - and improve the flow of your sentences.

If you make sure the last step of your writing process is making use of a professional proofreading service - you can rest assured that it will get your message across to your intended audience in the best possible way.

Get your worked checked by a professional proofreader, Jo Watson Productions offers professional proofreading, editing and wriiting services!

Translation - 4 Good Reasons to Use a Professional

Yes, English is considered the universal language of business. But there are many other languages across the world that you might need to communicate in.

South Africa is a great example as it has 11 official languages. If you want to appeal to people who speak a different language - it's much easier for them to relate to you if you communicate in their own language. So in order to bridge those cultural gaps and appeal to a larger market, you need to have some translation done. When you connect with your audience in their home language - it becomes more personal and localised.

In that case, you have a friend who speaks Zulu. She can translate all your documents for you quickly and easily. No need to waste money on a professional translator. Or you can just use Google translator and you'll manage, right? Wrong. Sub-standard translations will make your business look unprofessional and you'll lose credibility.

There are 4 good reasons why you need to make use of a professional translation service.

1. The human touch is still best
   Automated translators just don't get the job done as well as a professional (and human) translator can. If translation were simply a matter of plugging in a word for another word, like a code, then the automated translator machines would be all anyone ever needed. However, you have probably noticed that languages vary in grammatical structure and idioms that make word for word substitution impractical, and sometimes even dangerous.
   
2. Not just anyone can translate professionally
   A professional translator isn't just someone who is fluent in more than one language. They need to be linguistic experts with excellent knowledge and command of both languages - written and spoken. And in combination with the linguistic skills, they need good writing skills.
   
3. You're translating concepts, not just words.
   Translation is the communication of whole concept, not just words. That's why professional translators need to have an understanding of the etymology and idioms of the two languages and how they compare. An important skill of translation is knowing when to translate literally and when to paraphrase in order to best capture the original authors intended meaning.
   
4. Translating jargon takes special knowledge
   Professional translators need to be familiar with the subject matter of the text they are translating. This means they have to be comfortable with the jargon of the subject. They need to have a great enough understanding of the subject to communicate it in the target language - to various different audiences.

Your Quick Guide to More Concise Writing

People aren't interested in reading long paragraphs of writing unless they're reading a novel - especially when you're writing for the internet. So you need to make sure you say everything you need to say, in as few words as possible. Here are some tips on how to cut your word count and make your writing more concise, and therefore more compelling.

Be careful of repeating yourself
Watch out for unnecessary words that are already implied, like "end result" - it's already implied that the result is at the end. Other examples include "I saw it with my own two eyes", "close proximity" or "round in shape".
Also be watch out for phrases that mean the same thing as an adjective you've already used, like "Underprivileged people who don't have a lot of money can't afford luxuries."

Cut down on phrases
And then, like above, when you're describing something don't use a long phrase when just a word or two will do. So instead of saying something like "People who are honest always tell the truth.", you could simply say "Honest people always tell the truth." Or "The boy at the end of the queue had red hair." could rather be "The last boy had red hair."

Remove superfluous phrases
There are certain "filler" phrases that don't add any meaning to your sentences. This includes phrases "who was" or "that is" used in this way: "The man that is driving the red car is speeding." could just be "The man driving the red car is speeding." Other examples are "due to the fact that", "for all intents and purposes" or "a total of".

Ease up on the modifiers
Modifiers are words like "very" and "really", and they also don't add a lot of meaning to a sentence. Rather find more powerfully descriptive words than add modifiers to increase the meaning. For example, instead of saying "When I get home from work I'm always very tired." you could say, "When I get home from work I'm always exhausted."

Beware the clichés
Clichés are used so often that they've become completely worn out and don't add any meaning to your writing. All that it does is adds to your word count, and sometimes annoys your readers. So stay away from phrases like "tried and tested", "time is money" and "money makes the world go round".

 Jo Watson Productions offers professional writing services. Get any writing you need, from brochures to SEO articles, done for you - effectively. 

Editing Versus Proofreading - Know the Difference

Editor - proofreader. To-may-to - to-mah-to. They're basically the same thing right?

Well, not so much.
It's a pretty common misconception - many people say 'proofread' when they actually mean 'edit' and vice versa. But the two should never be confused. Although there are a few similarities - there's actually quite a big difference between the two.

Dictionary definitions
According to Dictionary.com, the definitions are:
· proof·read [proof-reed]
verb
1. to read (printers' proofs, copy, etc.) in order to detect and mark errors to be corrected.
· ed·it [ed-it]
verb
1. to revise or correct, as a manuscript.
2. to prepare (text) for publication by checking and improving its accuracy, clarity, etc
But what do they mean in practice?

Edit
Editors have a slightly more in-depth look at your text. They will go through your copy and make sure that it is free of any mistakes or inconsistencies. Many people think that editing simply means finding and fixing all the spelling mistakes. It's true that this is an important part of the job - but there are so many other elements that editors have to look out for.

They will go through text and generally improve the quality of writing and the way it flows. On top of fixing the spelling, punctuation, typos and other obvious mistakes - they fix the grammar and check that sentences make sense. They make sure the style and presentation is consistent and that names and dates are always treated the same. This means editors have to have a deeper understanding of the accepted style across various fields.

Proofread
Proofreaders are somewhat like the final checking point before something goes off to publication. So once the copy has been written, and edited, a typesetter will produce a proof copy of the final product - article, brochure etc. The proofreader will then check it in conjunction with the copy to make sure that no mistakes were made in the typesetting and that the editor didn't miss any mistakes in the original copy. 

 Proofreaders have a specially trained eye for catching small errors that most our brains' will just automatically correct. Another major different between an editor and a proofreader is that a proofreader has no editorial say. They simply highlight the errors they found and query it with the editors and typesetters. Proofreaders also have extra pressure to be extremely accurate because they are the last stage before publication.

It's a good idea for any writer to have their work edited or proofread by professional editors and proofreaders, because it's even more difficult to spot mistakes in your own work.

 Get professional proofreading and editing services to make sure your copy is perfect! Jo Watson Productions is a writing collective that offers full writing services, from brochures to articles to SEO writing; proofreading and editing services.