Infographic Content: Writing with Brevity

When I was working for an in-house marketing team, I launched a lunch-and-learn series for our team to give people the opportunity to learn about each other's skill sets. We also invited other SME's within our organization to speak, which boosted the team's understanding of other divisions within our organization and gave them a deeper knowledge of what we were trying to market.

I created and used this infographic content for my own lunch-and-learn presentation about writing for short pieces. It was targeted to marketing professionals but written broadly enough to help listeners become better writers across the board.

How to Write Powerful Copy: Five Takeaways for Effective Writing in Short Pieces

1. As Shakespeare said, brevity is the soul of wit. If we want our audiences to see what we write, we have to make it worth a look. Long sentences can be beautiful, but fewer words can mean readers reach the call to action faster.

2. Power, wit & polish. In short works, be a poet. Consider each word. Examine each sentence as a unit of meaning. Retain voice. Revise, revise, revise.

3. Kill all your darlings. Revisions are critical to writing effective copy, and what you love most may end up on the chopping block. Revisions are uncomfortable, but you have to find a balance between client feedback and your own vision for the finished piece.

4. The most important info goes first. Front-load your paragraphs and sentences with the most important information when you're limited on space.

5. Tune your voice. Read your writing aloud to yourself or a friend. How is the rhythm of the piece? Are there places in the copy that verbally trip you up? Did you catch an error? Can you hear the voice? This works from novels down to emails.

Recommended Reading

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

On Writing by Stephen King