Writing is Not About Writing

Writing is Not About Writing

It was somewhere between Shoreditch and London Kings Cross. I had made the mistake of sliding my sweaty arse across the backseat of an Uber, in peak summer season.?

The Uber driver was a chatty old man. This came as a pleasant surprise because most Uber drivers in London are the opposite sort (especially when they’re baking in the heat and secretly wishing their bottle of lukewarm water was an iced margarita instead).?

Anyway, I welcomed his conversation:

“So, do you go to college?”

“No, I’m in the city for business actually”. I replied.

“Business! But you look about fifteen!”

“Yes… I get that a lot. I’m actually thirty-four years’ old”.

“Blimey! Somebody’s been eating their Weetabix! So, what do you do?”

“I’m a writer”. (I say this of course, with a smile on my face).

“A writer! You clever girl! You must be a wordsmith!”?

For the remaining part of that Uber ride, the driver told me his story about immigrating to England from Afghanistan. While doing so, he failed to realise two things.

One, that I could barely hear him speak over the very loud folk music he had on.

And two, that I gravely disagreed with his comment about me being a “wordsmith”.

But I kept my thoughts quiet and simply nodded at the right times during our conversation. Although, the driver’s preconceptions stuck with me. Not because I judged him or anything like that - but because they made me realise how misunderstood people are (including some writers themselves) about the actual craft of writing.

Let me tell you a secret just in case you choose not to read this entire article: Writing well has little to do with the words you use.?

This may seem like an unpopular, illogical, or downright stupid opinion. But I speak from experience. I’ve been writing avidly since the age of seven (started with poetry), I’ve studied the nooks and crannies of English writing like a gynaecologist would study a vagina; and I’ve been writing professionally for close to eight years.?

During this time the most common - and most generalised - question I’ve been asked by people is “How do I write better?”. This is usually followed by statements of self doubt such as “I don’t have a wide vocabulary” and “I’m not as articulate as you”.?

And I tell each and every one of these people, that if they wish to improve their skills as a writer - then they need to stop thinking about the words first. This is perhaps their biggest mistake, because the actual “writing part” isn’t what makes you a good writer.

Allow this thought to marinade in your mind before you even consider what I’m about to share with you.?

Writing is a Consequence?

I must admit, I do cringe when I see content writers promoting their services with phrases like “I choose words that’ll make your brand sizzle!”.?

I mean, Oscar Wilde and Jalal-ad-Din Rumi must be turning in their graves somewhere.

But not all these writers are to blame. We’re conditioned to believe from our early school days that vocabulary, grammar, and spelling is what defines good writing. And while these are all important elements of good content - without context, the writing itself remains about as useful as a fish on a bicycle.?

Context is literary oxygen.

Context may take the shape of values, beliefs, and viewpoints (be they political, spiritual, or environmental) - and breathes life into your work. Without these things, your words lay stagnant like corpses. Frankly, you’re better off asking ChatGPT to churn out the same soulless drivel for you, while you save your valuable time.

For me, writing has always been defined as a “consequence”. It’s a consequence of your experiences, your interpretations, your emotional DNA, and likely the other content you absorb on a daily basis (without even realising it).

I’ll give you an example of what this looks like.

A couple of weeks ago I was tasked to write a 700-word creative piece for a hospitality client. The brief outlined three important points:

1) To research the topic at hand and incorporate it into the content, creatively.

2) To seamlessly wrap the content around the product that the hospitality brand was launching (they’re a food and drink company).

3) To write the copy in the brand’s very defined tone-of-voice.

One of my “secrets” is that I never view a creative writing brief as the complete brief. The above three points are the bare minimums of what I needed to cover. So, I secretly added? one extra point for me to bear in mind; and therefore lift my content even more:

4) Add a relevant philosophy/ value-led hook to the creative piece - mainly to increase the likelihood of the audience emotionally investing in the content (and therefore purchasing the product that was being launched). In a nutshell, go beyond “surface-level” copy - which should always be the goal.?

I knew that addressing that final “secret”l point is what would give my creative piece soul. And this is precisely what I started thinking about at the beginning of my “writing” process - not the actual words themselves.

Most people will tell you that writing a 700-word piece - which is normally less than two full pages long - will take around an hour to write. This is rarely the case when it comes to content that requires more depth, research, and creativity. (So, if a writer is quoting you fees based on word count - respectively, run in the opposite direction).

For this particular task, I spent one-to-two days doing my research; and then using that research to think about the philosophical hook of my content. The question was: Would I highlight this new product’s benefits and then take it up a notch by linking it to values that would connect with the target audience’s emotions?

The answer to the above question formed the theme or what we say in the writing world, the “semantic field” of my content.

I decided that the theme for my creative piece would be: Freedom/ liberation (particularly, the “freedom to express”). Bear in mind, I didn’t just choose this theme because it “sounds nice”. It was also enormously relevant to the brand’s target audience and linked very well to the history of the ingredients used in the new product.?

Do you see how every single contextual detail needs to be considered beforehand?

After the above, I planned exactly what the end message of my content would be and what feeling I would leave readers with - while continuously bringing? the content back to the product that was being launched.

This made the writing part a lot easier - which I started a few days later.

Writing Makes You a “Feelingsmith”?

Writers don’t have the keys to a secret trove of words. We have access to the same words as anybody else who speaks the same language; and we’re no better at moulding them than a telesales person, a newsreader, or a parent who is bribing their misbehaving child with ice-cream.

Words are simply the tools we use to tell stories and deliver a deeper message. And in order to do this impactfully, we must understand human emotions (and the relevance of certain emotions in the content we’re creating) BEFORE anything else.

So, you can now understand my reservations when the chatty Uber driver called me a “wordsmith” - even though it was with good intention.

Me? I definitely see myself as more of a “feelingsmith”. And if your goal is to become a better writer and create more impactful content, then so should you.?

The science part of this is really fascinating. You see, when people read your content, their brain doesn’t make a real distinction between reading about an experience and actually living it. Whether reading or experiencing, the same neurological regions are stimulated in one’s brain - as well as their sensory cortexes (sight, scent, hear, and touch).

So, when you bear this in mind before intentionally crafting a story, you’re able to achieve the effect of “transportation” with your writing - which all the best writers do. This means, the readers start imagining themselves in the literary experience you’re creating - and from that point, you’re in a great position to start influencing their decisions.?

This doesn’t work if you jump right in with the words. No matter how long or clever those words may be - they’re weightless if you fail to think about the emotional impact beforehand.?

Let’s take a moment to understand how “The Prelude to Writing” plan and understanding your audience’s emotions beforehand can be implemented in your hospitality business.

Say your “brief” (or your task) is to craft six emails for an email sequence, to encourage guests to book with your short-term rental property directly, for the summer season.?

First of all, remove the thought from your mind that this can be “easily banged out” in forty minutes. Writing isn’t supposed to be easy. If you find it easy, then I can almost guarantee that you’re not doing a good enough job.

For this example, I’m going to imagine that the short-term rental property is based in the seaside town of St.Ives in Cornwall, England. The typical guest avatar is small families (working parents from the millennial generation, and two-to-three children below the age of 16).

In line with the plan I’ve outlined in the earlier part of this article, I would do this - BEFORE even attempting to write any content.

1) The Brief: Main points would include highlighting the benefits of the STR property and surrounding location, building?trust with the guest avatar, highlighting the benefits of booking directly, and telling the guest avatar exactly how to book (maybe with a limited-time incentive if it’s appropriate for the brand).?

2) The “Secret” Point: For me, the philosophical/ emotional hook would be something along the lines of spending quality time with the children, away from work commitments, the day-to-day “grind”, and the typical “noise” of social media, etc.

3) The Theme/ Semantic Field: Judging by my answer to point two, it seems that the theme of escapism/ peace of mind (escaping into a “summer oasis” etc) would be both relevant and simple enough to capture in the emails. Of course, I would refine the wording later and not settle with generic terms and phrases. This is just for the purpose of notes.?

4 & 5) Plan with End Message & Emotions in Mind: In this case, I would need to plan the content for six emails, but each one would bring the target guest back to that message of escapism and peace of mind with the family. I would most likely focus on one benefit (relating to that end message) per email. Each benefit would lead with emotion; and once said emotion has been evoked, I would suggest the CTA to book direct.?

My notes would look something like this:

Email One: Feelings of parental joy >?

Imagine the look on the kids’ faces when they sink their toes in the warm sand >?

The beach is just footsteps away from the STR >?

Book direct for a better rate and save your money for extra ice cream and buckets and spades instead!?

______________________

It’s tempting to skip the steps when you’re time poor and content writing is probably at the bottom of your priority list. However, eventually you’ll find that poor content will do more damage to your brand than no content at all.

Even if you take just one piece of advice from this article, let it be that if your true intention is to create content that makes an impact - then don’t start by power-typing words into a Google Doc (unless those words are part of your plan). The biggest differentiator between good writers and excellent writers, is that the latter understand that “the writing” is only a part of what they do.

The written word itself is simply a wheel on a rickshaw that would stumble and dilly-dally all over the streets, if its other wheels and components weren’t in check.?

If you wish to partake in this fancy “Prelude to Writing” on a deeper level with me in person, please do write to me at [email protected].