Before I forget, just a little more from last week's Copywriters' Conference... The last talk of the day came from Doug Kessler, Creative Director at Velocity Partners. He talked about brands who successfully use swear words in their marketing. Not awkward cringey...
Kate van der Borgh
Talking politics: UKIP and ‘common sense’
Language plays a crucial part in politics. For instance, a Spare Room Subsidy might not sound like much to get bothered about - but a Bedroom Tax certainly won't make you any friends. Lately, there's been a curious phenomenon in political writing: politicians are keen...
WEP: Whose equality party?
When it comes to politics - what's in a name? How do you show that a party about women's rights isn't just for women, but for everyone? This week I went to a networking event run by the Women's Equality Party. If you don't know it yet, it's a new political party that...
Ice bucket campaign lands charity in hot water
The people of Twitter are disgruntled again. No, it’s not Katie Hopkins this time. In fact it’s an unlikely villain: the charity Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Lessons in creme pat, cream horns – and creativity
Before we start: this post contains spoilers about the finale of the Great British Bake Off. So, for those of you haven’t seen it yet, for the love of god DO IT NOW. And for everyone else... I hope you were as thrilled as I was to see Nadiya crowned champion of the...
CopyCon rambles #1: What does Twitter mean for tone of voice?
How come some brands’ most successful tweets are, in many ways, completely off-brand? And what does that mean for us writers who create tone of voice guidelines for clients? At last week’s Professional Copywriters’ Conference, I heard a talk by David Levin: a social...
Words, meaning, and looking like a weapon
The English language is a subtle thing. A single word can send many bells of meaning ringing in your head. For instance, a couple of years ago I was horrified when a wedding venue emailed me to confirm the details for my ‘function’ (function?? Like a day of boring...
Learning from literature
There are loads of style guides out there, all designed to turn you into the next Pulitzer prizewinner. Some of the good ones - like Strunk and White's much-loved Elements of Style - offer some really useful advice about things like grammar. But, for me, there's one...
Monster ideas from the Ministry of Stories
Last weekend I went to a workshop run by the Ministry of Stories, an organisation that helps children to develop skills and self-esteem through storytelling. In the workshop, we - a group of amateur and professional writers - had to collaborate to produce our own...
WEP: Whose equality party?
When it comes to politics - what's in a name? How do you show that a party about women's rights isn't just for women, but for everyone? This week I went to a networking event run by the Women's Equality Party. If you don't know it yet, it's a new political party that...