Copywriting Agency UK

2009-11-02T09:38:00.001-08:00

Will politicians cut the jargon?

With a general election on the horizon, will politicians finally get the message that clarity trumps jargon every time?

Last year, the Local Government Association (LGA) issued a list of the 100 most over-used buzzwords, including such gems as “step change”, “holistic” “sustainable” and “synergies”, and asked local councils to stop using them.

LGA chairman Sir Simon Milton said that if councils did not explain things in proper English, “local people will fail to understand its relevance to them or why they should to turn out and vote. Unless information is given to people to explain why their council matters, then local democracy will be threatened with extinction.”

Extinction may be pushing it, but certainly, talking to people in clear, plain English instead of hiding behind buzzwords, jargon and bluster might help retain people’s interest, rather than turning them off politics at both the national and local level.

Posted by: Chris on Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Copy Writing Agency - Is it 'c' or 's'?

2009-08-04T05:36:00.000-07:00

Is it ‘c’ or ’s’?

English is renowned for its quirky, often logic-defying spelling rules. Gives it character, a mark of our mongrel heritage, we’re told. It doesn’t make it any easier to write, though.

One common area of confusion is when seemingly the same word has two spelling variations – one with a ‘c’, and one with an ’s’. Words like practice and practise, or licence and license.

The simple answer is that you should use the ’s’ version if it’s a verb, or the ‘c’ version if it’s a noun.

So verb: the solicitor plans to practise law in the City.And noun: He hopes to build up a strong commercial property practice.

Or verb: the magistrates refused to license any more bars on the high street.And noun: So the bar owner did not receive his new licence.

One way to remember is to think of advise and advice. Because these two are pronounced differently (the former with a ‘z’ sound, the latter a soft ‘c’ like in ice), they’re not confused as often. But they do follow he same rule – the verb form uses an ’s’…to advise your colleague…while the noun takes a ‘c’…it was useful advice.

So, if you’re using the word as a verb, like to advise, to practise or to license, it’s spelt with an ’s’. If you’re using it as a noun, like my licence, a practice, or good advice, it’s a ‘c’.

Archived in the category: Write words, Writing tips

Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Sunday, July 12, 2009 0 Comments

The meaning of the word Pettifogger

Pettifogger – someone who argues over something petty or trivial, or who is excessively concerned with unimportant detail.

What a lovely word.

Example:

‘Stop being such a terrible pettifogger and focus on the main points of the case!’

There’s a few people not a million miles away that this would apply to…

Archived in the category: Word of the month, Write words

Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Monday, July 20, 2009 0 Comments

Copy Writing Agency - Newsletter July 2009

2009-07-08T05:00:00.001-07:00

WriteWords newsletter

There’s been a few changes since the last issue of Write Words. We’ve moved offices (still in Manchester, just a nicer part), and we’ve had a personnel change (goodbye Sally hello Chris . We’ve also decided to change the frequency of Write Words to once every two months, to lighten the load on your Inbox.

On the client side, plenty of exciting new projects to get stuck into. We’ve been commissioned to plan and write the content for a new departmental website at the University of London, we won a tender to plan, write and edit a quarterly magazine for the Northwest Regional Development Agency, we’re working with Celerant Consulting on writing some sector brochures, and a we’re doing a monthly newsletter for Career Management Consultants.

That’s on top of the regular stuff from the likes of KPMG, Britannia and Savills, plus a whole host of smaller (but no less important projects), so plenty to keep us busy!

Archived in the category: General musings, Write words
Posted by: Gareth Chadwick

Copywriting Agency UK - Write it down!

2009-06-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Write it down!

As well as spending our days writing about the delights of the aerospace sector, corporate law or enticing graduates to sign their lives away, some of us at Wordsworks Towers like to pen a bit of fiction too.The problem is, ideas come at you at all times of the day and night. Often you get the most fantastic ideas when you are in the most random places. Great ideas, even, that are then lost in to the oblivion that is your mind.

The other night, I had a fantastic dream and woke up reeling from it. It was so fantastic I knew it might lead to some impressive story writing project yet to be defined. Alas,I didn’t write it down and now it’s gone! Never to return again.

What I learnt from this maddening experience is that you really should write your ideas down. Creative or not it really is no matter. Your brain only has so much temporary information it can store at any one time and given that working life can be hectic there’s absolutely no chance of us remembering everything we want to.

So in the name of great ideas that are wasted on brains that act like a sieve, buy yourself a notebook or get using your notes on your mobile and make sure that wherever you are, whatever you are doing, that if a good idea for a story, feature or news item brightens up your imagination you have no excuse for letting it slip away.

June word of month

Archived in the category: Word of the month

Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Saturday, June 6, 2009 - 0 Comments

How about this:

Humdudgeon - An imaginary illness

The urban dictionary actually gives a few definitions.

1) A person down on his/her luck

2) A grumpy simpleton

3) Someone who sits in the corner of parties angrily eyeing guests, or pervertedly leering at the young female guests

4) Someone who sits in the corner at a party POKING other guests as they walk by…usually with a drink in their hands.

‘Oh my goodness, what a humdudgeon you’ve met there.’

‘That hundudgeon really rubs me up the wrong way.’

Archived in the category: General musings, Write words

Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Sunday, June 21, 2009 - 0 Comments

The Meaning of Deipnosophist

2009-06-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Words Works - The Meaning of Deipnosophist

How about this:

Deipnosophist (dee-ip-noso-fist) - one who excels at conversations at the dinner table.

Two things that we all love: eating and talking. What could be better?

This comes from two Greek words: deipnon, the chief meal or dinner, and sophistes a clever or wise man. It does in fact originate from a 15-volume work entitled Deipnosophistai, written by the Greek Athenaeus after AD 228, about a group of learned men talking about food at a banquet. But we all knew that didn’t we?

Nowadays it’s probably best used to refer to the more trivial idea of pleasant chit-chat to pass the time while having tea.

“Oh Charles, you simply must come for dinner with my Uncle Fritz. He is an amazing deipnosophist.”

Archived in the category: General musings, Word of the month, Write words
Posted by: Gareth Chadwick on Friday, May 15, 2009

copywriting agency, words, deipnosophist, the meaning of deipnosophist, greek words

Words Works - Clear or Cloudy?

2009-05-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

Clear or cloudy?

No, not a comment on the weather, but one of the main considerations for anyone trying to tighten up their writing.

Good writing is all about clarity - getting your message across clearly and concisely. But in the wrong hands, words can often cloud, rather than clarify, the intended message.

Have a read of what reader Julian Critchlow had to say in a recent letter to The Times:

Sue Whiting, a “retired special educational needs co-ordinator”, asserts in her letter (Oct 10) that “there are likely to be 20 per cent of children in any classroom with specific learning differences”.

My initial reaction on reading this was that, surely, all the children would have learning differences: that is the human condition. However, on closer analysis I deduced that what was stated was not what was actually meant. Surely Ms Whiting’s unadorned meaning was that 20 per cent of the children would, for one reason or another, have learning difficulties.

Orwellian usage of this kind debases the language as a tool for expression. It leads, at best, to lack of clarity and, at worst, it is downright misleading and stifles legitimate debate. It needs to be rooted out.

Julian Critchlow, Savage Club, SW1

Hear, hear for Mr Critchlow. It’s not always easy to be honest in your writing. But if you can manage it, you’ll usually be rewarded with better understanding and more engagement from your readers.

PS We’ve no idea what the Savage Club is, but shall be applying for membership immediately!

Write headlines that entice, not mystify

2008-04-08T05:55:00.001-07:00

Message

A great post over on the main Wordsworks business copywriting blog here, about how to write headlines that pull your readers in. Check it out.

Who are you trying to impress?

2008-03-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

Message

I had an interesting discussion recently with a lawyer I was writing an article for. It illustrates one of the key lessons of good writing that all of us, not just lawyers, can learn from.

He'd asked Wordsworks to help write an article a general business magazine. It was about current sentiment in the corporate finance market. In the notes the lawyer gave me and in our conversations, he insisted on using complex terminology and industry jargon.

I suggested that it would make more sense, given the audience, to ditch the jargon and instead explain the issues in simple, easy-to-understand language. He responded that, "I have to use jargon to show people I know what I'm talking about."

This shows a common but dangerous confusion about the purpose of business writing. You're unlikely to impress your readers (often potential clients) by using jargon and terminology that they may not understand. You are in effect saying, look how well I understand my business. But what is more relevant to your readers, is how much you understand their business. And that means using clear, simple language; language that shows that not only do you understand the issues well enough to explain them in plain English, but more importantly, that you understand how those issues relate to their business and the challenges they face.

Overseas Work - UK Copywriting Agency

2008-02-06T05:16:00.000-08:00

1. WORDSWORKS GOES DUTCH

Professional services copywriting agency Wordsworks is exporting the power of the written word to the Netherlands.

The Manchester-based agency has been appointed by MindsinMotion.net, a Dutch-government funded website on ‘green’ transport, to provide weekly news and features in English on environmental transport issues from across Europe.

Wordsworks, which already has several clients in the environmental sector, will research and write weekly stories on topics such as alternative fuels and environmentally-friendly buses.

It will also provide ad hoc support to the development and branding of the website and associated marketing communications material.

Gareth Chadwick, managing director of Wordsworks, says that, “English is a hugely important language in the international business arena. Companies all over the world use it to communicate across borders and reach new markets and new clients. To do that effectively can be a challenge for non native English speakers. Wordsworks can help them overcome that challenge.”

Wordsworks is a specialist writing consultancy, with a particular focus on the professional services, enterprise and environmental sectors.

It was set up by former journalist Gareth Chadwick in 2003 to provide outsourced writing and editing services. Typical projects include firm brochures, web sites, case studies, blogs, recruitment brochures, client newsletters, reports and in-house magazines.

Wordsworks’ client list includes The College of Law, Ince & Co, Foresight Venture Partners, Addleshaw Goddard, UK Centre for Environmental and Economic Development, TLT Solicitors, Northwest Regional Development Agency and The Independent.

Prior to setting up Wordsworks, Gareth was a journalist specialising in business and professional services. His credits include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent , The Lawyer, Legal Director and Managing Partner magazine.

Editor’s note
Wordsworks is based in Stockport, South Manchester, and employs three people. It also has a roster of experienced external journalists and copywriters that it uses for specific projects.

For further information, please contact:
Gareth Chadwick
Wordsworks
http://www.wordsworks.co.uk/
Tel: 0161 443 4135
Email: gareth.chadwick@wordsworks.co.uk

2. WORDSWORKS FULL OF EASTERN PROMISE

Professional services copy-writing agency Wordsworks has won its second overseas commission in a month.

The Manchester-based agency has been appointed by Singapore-based international business association XL Foundation to write its first annual sustainability report.

Inspired by the UN-sanctioned Global Reporting Initiative, the sustainability report outlines the work of the XL Foundation in the context of its environmental, social and cultural impact. It will include feature articles, interviews, case studies and profiles.

The new clients cap a busy summer for Wordsworks, which has recently finished writing recruitment brochures for two major law firm clients.

Gareth Chadwick, managing director of Wordsworks, said, “this autumn has been our busiest quarter ever. More and more firms are recognising that they need to communicate their expertise and their brand in a way that reinforces their credibility, not detracts from it. Creating professional, clear and engaging written material is fundamental to that.”

Wordsworks is a specialist writing consultancy, with a particular focus on the professional services, enterprise and environmental sectors.

It was set up by former professional services journalist Gareth Chadwick in 2003 to provide outsourced writing and editing services. Typical projects include firm brochures, web sites, case studies, blogs, recruitment brochures, client newsletters, reports and in-house magazines.

Wordsworks’ client list includes The College of Law, Ince & Co, Foresight Venture Partners, Addleshaw Goddard, UK Centre for Environmental and Economic Development, TLT Solicitors, Northwest Regional Development Agency and The Independent.

Prior to setting up Wordsworks, Gareth was a journalist specialising in business and professional services. His credits include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent , The Lawyer, Legal Director and Managing Partner magazine.

Editor’s note
Wordsworks is based in Stockport, South Manchester, and employs three people. It also has a roster of experienced external journalists and copywriters that it uses for specific projects.

For further information, please contact:
Gareth Chadwick
Wordsworks
http://www.wordsworks.co.uk/
Tel: 0161 443 4135
Email: gareth.chadwick@wordsworks.co.uk

copywriting agency, journalism for business, freelance journalist, freelance copywriter, copywriting business, copywriting for major business, corporate copywriting, professional copywriting services

Corporate Copywriting - Business & Legal Publications

2008-01-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

Copywriting Agency

Wordsworks is a copywriting agency. We help organisations harness the power of words to improve their business. We work with design and marketing agencies looking for words for specific projects, or we work directly with businesses looking to improve the quality and clarity of their written material.

Wherever you need words, think of wordsworks. We can usually help. We use words effectively and efficiently to inform, advise, educate and persuade. Some of the recent projects for which we’ve provided the words include: case studies, web sites, blogs, annual reports, in-house publications, client newsletters, marketing material, speeches and ghost writing for senior management. Whatever the project, we’ll give you well-written, engaging and interesting copy.

For further information, please contact:
Gareth Chadwick
Wordsworks
http://www.wordsworks.co.uk/
Tel: 0161 443 4135
Email: gareth.chadwick@wordsworks.co.uk

Wordsworks is a specialist writing consultancy, with a particular focus on the professional services, enterprise and environmental sectors.

The business was set up by former journalist Gareth Chadwick in 2003 to provide outsourced writing and editing services. Typical projects include firm brochures, websites, case studies, blogs, recruitment brochures, client newsletters, reports and in-house magazines.

Wordsworks’ client list includes The College of Law, Ince & Co, Foresight Venture Partners, Addleshaw Goddard, UK Centre for Environmental and Economic Development, TLT Solicitors, Northwest Regional Development Agency and The Independent.

Prior to setting up Wordsworks, Gareth was a journalist specialising in business and professional services. His credits include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Lawyer, Legal Director and Managing Partner magazine.

For further information, please contact:
Gareth Chadwick
Wordsworks
http://www.wordsworks.co.uk/
Tel: 0161 443 4135
Email: gareth.chadwick@wordsworks.co.uk