5 Ways to Write With Style
A little creative flair helps everyone write with style and hook readers. With the rise of generative AI, because it’s trained on others’ online content, bland or ordinary writing abounds. AI-created copy also promotes common writing woes, from clichés to the passive voice.
Here’s how to sell a product, a service, or an idea memorably to gain leads.
1. Evoke imagery – Writers have often been advised to “show, not tell”: to choose words that stimulate the five senses. “To be” verbs and other weak wording advise readers how to feel or think. Such passages are as exciting as endless vacation photos.
- Example: The storm was terrifying.
- Rewrite: The wind roared like a train, causing the hairs on the back of Jan’s neck to rise.
The latter shows the physical effects of the wind on Jan through the senses of feeling and hearing. Descriptive language adds impact to your storytelling, headlines, and body copy.
Poets excel at turning the literal into the figurative.
Example: “The fog comes on little cat feet.” ~ Carl Sandburg, Fog
Studying this art form can inspire creative wording. It can truly enhance your storytelling. In business terms, it can mean translating ordinary descriptions of a service into images everyone can relate to.
Example: “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”
To enhance imagery, imagine a scene unfolding in your mind and describe it with action verbs, adjectives, or other details. In advertising, choose power words.
For promotional purposes, descriptive writing reframes concepts or terms to make them sound more appealing. It prefers adjectives like “oven-crisp,” to “baked.” As Roger Dooley noted in “Brainfluence,” it doesn’t work in contexts that require a clear understanding of information, such as ordering instructions.
2. Add rhythm – Vary the length of your sentences. For instance, three short ones in a row sound robotic:
You’re welcome. Thank you. Have a nice day.
As they flow from one idea to the next, a mix of short and long sentences adds rhythm and engrosses readers.
When you repeat words for emphasis, you can produce a memorable statement. Leaders like Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King, Jr. used this anaphora effectively to highlight their beliefs and ideas. They tied them together clearly while they evoked strong emotions in their listeners.
Example: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” ~ John F. Kennedy
Anaphora also works well in ads.
Example: “Big skies. Big scenery. Big possibilities for all kinds of adventure.” (WestJet)
Rhythm, coupled with the tone behind your words, adds grace or eloquence.
Alliteration, words that start with the same letter or sound nearby in a sentence, acts like music to readers’ ears.
Like anaphora, it makes passages “stickier,” adds emphasis, and stirs feelings. It also works well in slogans:
Example: Faster, fulfilling, and flexible business solutions.
Don’t veer into creating tongue twisters, though. Use similar-sounding words sparingly.
Example: You can’t cut corners.
3. Rhyme time – You don’t have to mimic Dr. Seuss — which can be a little “suss” to some — but similar-sounding words can also connect with readers.
According to cognitive fluency researcher Matt McGlone, rhyming phrases can feel more truthful or accurate to readers. They’re also easier for our brains to process, making them clearer and more memorable.
Rhyme can be most effective for boosting brand awareness and engagement in slogans, calls-to-action, or headlines.
Example: Plop, plop, fizz fizz, oh, what a relief it is! (Alka-Seltzer)
As shown, one word that rhymes with another is appealing. A one-syllable word also sounds natural.
Plays on words, however, can go over some readers’ heads. Prefer clear over clever phrasing.
4. Get creative – Clichés are overused passages that lack originality.
Example: Think outside the box.
Consider other ways to say it with style.
Revised: Find a new solution.
Cliché Finder can help you spotlight them in your work.
Behavioral marketing experts like Nancy Harhut have suggested that metaphors can transform abstract products into concrete or tangible ones. They help us grasp a concept quickly.
Example: “Crazy Egg is like a pair of X-ray glasses that lets you see exactly what people are doing on your website.”
5. Sound like yourself – When I chose the phrase “write with style” as part of this blog’s title, I hadn’t read the International Paper ad by novelist Kurt Vonnegut. While I researched and wrote this piece, I stumbled across the ad, which is essentially an article featuring his tips on the topic.
In it, Vonnegut advised against writing “like cultivated Englishmen of a century or more ago.” He also suggested you write like you speak and “say what you mean to say,” in easy-to-understand language. When you’re selling a product or a service, that can mean writing like your audience speaks.
Like Vonnegut’s works, his thoughts remain timeless. Our voices, perspectives, and experiences make us unique. ChatGPT hasn’t played darts. It hasn’t stubbed a toe or eaten creme brulee. Though it can create based on data, it lacks our perceptions. It doesn’t always duplicate humanity.
Discover how to write with style to reach clients who value and respect you and your business
How do you write with style? Feel free to comment below.
QUOTES
“If you scribble your thoughts any which way, your readers will surely feel that you care nothing about them. They will mark you down as an egomaniac or a chowderhead — or, worse, they will stop reading you.”
Kurt Vonnegut
