Tuesday, December 9, 2014

On Writing Well...Today

Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content – Ann Handley (Wiley)

I remember very vividly the looks I received from a classroom of eighth graders as a spoke at a career day gathering back when I was working as a disc jockey at a local radio station. My cousin, the assistant principal at the school had asked me to come a speak and it was as if I had grown a second head when I advised the collected students that they should first and foremost learn how to write well, because it would serve them no matter what they chose to pursue for a career.

Guess they were hoping to hear how cool it was to get free CDs and concert tickets. Now many years later, I know my comment to be more true than ever; the ability to write will set you apart from the others in the work place, no matter what your chosen field. With the ongoing evolution of marketing, content and a growing range of platforms the ability to write and write well is more important than ever.


Ann Handley, the Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs and one of the most influential players in the world of content marketing offers up equal doses of gentle guidance, prodding inspiration and thoughtful stimulation on the subject of writing in her latest outing, Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content.

Handley does offer up straight up thoughts on grammar and usage, but without turning into the nasty grammar scold. There is an amazing level of first hand, been there, don that knowledge that Handley brings to chapters covers content, blogs, and the creative side of the content equation.

Having left the world of free CDs and concert tickets behind and moving into the world of marketing to earn my keep, I have found myself turning with some regularity to the pages of Everybody Writes when I seek clarification and advice on my next action steps for a wide range of projects. It is that utility that separates those books that are great from those the just merely good; Everybody Writes is clearly one of those that will find a prominent place, within easy reach, on my credenza.

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