TA #87: 🎉 The Fun Parts of Writing; Ranking Content the Michael Scott Way

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Welcome to the 87th issue of Total Annarchy, a fortnightly newsletter by me, Ann Handley, with a focus on writing, marketing, life. THANK YOU for being here! I appreciate you.

Boston, Sunday, May 23, 2021

What's kickin', chicken?

Long before I wrote books and your favorite newsletter 😊, I wrote for a financial newspaper about Federal Reserve regs and housing prices.

A high point of my career there was a headline I wrote for a story about NACHA (the National Automated Clearing House Association, a US electronic payment regulatory system).

The headline: "NACHA Business." My pun game was strong even then.

The headline. I loved it. The editor did not. (Still salty about it TBH.)

* * *

Eventually I went on to work for the Boston Globe, among other pubs. And while I left journalism a long time ago, writing for newspapers gifted me the biggest lesson of my career. The lesson:

No one is a great writer.

I'm not. You're not. None of us is.

As a journalist, I learned—over time, and over many late-night drafts of my work—that great writing isn't born; it's made.

Great writers make writing look easy-breezy. But that's only because they don't skimp on rewriting. For me, the magic number is 4 drafts, each progressively less awful than the previous one.

Writing is editing. (Or: Bad writing? NACHA fault.) (Still stings.)

* * *

"Rewriting" and "editing" sounds about as much fun as recovering from a second Moderna shot.

But nay—nay, friends. It's actually the fun part.

The part where you add the color, the froth, the fun that makes it yours. It's where you work the language, to paraphrase the late, great Maya Angelou. (h/t Bobby Lehew)

* * *

No one is a great writer on the first draft. So work the language.

Send your Covid-flabby content to the gym for a stretch/tone class, then the salon for highlights and a waxing.

What emerges is its best self.

Start here:

Eliminate selfish sentences.
Make each sentence earn its keep. The life goal for any sentence is to pass the baton to the next sentence—not stop the flow. Ax the blowhard sentences that repeat what's been said, just because they like to hear themselves talk. A selfish sentence is not a team player.

Eliminate selfish words.
This is especially important in copywriting: Delete selfish words that are about the product ("the best on the market") not why the prospect should care. Answer the reader's question: WiiFM—What's in it for me?

Take out the parts your reader will skip.
▶️ Kick to the curb vague descriptions of people, places, things, ideas.
▶️ Use action verbs (verbs you can visualize in your head) more than thinking verbs (verbs you can't see—like considered, theorized, thought).

Show us the humans!
Write people and their stories directly into your copy and content.
▶️ Use you.
▶️ Use their actual words.
▶️ Help your readers recognize themselves in your writing: People don't care about "scaling customer interactions"; they do care about "getting the exact kind of real-time insights."

* * *

It can feel discouraging to think that you're a mediocre writer. That you're not as good as that that person. Or that author. Or that one over there, selling all those books.

But here's the deal: If no one is a great writer… then that's freeing, not discouraging—when you think about it:

It means that we all start out mediocre. But we don't have to stay that way.

* * *

QUICKIES

Most marketing writing is "Meh" according to the 2021 State of Writing Survey by Typeset and Mantis Research. Only 30% of respondents are thrilled with the performance of their written content.

Welp, that's depressing.

"My guess is that people are just NOT working at it—they're doing it but not consciously trying to improve. The industry has accepted Meh as the acceptable standard." —Doug Kessler

My take: Depressing? Or opportunity? Even a little effort pays off massively. But you know that because you read my story, above. 😊

Should You Ungate Your Content in 2021? A story of one company that did. And how that worked out.

"Hey what camera are you using?": 26 Setups to Inspire Your Home Office Andy Crestodina asked 26 marketers for photos of their desks, including my own minimalist (but meaningfully appointed) Tiny House Studio. This isn't what you see in a Zoom background (my rainbow bookshelf is a HILL I WILL DIE ON); this is our cameras, mics, lights, one perfect puppy, and a hamster named Hashbrown. I don't know why this behind-the-scenes is so compelling... but it is.

Be Feared and Loved: Ranking Content the Michael Scott Way Free webinar; May 27. I'm a sucker for a themed presentation. The Office meets content SEO? Yes, please. [From MarketingProfs; reg required.]

LAST CHANCE TO TAKE THIS SURVEY!

Are you an author, podcaster, online educator, blogger, YouTuber, or other content creator? Please share your experiences/challenges to running/growing your business: Take this survey. (You might also win a sweet pair of Bose headphones!) I'll share results in a future issue. Survey closes for good Tuesday, May 25. Don't dally!

SPECIAL EVENT

THIS WEEK! Join Rand Fishkin, Michael Brenner, and me (along with a bunch of marketing smarty pants) at Act-On's Growth '21. You'll learn growth strategies you can put into practice immediately. AND we'll have a great time doing it. Registration is FREE, but you have to register.

DEPARTMENT OF GRATITUDE

What do Hogwarts students use to read PDF files?
<...>
They use Adobby.

That joke would not be possible without Chuck Geschke, a co-founder of Adobe and the inventor of the PDF. Also not possible: Our ebooks and whitepapers.

Chuck died last month. From the NY Times:

Engineers dream of building something that millions of people will use; that's their ultimate goal. I don't think many engineers are motivated by money. They're motivated by having an impact.

Thank you, Chuck.

LOVE LETTERS

💌 To Michael Brenner at Marketing Insider Group for including me (my brand?) in this piece on personal branding.
💌 To Bryan Kramer for this honest conversation about storytelling and mentors. Honored to be on this one.

💌 To Pierce Ujjainwalla at Knak for this fun podcast about content, virtual events, public speaking, writing books, and I forget what else LOL but it's a good one!
💌 To Nathan Barry at ConvertKit for having me on his podcast to talk about how do we get more subscribers, anyway?
💌 To Amanda Russell and Neal Schaffer on The School of Influence Podcast. Neal and I have been talking about doing this interview forever. We finally did it.
💌 To Allen Gannett for including for including Everybody Writes as one of 68 books to read in 2021. It's May; get cracking!

💌 To Reedsy for coming in hot with Everybody Writes as one of 40 must-have writing books.

💌 To Kelly Forst at AWeber for the love in her piece on 12 exceptional email newsletters that will change your approach to email forever.

And finally...
💌 To the legend that is Joe Jaffe for having me on his YouTube show. Holy wow. This was unexpectedly joyful. Another one that was a long time coming... and it was so fun to join Joe at last!

* * *

Thanks for reading this far. Thanks for your kindness and generosity.

Stay safe. Stay sane. Wear a mask. We're *so close*.

I'll be back on June 6.

P.S. If you like this newsletter and want to support it, you can:

1) buy a book.
2) Get yourself some $WORD coin. (Read more about creator coins here.)
3) Simply forward this newsletter to a friend with an invitation to subscribe right here: www.annhandley.com/newsletter.

SPECIAL THANKS to AWeber for being the provider of choice for Total Annarchy. If you are looking to up your email game, give them a shout.

Ann Handley is the author of Everybody Writes and other books.
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Ann Handley

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TA #87: 🎉 The Fun Parts of Writing; Ranking Content the Michael Scott Way

Older messages

TA #86: 🍕 Taking Risks in Marketing without Losing Your Job; 15 Writing Lessons from Famous Authors

TA #85: 🔑 Should you ungate your content in 2021? And: A copywriting tip for the lazy.

TA #84: ⚓ The World's First B2B Sea Shanty; One Simple Way to Revive an Apathetic Audience

TA #83: 📬 When You Should Write Your Book; How to Ask Better Questions; WTOTF

TA #82: ✍️ Creator Coins; the One Word That Makes Your Customers Snap into Action; Make Your Writing Come Alive

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