It doesn’t have to be this way. All communication should evoke some kind of reaction, be it educative, informative, entertainment or emotion. This can’t happen unless there’s a bit of passion behind the words. A bit of creativity. Some life. It can be so easy to stick to the same formulas and language, yet this not only doesn’t benefit the client in the long run, it makes your working life a little bit dull.

What can we learn from creative writing for business writing? How can exercises usually reserved for fiction and poetry help our business writing? In more ways than you think.

Write a haiku

How often do you receive some communications from a company, and find that it’s drowning in jargon, technical language, figures and extended sentences – only discovering the thing that you actually want to know right at the end of the letter or information? Great fiction hits you from the off. The first chapter, even the first page, has to be compelling enough to make you keep on reading. When crafting your business copy try distilling down what you need to say in a haiku. With only 17 syllables to play with there’s no room to be vague.

Be active, not passive

‘We are trying…’ ‘You may find that…’ ‘We hope this will be…’ Passive verbs and soft language don’t really instil a customer with confidence. You don’t want to buy a product that the manufacturers have only tried to make work, or attend an event that may or may not be fun. Consumers need active assurance that the company have confidence and authority in what they are doing. When creating content it’s always wise to go through your text and remove all qualifiers (probably, may, expect etc) – don’t say what you might do, say what you will do. Make you or your brand the active subject – e.g. rather than ‘your digital marketing could become easier’ say ‘our software makes your marketing great.’ You want to action to take place as a result of your content, so you have to make it active.

Start with the character

The most crucial element of any story is the character. Who they are, how they act, and what happens to them is how plot develops. It’s also where the emotion is found. People connect with other people. As great as a company might think their product is, or as much as an agency may believe people are passionate about electricity, as loyal as a shop might think people are, the truth is that it’s about the person. So when writing a press release about why the new brand of bleach is a must have addition to the shopping basket, think of the benefits to the customer, the person. The new formula matters because it keeps the kitchen clean and protects their children. The fast acting ingredients free up their time to go out. Novelists say you should know everything about your character, even that which seems irrelevant to the writing at hand. Do the same for your reader. What is their name? What is in their bag? Do they wake up early or late? What do they like to read? Have they ever told a lie? What do they do on a Sunday afternoon? Do they prefer cryptic crosswords or su doku? Only when you know your reader and customer do you know what matters to them, and so how you can connect with them.

Connect

That’s the goal of any business. Ultimately relationships in all forms are about connection. When someone likes you or thinks you have something to offer, they will be prepared to invest their time – or money – in you. Customer can’t connect with inanimate objects, so you need to have some personality. What is your brand? What makes you different to everyone else out there? How do you speak and act? Bring this personality to all your writing. Don’t try to be professional at the expense of being emotional. People buy from people, so bring your personality to work.

First published on Start Ups Geek.

Part of the nationwide Undivided platform, which seeks to help young people have their voices heard in a post referendum Europe. We were keen that the event wasn’t seen as either pro or anti Europe – just acknowledging that things are changing, and we have an opportunity to be involved in that. And a fun way to do so would be through art and creativity. Hosted at the Bauhaus Café, a venue and project run by Betsy, who really lives out her passions and belief in creating change through connection and creation, it was a day of celebration.

Those who attended really embraced the concept, speaking out to explore positive ways to improve their experience of Ashford and life. Everyone was encouraged to say and share what would make their town better, be that health, art, employment, environmental issues, accessibility, infrastructure, education – and all of these and more came up!

Chris Buckett from Kent Urban Sketchers sat down with a group to draw their ideal streets, an activity that showed just how important the idea of community space, green areas and lively streets are for people. Natasha Boardman-Steer, as self defined urban innovator, asked people where they wanted to explore in Europe and why, demonstrating a continued connection with the continent, helped people make badges to show what they are proud of about Ashford, and captured it all on video.

Postcards from the ideal Ashford of the future were a great way to imagine how the town could look, and cut up and black out poetry ideal ways to recycle words to make statements of positivity. Slogans on t-shirts have always been important for activism, and designer and bespoke dressmaker Caroline Bruce worked with us to upcycle old material and wear our message with pride, whilst also sparking conversations about sustainability and the environment.

The Boss(y) Girls Project ran a workshop on gender and relationships between men and women, which saw people of both sexes fired up about inequality, and Kent Refugee Action Network and Ashford BME Association were on hand to speak to attendees.

We were thrilled that MP Damian Green came along for a discussion about his role as MP for Ashford in all of this and what politicians can do for us. In an energetic conversation amongst young and old, right and left, those who grew up in Ashford and those who moved here, we discussed the importance of being part of your community, thinking critically about politics, taking part in discussions about issues facing you and your area, and being a doer and not just a complainer.

We hoped that people would leave feeling excited and empowered, regardless of political affiliation, creative confidence or experience, and that new friendships and partnerships would be formed as a result. More than 150 ideas were generated and sent to Undivided, who will now put those forward to Parliament. As the evening closed and faces left as bright as the canvases and crafts across the room, there was definitely a sense of hope that in this community change could happen – and people could make it.

https://www.facebook.com/AshUnCCC/videos/282235732191316/

Day 13 – It’s Friday so it’s time for a group challenge – today we would like you to collectively write a story.

This one was done in person, via text, email, Facebook, across Kent, London and Newcastle, and with friends and family.

It was snowing outside, white and wispy like talcum powder. People were slipping on the ice – giving rise to sudden gasps of surprise as they slid in a direction they had not intended to. As the precariousness of their situation became apparent to them, they adopted a shuffling gait, arms outstretched waiting for the fall, as though they were penguins shuffling across the Antarctic Tundra. To an observer watching from his seat in the warm and safe cafe opposite, it appeared that they had become afraid of the ground itself. As if the very earth was in a temper and people dared not set it off. He checked his pocket watch; it would be doubly difficult to be both unstable and late. It was almost time for the cafe to close up, at which point he’d to be forced to go outside and join the trickles of people slipping and sliding across the pavement. He stood, the pain in his lower back making him jerk upwards robotically, while his eyes and fingers scanned and reached for winter’s armour – scarf, gloves, hat. Thank goodness he was flying home to Havana in the morning.