Much as we sometimes gloss over the issue of writing in businesses these days, there is simply no arguing with the fact that strong writing supports the bottom line. While many factors affect a person’s ability to use the written word to communicate powerfully, I enjoy talking about style because it speaks to our individuality. If you missed my first few posts on style and are interested in the topic, I invite you to read my overview, as well as my blogs on grammatical accuracy, smooth linkages and liveliness.

Today’s post is about depth and by that I mean careful use of analogies, metaphors, mood and the judicious use of questions. I look at depth in writing as similar to the seasoning in a great meal: you can get along without it, but you enjoy yourself much more when it’s deftly applied. Not everyone is adept at creating depth in writing and in truth it’s one of the issues that I personally have had to work on in my own writing journey. I am by nature a very analytical person and although I have a creative streak a mile wide and 10 kilometres deep, I tend to default to the clinical in my writing. That’s a safe place to be in the business world but it can get boring for readers. If my goal is to engage my audience and keep them leaning forward in their chairs to hear what else I have to say, then I need to stir things up a bit!

I do that by layering in some depth. Here’s how I do it:

Analogies

An analogy is a comparison between two different things in order to highlight some point of similarity and clarify meaning.

Here’s an example: Our short term memory is like the RAM on a computer – it’s available for the here and now but not necessarily available for the long haul.

Metaphors

A metaphor expresses the unfamiliar in terms of the familiar – for example, when I mentioned above that depth in writing is similar to the seasoning in a great meal, I was speaking metaphorically.

Mood

In grammatical terms, mood refers to one of three forms of expression:

1. The indicative relates to a statement of fact: My computer does not have enough RAM.
2. The imperative relates to a command: Make sure you ensure you have enough RAM on your computer!
3. The subjunctive more or less relates to statements that imply doubt about the truth or accuracy of a situation: If I were a millionaire I would have many computers.

Questions

I don’t generally like to use questions in copy but they are sometimes valuable from a promotional perspective.

For example: Are you interested in information about your industry that nobody else knows?

Some of these techniques require a writer to take a chance in their work and that’s sometimes a scary prospect so I recommend people play with these techniques in non-essential documents first. While not everybody connects “writing” with “fun” I think the key to doing it well lies in the concept of taking the leash off your creative side just enough to add some color mix. We’re each on our own writing continuum and unless we nudge ourselves into unknown territory, we never can improve!

Do you have any tips of your own on writing with depth? Please share! I’d love to hear how other people make it work for them!

Want to learn more about how I can help you create depth? Contact me today.