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Words as Brushes
In this part we're going to look at the shape and texture of words. If you've been enjoying my parts (you'll spot the double entendre) then you'll know I'm not going to spoon-feed you boring grammar – this part is just about giving you another view of words beyond simple meaning.
Words take shape from their syllables which can be hard or soft sounding and, irrelevant of their meaning, can effect how they're perceived.
OK. I can demonstrate this in two words:
- Syphilis – not a pleasant thing but once called the most beautiful word in the English language (no I can't remember by who!).
- Bucolic – sounds like a plague but actually suggests an idyllic rural life.
Shape
Just like brushes words can be jagged, smooth, rounded… and making the right selection will reinforce your designs and make your copy more effective.
Let's have a look at the basic shapes of 'word brushes'. You can have:
Soft, rounded, smooth, feathered…
Funky, quirky, edgy…
Straight, strict, sharp, hard…
Flowing, sweeping, flourished…
I hope you see what I've done there? The shapes of the words I've used are themselves (strangely enough) like the concepts they describe.
Oxymoron – not just a stupid male cow
An onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like what it describes (e.g. whoosh, beep, moo…) but a little more subtle than that are words that, because of their shape, seem to contradict what they describe.
In-keeping with my style let's look at some daft examples first:
Dyslexic – why's it so hard to spell?
Abbreviation – why so long?
Phonetic – oh really?
Uncomplicated - in your opinion.
OK – here's a more sensible example:
'With my services you get an uncluttered design'
That looks reasonable but we can make it better. 'Uncluttered', because of it's irregular-length and hard-sounding syllables is anything but uncluttered. It trips the reader up, has 'natural emphasis' and works against the point of the sentence. A better selection would be:
'Benefit from clean design'
'Clean' is itself a clean word with a single crisp syllable that doesn't take too much emphasis. Oh, and I also cleaned-up clutter from the sentence – why do half a job?
Word painting
Of course your copy masterpieces are more than individual brush strokes – they're carefully built-up from hundreds of carefully applied strokes. Would you put a huge grungy splodge into a clean-edged corporate design?
Earlier in the series I advised you to make sure you knew why you were writing every sentence and to make sure each sentence did a specific job. You can't select the right brushes until you know what you're going to paint. With a firm idea of what your sentence is going to achieve it's your job to chose the right words.
Let's see this in action:
'Organic SEO will insert relevant keywords into your copy.'
'Insert' sounds clinical, artificial and has a harsh syllable. Consider the softer, more natural-sounding 'weave' instead and, while we're at it, let's strengthen the metaphor by adding 'the fabric':
'Organic SEO will weave keywords into the fabric of your copy.'
'Sites that stand-out and are at the forefront of design theory.'
*Yawn*! Why not try some snappier, sharper words:
'Sharp, punchy sites at design's cutting-edge.'
Texture
Now you've mastered the shapes of words let's look at how to combine them to create effective textures. Just like in graphic design you want to avoid copy that clashes, is overly busy, bland, monolithic…
Here come the examples:
'With lots of sites out their how can you be sure yours looks good and stands out from the crowd?' – monosyllabic bland waffle – it's got no nutrients (I love Nacho Libre).
'Now in red and ready to read' – now that's clashing.
'Crafting clean, carefully constructed code' – overdone alliteration looks contrived and distracts from the content.
'Designing web standards-compliant sites, validating against w3c recommendations, offering accessibility and cross-browser compatibility.' – busy, busy – hard to take it all in.
We'll explore texture a bit further when we discuss rhythm and active prose in the next part.
Using images as brushes
You've heard the expression 'A picture paints a thousand words' – how about if I said 'A word paints a thousand words'? Too much? Bear with me. There are words with such strong emotional resonance (ooooh!) that they conjure up mental images and a thousand words.
Compare the word 'home' to 'domicile' or 'residence' or 'house'. Which one is more powerful?
It's a common mistake in business writing to elevate one's level of diction. Not only does this alienate you from your audience but it makes your writing cold and sterile because you're not using everyday words that have taken on strong associations and deeper meaning.
Hopefully this part has got you looking at words in a different way. In Part 6 'Poetry in motion' we're going to look at how you can make real differences to your copy by mastering active prose and rhythm. THIS WILL BE THE MOST USEFUL POST YOU'LL HAVE EVER READ ON COPY WRITING!
