An interesting question dropped in the mailbox…
… from mysterious subscriber Chris Morris, who writes:
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I’m loving the app, a kick up the backside to get the words out.
Just wanted to ask about your writing style.
I get that it’s good to write as you speak. I try to do that in emails and posts.
But.
Would you write a book in a similar way?
One sentence at a time.
Ungrammatical.
Winston Churchill would have hated it.
I’m British, got my law degree.
Brought up on Fowler’s English Usage.
It’s engrained in me to write the King’s English, even though I tend to speak differently in this modern world (being a child of the 50s).
And I can’t do American, which is much cooler internet-speak.
Gonna
Shoulda
That would be false.
So, I write as I speak.
But not in books.
My question is, would you write in the same way for a book?
Like, for posterity?
Writing complete paragraphs for instance?
As you can tell, I am copying your style, in my own way.
I would be reluctant to write this way when writing one of my books, that’s all.
Just curious really.
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Some of my thoughts on this:
(1) When it comes to books, or reports, or courses, or software, or… basically anything I create or write or put out… my number one criteria is always:
“Is this something I’d enjoy reading?”
Or using.
Or buying.
Or is this something that would benefit me personally, that I’d personally want to use, everyday, but that’s how it goes for how I make decisions when it comes to the stuff I whip up.
And so it goes for books as well.
You know what sorta books I love reading the most?
You don’t?
Well, it’s probably not a secret, but my favorite types of books are the casual, conversational type. I hate reading books that are too ‘uptight’, so to speak. Meaning: they use all sorts of fancy words and language and jargon… to the point that… it just feels forced, overly formal, and not very fun to read.
Not that I don’t read those books.
I do.
And I read a ton of them.
But if I weren’t able to write as fast as I do, I’d probably be so bored reading them, I might not read them at all!
So, I don’t enjoy reading that sorta thing.
And thus, I don’t like writing that sorta thing.
Even when writing research papers for scientific journals, I try to keep the language as simple and easily understandable as possible.
(2) It’s almost always a good idea to write like you talk.
Casual, conversational language almost always works better. Whether that’s when it comes to imparting knowledge, and teaching stuff, or… when it comes to… getting sales!
Truth be told:
One of my business mentors once did a little test…
… on his couple million subscriber YouTube channel…
… and he tested the difference between doing very upscale, high-production quality videos versus very simple videos where he’s just walking around on the streets, talking into the camera, and spewing out all sorts of ‘wisdom’.
What do you think?
Which one got better conversions?
Yeah, that’s right.
It was the casual, conversational guy walking on the street, talking into a phone’s camera, hands down.
But so it goes for almost any type of content.
(3) Yes, this goes for books, reports, newsletters, or any type of info-products you create and sell too.
Funny story, but…
Once upon a time:
The billion-dollar copywriting and marketing behemoth Agora, once got a flood of ‘complaints’ from unhappy buyers of their info-products.
Like their books.
Newsletters.
Reports.
And whatever form of knowledge they were selling back at the time.
Why?
Well, simply because…
Customers weren’t happy that all their copywriting, advertising, and marketing content was so casual, conversational, fun, and entertaining to read that they just couldn’t stop reading them, but… when they actually started going through their books and reports and courses…
They were so bland, professional, and written in such eloquent Kings & Presidents English, that…
… it was like watching paint dry!
But:
Everyone wanted books, reports, and newsletters that were written just like they wrote their enjoyably interesting sales copy and marketing content.
And so, Agora obliged.
And started writing all their books, reports, newsletters and stuff the same way they wrote their sales copy.
With some ‘ooomph’!
(4) When I say write like you talk, I’m talking about the tone of voice, and the style.
I’m not talking about using short sentences.
And doing it all the time.
Or not using paragraphs at all.
Because when you talk, there ain’t no paragraphs. There are just pauses. And those pauses could be commas, they could be full stops, they could even be line breaks of new paragraphs.
So… whatever.
That doesn’t really matter to me.
You adjust the formatting depending on the medium. Which I’ll talk more about in a minute.
But I don’t always use short sentences either.
Because in the words of the late great writing instructor, Gary Provost, writing is like music. Sometimes you have some short sentences, sometimes you have some long ones, sometimes you have some super short staccato-ey ones, and other times you have sentences so long you’re forced to hold you breath while you read them.
I don’t believe in constantly using short sentences.
With no paragraphs.
Like an AI gone wild.
‘Cuz you can’t create good music that way.
There’s no crescendos, there’s no pianissimos, and there ain’t even any rhythm and blues in doing that.
(5) When it comes to not using paragraphs, I do use paragraphs.
And you SHOULD use paragraphs.
It’s just that… email is formatted in such a way that there’s no border limits on the right-hand side. So text just keeps going and going and going, as long as your screen lets it. And it just looks like I’m writing super long sentences.
But I’m not.
So it’s not like I’m intentionally avoiding paragraphs.
It’s just a formatting thing.
(6) I don’t just write the way I talk.
I also write the way I think.
Which is something I picked up from world’s greatest email copywriter, Matt Furey, who teaches his students to just write down the inner monologue going on in their heads.
Which is what I do as well.
So it’s not always going to be how I talk in real life.
Or how I’d talk to a friend.
Sometimes, and quite often, it’s just writing down how I say things in my mind. Which changes often, depending on what sorta books I’ve just read. If I’ve been reading fiction, I might be talking to myself in my head like I was Sherlock Holmes.
(7) When it comes to writing with slang…
… yeah, I do encourage it.
Even if you’re writing most books.
Especially slang you’d normally use with friends, family, relatives, colleagues. It just sounds lots more interesting to read. So why not?
And again, when it comes to using slang:
I don’t always write the slang I’d use in real life.
Sometimes I’d weave in stuff I’d never say. Like ‘gonna’, ‘woulda’, ‘shoulda’, ‘coulda’, etc. Simply because it feels right, and feels fun, and feels interesting. Sorta like playing jazz. Sometimes you just gotta play it by ear. If it feels right, and feels fun, that how it’s goes.
(8) What else is there?
Oh yeah… one more thing:
Just have fun writing!
I don’t care whether that’s writing a book, or an article, or an email, or a report.
I truly believe that…
If it’s fun for you to write, it’s going to be fun for people to read.
Because when it comes to psychological factors that gets people’s blood pumping, their dopamine glands oozing, and their heart rates soaring, ‘fun’ just beats everything else. Just like how the video game industry beats the movie industry, music industry, comic book industry, and art industry hands-down. Because games are fun. And that’s just what the brain likes.
But short story long:
Yeah, I would write like I speak.
And think.
And talk.
Even when it comes to publishing a book for posterity.
Because:
What’s the point in publishing something my kids and grand-kids won’t enjoy reading anyways?
Just that I’d do it with a little more formatting that suits a book. Because ink and paper aren’t free. While pixels on a screen are. And screens go top to bottom, while books go left to right. So you’ve gotta adjust depending on the medium.
But, alright:
If you want to make writing a lot more fun…
… while making it a lot more fun for almost everyone who reads your writing too…
… you might want to hop on the link for my new None to Done app, which is designed to force you to write your heart out, while making it as fun as writing can possibly be, by whipping as many words outta your rear-end as possible:
https://themysteriousmarketer.com/none-to-done/
Allen Walker
The Mysterious “Fun-Loving” Marketer
Allen Walker, the Mysterious Marketer, is the marketing genius who’s deleted more 6 & 7 figure businesses than anyone else on the planet (*all because he gets bored). He’s also known as the world’s most genius renaissance marketer. Visit his blog to read thousands of his ‘secret’ copywriting tips for getting paid to grow your email list.
This post (https://themysteriousmarketer.com/banging-words-out-your-posterior-for-posterity-and-profits) was originally published by Allen Walker, The Mysterious Marketer. And yes, you can click that link to read his newest secrets for free…