Wylie's Writing Tips

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Model the masters

The best of Times

The U.S. newspaper of record runs 33% feature leads New York's Grey Lady isn't so gray any more. Topping one-third of its stories with feature leads, The New York Times covers the world in living color. We analyzed 87 stories in the Dec. 15, 2014, edition of the Times. (We skipped the sports pages and one-paragraph stories.) Reporters started 29 of those pieces with … [Read more...] about The best of Times

Master of metaphor

PNNL science writer shows how to communicate complex concepts When Pacific Northwest National Laboratory science writer Tom Rickey wrote a release about the lab's work "Making dams safer for fish around the world," he didn't get lost in the scientific gobbledygook. Instead, he wrote: "Think of the pressure change you feel when an elevator zips you up multiple floors … [Read more...] about Master of metaphor

Model the masters

Make a mentor of your favorite writer Did you ever take your mom's toaster apart to figure out how it worked? You can do the same thing with writing. It's called modeling the masters: studying the best writing out there for technique, form and process, then incorporating what you've learned into your own copy. It’s the best way I know to polish your skills. To get … [Read more...] about Model the masters

Pull the trigger | April 2010

"The philosophy behind much advertising is based on the old observation that every man is really two men — the man he is and the man he wants to be." —William Feather, author and aphorist Pull the trigger Create an environment for your message My mother serves as Wylie Communications' bookkeeper. (Yes, Mom still balances my checkbook.) When she asked me recently to … [Read more...] about Pull the trigger | April 2010