Thursday, June 08, 2006
The Basics
This story on the oldest drawing of a face in Europe is telling. It is four straight lines for eyes, nose and mouth on a wall. Just the basics and nothing more, but one can tell what the drawing is and the communication is complete. There is no need for elaboration.
Sometimes what we do in PR is just as basic -- the 5W's. And, more often than not, that is sufficient. There is no need for piles of adjectives and adverbs and explanations.
My colleagues and I disagree sometimes on style. I prefer bare-boned prose that communicates quickly. It is not artful but honed artlessness. My feeling is that the people to whom I write -- reporters -- want information fast, and they don't want to be sold. Just the facts, Sir.
Sometimes I am wrong, and reporters do want to be coddled, but it is still difficult for me to lard sentences with needless words.
I guess every writer has a failing.
Sometimes what we do in PR is just as basic -- the 5W's. And, more often than not, that is sufficient. There is no need for piles of adjectives and adverbs and explanations.
My colleagues and I disagree sometimes on style. I prefer bare-boned prose that communicates quickly. It is not artful but honed artlessness. My feeling is that the people to whom I write -- reporters -- want information fast, and they don't want to be sold. Just the facts, Sir.
Sometimes I am wrong, and reporters do want to be coddled, but it is still difficult for me to lard sentences with needless words.
I guess every writer has a failing.
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