Writing something good and to point is easy thanks to one common turn of phrase.
It's easy to remember, easy to apply, and with it you have a virtual toolkit of writing and editing tools at the ready. I kid you not.
That phrase is: "...which is interesting because..."
Use it and you'll have an easy to use idea generator, crap/quality sieve, and built-in editor.
Here's how to use it.
- Figure out your topic, tagline, mission, elevator pitch idea, product, etc.
- Write it, say it, and add the phrase "...which is interesting because..."
- Figure it out and make note of what follows that phrase.
Example: How To Write A Website Tagline
Who are you?
"Johnson & Daughters".
What do you do?
"We sell lawnmowers..."
...which is interesting because...
"Well, because ours is a smaller house brand, and we're known for our quality and because of that we didn't make a deal with Wal-mart as it would have put our quality in danger. "
Aha! That is interesting. "Johnson & Daughters - Lawnmowers With Integrity". Or: "Johnson & Daughters - We sell Lawnmowers Wal-mart can't."
Example: How To Find A Good Blog Post Idea
What do you want to write a about?
"I think about HootSuite..."
...which is interesting because...
"Uhhh.... Well, my post will be about scheduling posts with HootSuite!"
...which is interesting because...?
"Because there's a lot of manual work involved in preparing the CSV files but I have found a way to spread your post automatically over a period and have the CSV file be sort of automatically made for you. "
Now that is interesting.
Example: How To Write A Selling Product Description
"I'm writing a product description for this coffee maker that is on sale across the web -- and also on our site"
OK, you're selling a coffee maker ...which is interesting because...
"it makes good coffee...?"
...which is interesting because...
"A lot of coffee machines have the wrong water temperature. Sometimes too cold, often too hot. It burns the coffee and gives it that acidic taste that makes you want to mellow it down with cream. But this machine has a temperature sensor that guarantees the water is 95C when it drips out so you get awesome coffee even a bland bean while other machines turn the most expensive grinds into drab."
There you go.
Conclusion
- "...which is interesting because..." asks just the right question to help you weed out the good from the bad
- Add the phrase to any idea; "we're going to make a movie about a man who falls in love with a woman he can't be with because they come from different walks of life!" ...which is interesting because...
- The dialogue for this post was "I want to write a post about how to improve your writing" ...which is interesting because... "this 4 word trick can be applied by anyone, anytime, and almost automatically gets you to look at your idea at the right angle".
- The dialogue for the idea before this one was; "I want to write a post about 5 things you shouldn't do on Twitter" ...which is interesting because... ".... Uhhhh...." -- and then I abandoned the idea 🙂