Great writing starts from within

Welcome to Spark, a newsletter from Vivace. We curate and publish the most interesting thinking and ideas from our community on themes ranging from business and finance to culture and creativity. Send pitches and feedback to [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.

Hello Spark reader,

Season’s greetings to you and yours! Before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, I had an opportunity to join the Gramercy Institute Chicago Forum once again, speaking on a panel about innovation in financial marketing. Here are a few takeaways from the session.

We’re excited to announce a Vivace first: the entire core team will be in London next week for what has become an annual festive season tradition—our Vibe with Vivace happy hour. We’d love to see as many of our UK-based friends in person as possible, so please join us on Thursday, December 11th, at The Viaduct Tavern from 5-7pm to raise a glass or two with me, Ryan, Jeanette, Laura, Mimi, and the wider Vivace community. RSVP here.

Finally, we have our second-to-last Spark of the year from expert editorial consultant, writer, and editor, Anthony O’Connor, who dives into the secrets behind producing great writing within organizations. Spoiler: it doesn’t happen by accident or in a vacuum. Writing is the foundation of great content and many great brand experiences—essential to any marketing function—and yet it’s often a sorely neglected skillset within marketing teams. Read on to find out how to remedy this.

—joel

How to nurture a culture of writing in your organisation

“That was a very interesting discussion, we covered a lot,” the hiring manager said across the polished table in a vast room that could have hosted a wedding reception. “Now, it’s time for the writing test. Ready?”

“Great, looking forward to it,” I replied, trying to hide my nerves because I really wanted the job, for lots of reasons.

“So, here’s a copy of today’s Financial Times. Pick a story, create an angle for any of our customer groups in asset management and make your story stand out. Write it in your own words with the appropriate tone. I’ll be back in about 40 minutes.”

“Perfect, see you then,” I smiled.

It was just me, a very short brief, a crisp newspaper, a blank Word document and no internet access. I knew there was no time to panic (I panicked for a few minutes of course) and I quickly scanned the newspaper for the story that would stand out.

How do you stand out?

Writers and editors working in commercial firms are often advised or directed not to mix politics with finance and investment. When I got to page three or four of the Financial Times, a story about a new UK government policy threatening to chip away at people’s hard-earned pension savings called out to me. I went for it and wrote a subtle yet human piece about how politics plays with people’s dreams. I figured – and hoped – that other candidates would steer clear of politics so my risky choice would differentiate my writing.

The brief assumed that I had done my research about the firm’s customers, what issues mattered to them and how the firm expressed its brand (tricky because there were no verbal identity brand guidelines). The task would have been impossible if I hadn’t done a lot of research and thinking about the company before I arrived for the interview.

Writing starts with thinking

Any screenwriter, journalist, advertising writer or novelist will tend to think for a long time – about their audience, the detailed topic they are writing about and why – before they start writing any words.

A screenwriter will build a detailed image of cinemagoers who invest time and money to sit in the dark and be entertained. Likewise, a smart advertising copywriter will know the right emotional and factual buttons to push to make messages resonate and stick with a target audience. Journalists, particularly those on a specialist beat, will aim to think like their readers, to understand their challenges, hopes and aspirations.

Writing for humans

A couple of years ago, I was running a monthly writing workshop for a small group of very bright post-doctoral research analysts. I was asked to help the team sharpen their writing and storytelling skills. During one of the first sessions, we spent a lot of time talking about personas, profiling and describing people who read our work.

“I write what I think is important and interesting, like I used to when I was doing my PhD,” one of the analysts explained. “And I hope that anyone reading my work will find it useful and interesting like I do.”

I tasked the analysts to create a detailed profile of a fictitious person, including their emotional, personal and professional characteristics. Then I asked them to rewrite a piece of their writing for their newly created target reader. The results were hands down richer and more powerful in the focused pieces, we all agreed.

The more you know about an individual or group of people, the more tailored, conversational and human the story will be through the authenticity and nuance you can incorporate. Just like we do when we talk to someone we know very well.

The business of writing

Over many years I’ve seen how writing in a professional context – particularly in large matrix organisations – can make some people nervous: they think they should be competent writers because they are educated or the role requires it.

Writing is a learned skill that anyone can perfect with study and practice. Individuals, organisations and leaders together need to find ways to invest in the craft of writing and to create systems that enhance a culture of good writing.

Starting your journey

The sure way to avoid turning pale at the gills when anyone mentions grammar or writing technique is to study gaps in your knowledge. Writers of all levels can build confidence with a writing toolkit that provides straightforward structure and techniques that deliver tangible results quickly.

Seek out feedback on your writing from willing experienced senior writers and editors who will help you deepen your confidence and perfect your craft. You could also consider discussing your writing with a mentor who will also benefit from your fresh insights and enthusiasm. Good writing becomes even better when it includes more thinking and perspectives.

Investing in a successful writing culture

Any hiring manager that hires writers, whether it’s someone who will write occasionally or full-time, has a great opportunity to shape their organisation’s writing culture. After creating a solid job spec, testing a candidate’s knowledge of writing technique and assessing their ability to write in specific formats that you value will be vital.

Effective writing assignments in an interview process should test a candidate’s ability to think, analyse and write proficiently. Include stretch elements in a writing test to explore a candidate’s potential to develop as a writer and storyteller. Hiring people with scope to develop their talent will develop your writing culture in turn.

Encouraging your teams to attend ongoing training workshops on writing technique, editing or brand verbal identity delivers a clear message that writing competence or excellence is expected in your organisation. If training budgets are squeezed, ask experienced members of your in-house team to run workshops or seminars, invite experts from other organisations to share their knowledge and experience, and provide avenues for mentoring.

Creating an excellent writing culture is as much about process and systems as it is about creativity and technique. Writers will produce their strongest work on time and on budget when they have clear guidelines and expectations. In busy organisations, briefing a writing project is often less detailed and focused than it should be. But experience shows that a brief that clearly defines what success looks like is more likely to produce it. With a strong brief on the table, any feedback on the work will be more constructive and effective.

When teams or companies recognise and celebrate good writing, it sends a clear message to other writers to aspire to write well.

Anthony O’Connor creates value across editorial consulting, writing and editing, and training high-performing teams. He works with international clients and partners to elevate leading brands to new heights, supports businesses to perfect their customer-centric thought-leadership and storytelling capabilities, and trains writers to be ready to perform much better than AI.

Thanks for joining us this week. Anything we missed? Something we should include next week? Send us your shout-outs and strong opinions to include in next week’s edition at [email protected]. 

Spark is a production of Vivace, a global B2B creative studio and consultancy that helps businesses drive meaningful brand and commercial impact. Get in touch if you’d like to chat with any of the team. Have a great week ahead.