What's in a word?

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Hello Spark reader,

If you’ve spent any time on LinkedIn lately it’s likely you’ve come across marketers and copywriters both protesting and encouraging the use of GenAI for copywriting, both sides making some compelling cases.

Weighing in on this discussion for this edition of Spark, we have friend of Vivace, published author and winner of Costa’s Children’s Book of the Year award Jason Wallace—who clearly knows a thing or two about words!

There’s one thing we can guarantee you: Spark is and always will be a platform for the best thinking and writing from our talented community of creative humans. And because we want Spark to continue to be as interesting and useful as possible to you, our valued subscribers, we’re launching our first reader survey.

We’d really appreciate if you could take 3 minutes to answer a few questions that will help us shape future editions of Spark here.

—joel

What’s in a word?

Guest essay by Jason Wallace

It’s a good question. And the answer? Quite a lot and perhaps more than many people think, even in the content business that many of us find ourselves in.

As a writer, I read far less than I should—a full-time job plus a sideline plus a twelve-year-old son do not add up to a great deal of freedom. So when I do get the opportunity for a bit of me time and pick up a book, I make it count with quality. One of the best lines I’ve picked out from my reading thus far is this, from David Mitchell (not the comedian, the other one):

Just words.

For me, that says it all. In two perfectly combined words. Because it’s never “just” words, and Mr Mitchell knows it as well as I do.

Words are how hostage situations are solved. They can bond or separate entire nations. They can start or end wars. Form or end personal relationships. Make us laugh, make us cry. Soothe us. Anger us. Make us care or engulf us with total apathy.

If William Wallace (looking very much like Mel Gibson) had mounted his steed and yelled: “This is going to be a horrible day, it’ll hurt and you might die, it’s up to you if you want to stick around,” to his men before battle, as opposed to the iconic, “They may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”—Scottish history may very well have looked a bit different.

Where am I going with this? Let me close the circle.

Words are triggers. A certain word, in a certain place, at a certain time, can fire off untold reaction. Yes, that evokes visions of guns, and the dangers therein, so let me flip that and now say words are equally arrows for cupid’s bow, ready to shoot and burst a balloon of love over someone’s head.

A little saccharine, but see what I did there? You can do so much with words. And that means untold potential for any company.

I’m already slightly tired of it already, but I’m going to open the lid on the world’s most fashionable topic: artificial intelligence. Because in an age of impatience, expectation, and a fear of being left behind, everyone’s turning to AI as the next magic key.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against AI per se. It does do many wonderful and speedy things (impact on climate aside), but is it “there” yet? Really?

Take, for example, a piece of AI-generated content trying to market sustainable aviation fuel data: “Navigating the aviation markets can be like trying to fly your way through turbulence . . .”

Stop. Enough. At this point, most customers are already reaching for the too-small paper bag from the seat pocket in front of them.

Here’s another: “Our company is dedicated to providing our customers with the best possible experience.”

Honestly? There’s bland and generic, and then there’s that.

Technology should be an enhancement, not a replacement. Because technology can’t “do” nuance, or subtlety, or reading a room. That’s for us. After all, we’re the intelligent ones. We developed language over hundreds of thousands of years, while in relative terms, computers have been around for mere moments, so how on earth can we expect them to ‘take over’?

We are the magic key. Handling words is a craft. It’s a skill, as it is with most crafts. Do it intelligently, effectively, and with care, and you will stand out in a virtual room that is overcrowded with obvious and repetitive AI-produced copy.

Jason Wallace is a multi-award-winning writer for fiction, with over 25 years’ experience of corporate digital marketing experience. His mantra: It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.

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