The first 5 lessons in the “How to Write with Flair” have taught me value techniques when writing emails within business. I highly recommend you read these first 5 chapters to improve your writing!
In the first chapter I learned how to use exciting verbs in my writing to make it more appealing to the audience when they read it. You need to Grapple with strong verbs and fritter away from the feeble ones. I noticed my writing seemed a little boring and bland in the past and I look to improve it moving forward by incorporating action verbs.
In the second chapter I learned the Big 5 punctuation marks: semicolons, colons, dashes, parentheses, and commas. Dashes can help highlight a part of a sentence, parentheses can imply a whisper, semicolons can combine sentences together that work with each other, commas can help make introductory clauses, and colons can create a list. These 5 uses punctuation have made my writing easier to read; helping it flow better. https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/punctuation-marks/#:~:text=We%20can%20break%20down%20the%20punctuation%20marks%20into,and%20parentheses%205%20Apostrophe%2C%20quotation%20marks%2C%20and%20ellipsis
In the third chapter I learned how to vary sentence length and change the way they start to create rhythm. Now when I’m not sure what to write next I first try to start the next sentence with either the first or last word from the last sentence.
In the fourth chapter I learned the importance of using clever wordplay in your email writing, such as puns, repeated first words, and self-answering questions. This chapter has helped my writing become more enthusiastic and appealing by writing in a more exciting tone. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/puns/#:~:text=A%20pun%20is%20a%20joke%20based%20on%20the,a%20clever%20use%20of%20language%2C%20or%20generate%20irony.
In the last chapter, chapter 5, I learned how to engage my audience in my writing. Sometimes I write as if I don’t know who I’m talking to, and this lesson taught me to recognize my audience and write in an appropriate tone to appeal to that audience. https://recruitment.relaypub.com/blog/writing-styles/#:~:text=Some%20tips%20for%20writing%20persuasively%20include%3A%201%20Identify,writing%2C%20even%20when%20faced%20with%20obstacles%20or%20opposition
All these 5 lessons have been impactful for me when reading them, most importantly lesson 4. I always thought writing had to be seriously all the time. I never tried to write with fun and engaging words. This lesson taught me that it’s just as important to keep your audience engaged as it is writing to the point. By using clever wordplay, you are able to keep your audience reading through the whole email, without wanting to put it to the side. You want your audience to read your emails all the way through so they can take something away from it.
I thoroughly enjoyed your blog post and felt very engaged as a reader. I also tried to incorporate more action verbs in my writing after reading chapter 1 of “How to Write with Flair.” The first visualization you provided for punctuation marks helped me fully understand the impact of each one and when they should be used. I thought it was very interesting that you discovered how to acknowledge your audience while writing. I think this is especially important in situations where someone has prior knowledge about the context of your work. Do you think that you will continue to utilize the techniques discussed in “How to Write with Flair” as your writing journey continues?
Before this course punctuation marks were not an aspect of my writing I was overly aware of, nor had much care for. For most of my life, I had stuck to the standard three of commas, periods, and quotations. However, upon using the main 5 marks, as you discussed, I find my writing to flow better and be much easier to read. However, breaking out of my habits of solely using the ones I’ve grown up with has been difficult. What strategies would you recommend for actively using a variety of punctuation?
The first chapter on verbs was very helpful to me as well. I also had verbs that were drier beforehand, but after reading, they helped me add more flair to my writing. The verb list at the end of the chapter as well was very helpful and I use it all the time when I want to add more flair to my papers. Do you still use the verb list?
Thank you for recapping all the chapters that we’ve read. I really like your post, because it reminded me of all the tactics that we learned from the book, and I can also references back to your blog! I really enjoy chapter 4 too, but when it comes to engaging and adding personality to the writing, do you think it is applicable to all the writing or some just meant to be serious?