The mistakes are always similar. The comments I leave are also the same. More dynamics and verbs, less modals. No adverbial participles or verbal nouns. More usefulness. Explain. Clarify. Shorten.
There is an editorial policy for this case: it saves the editor's time and poisons the life of new authors. We started to draw it up recently. But I save people's time and understand that a copywriter, for whom we are perhaps one-time customers, will not delve into a 15-page document. Instead, he gets a summary: our requirements for texts in 12 points.
I am publishing them.
A strong text always addresses the reader . That's why we start our japan mobile phone numbers database work by trying to understand him. Who is he and what worries him? We look for pain points: his doubts and fears. In each text, we put ourselves in the audience's shoes and work with their pain: the text should solve people's problems, and in everything - in examples, formulations, advice - they should recognize themselves.
Let's get straight to the point . Respect the reader's time: he should understand from the first paragraph what it's about and why he should read it. Intrigue and motivate him to read.
We do not allow extraneous reflections and digressions : no one except the author is interested in them. We string the text on a solid foundation. There is a theme, there is a structure, there are goals and objectives of the text - you cannot deviate from them. No lyrics - we write only on the matter.
We explain all abstractions , we give an example for every general statement: it is important that every phrase and every sentence are transparent and understandable to the reader. We bring texts closer to reality and enliven them with examples. Our goal is to create a clear picture in the reader's head and to move away from abstractions as much as possible.
We rely on facts and precise data, avoid lies and figures from the head . Did you give a number? - Indicate the source. Are we claiming something? - Support it with facts and provide arguments. Unfounded statements and invented figures in texts are unacceptable.
Avoid overcomplicated sentences . We never use complex syntactic constructions with several complex sentences. Compound and complex sentences — yes, but we never overload them with subordinate clauses. Our favorite type of complex sentences is non-union: they are dynamic, sharp, and imitate the syntax of colloquial speech. Our favorite punctuation mark is a period. After it, the favorites are a dash and a colon: they help greatly to highlight pauses and place emphasis.
If a sentence can be broken into two or three without it suffering, we break it.
If a word can be removed and the meaning will not change , we remove it.
We format the text correctly . There must be a heading with subheadings. If it is possible to add a list to the text, we do so. We must dilute large texts with illustrations: so that there is an image on every second or third screen. We make paragraphs no longer than 4-5 lines, ideally we alternate long paragraphs with short ones, and complex sentences with simple ones: this makes the text more energetic and helps to place emphasis.
From all texts we erase :
Introductory constructions;
Descriptive nouns are replaced with verbs;
Official language and formality: even when communicating with a serious audience, we do without business style and the language of reports;
Oblique cases strung together;
Participial and adverbial participial phrases;
Stop words according to Ilyakhov - his service Glavred does an excellent job of this .
We check each text in Glavred . Our standard is 7-7.5 points. But we work with it carefully and without fanaticism: it is an algorithm, and the algorithm is not precise enough - it does not take into account all the linguistic nuances and subtleties. But it helps to clean up the text.
We write "You" only with a lowercase letter.
And most importantly: the "what" comes first, not the "how". If the topic is interesting, the text is useful and solves the reader's problems, he will swallow the text and will not stumble over bureaucratic jargon and stop words. Or he will stumble, but will quickly recover and run on.
If the text is meaningless and gives nothing to the reader, then even brilliant style will not save it. And this is the main requirement: we do not work well with authors who are too lazy to put thought into their texts.
