Here's the latest look at real-life copywriting in action, thanks to Sarah Williams, the head of Wordsmith in England. After we interviewed her a couple of months ago about her innovative "method acting" approach to copywriting, as she calls it (check out our interview with Sarah here), we thought to ask Sarah if she wouldn't mind sending us actual case studies... we could study! Here is this month's:  Continue reading...

What books inspire writers? We asked novelist Renee Rosen, author of Every Crooked Pot, to tell us what she's been reading. She graciously sent us these picks:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. "This book is such a rare gem, it was perhaps my favorite novel of last year. A departure from Gruen's previous novels, Riding Lessons and Flying Changes (which I also highly recommend), Water for Elephants is set against the backdrop of a traveling circus during the Depression. It's part love story, part historical and altogether engaging. It's a story that will make you laugh and cry. Gruen's skill and immense talent is evident on every page. Her prose is stunning and her eye for telling details is always spot on! It's easy to see why this book has captured the hearts of readers around the world. Truly, this is one of those books that you'll never forget."

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They say that breaking up is hard to do, but English words seem to have just as hard a time of it forming stable relationships. This month in the Lounge we examine recent trends.  Continue reading...

Tony Karrer, a computer professor and author of eLearning Technology, explains he how employs "scanning" to stay up to speed in his profession. Can his techniques help you, too? Read about Tony's approach here.

How do our words relate to our thoughts? What does language tell us about human nature? What are we doing, language-wise, when we swear, use innuendo or name our babies? Harvard professor Steven Pinker examines these questions -- and much more -- in his terrific new book, The Stuff of Thought. We had a fascinating conversation with him about his research into language and cognition:  Continue reading...

Don't start a babag over language! Check out these lists that collect words, words and more words from the fringes of English?

International House of Logorrhea

Compendium of Lost Words

Word Oddities

Luciferous Logolepsy

SKB Dictionary

In Part One of this series, I talked about three common ways to create product and company names: from people's names, from connecting two words, and by creating a blend or portmanteau. As naming exercises go, those three techniques are among the most basic. In this installment we move into Intermediate Naming: techniques that require a bit more mastery of the workings of language but can reward you with distinctive, memorable names.  Continue reading...