Less than a year after I started Bad Language, it's still a surprise to me that a) it's been as successful as it has been and b) people now ask me for advice about starting a blog. Equally, nobody told me the whole thing would be so much fun.  Continue reading...

How do you persuade others to see, think, feel or believe in something? ChangingMinds can help. This huge website (2,500 pages and counting) lists disciplines, techniques and explanations related to the art of persuasion. Check out this rich resource.

Although, as noted by the Book of Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun, there is something newish in the world of mindmapping. And I'm thrilled to be able to share it with you.  Continue reading...

Here's the latest case study of real-life copywriting in action graciously sent to us by Sarah Williams, the head of Wordsmith in England. Thanks, Sarah! (Check out our interview with her here.)

The project:
Bizlinx International, a business networking organization (though, for reasons that you'll learn below, business networking is really not the term I should use here) was looking to re-brand and re-position itself after four or five years of successful trading in Australia and New Zealand. (They also have a small presence in the UK.) Wordsmith was appointed to write all the new material for web and print, as well as re-write and re-brand all the existing material. We were also tasked to project manage the whole undertaking, liaising with branding specialists, designers and web developers to deliver a finished product to the client.

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After reading author John Elder Robison's inspiring Backstory about his memoir Look Me in the Eye, we wanted to learn more about what makes this particular writer tick. How did he go from touring with KISS to repairing luxury cars to writing his acclaimed book about living with Asperger's syndrome? So we called him and had a fascinating conversation about writing, storytelling, and touching readers' lives though a memoir:  Continue reading...

"Two peoples divided by a common language." George Bernard Shaw said this about the British and the Americans, but the same can be said of anoraks and suits.  Continue reading...