Bring steak and sizzle to your writing. Image from sxc.hu.

A colleague recently made an offhand comment to me about how good writing has “steak and sizzle.” I couldn’t agree more.

In the context of content creation, steak represents the heart of a piece of writing, which makes sizzle the metaphoric soul. The steak acts upon the writing, inculcating human senses within the words and bringing realism with each sentence. The sizzle acts upon the reader, propelling the focus beyond the letters on the page and building in visceral emotion.

Without enough of the steak, a reader is left hungry and looking for more. With a proper dose of sizzle, the text falls flat and fails to stay within the reader’s memory.

Too often, writers focus on steak at the expense of the sizzle, or vice versa. It’s a challenge to balance both, but even the most ordinary of writers can produce solid pieces by making a concerted effort to incorporate each. Don’t leave a bad taste within the minds of your readers.

Recipe for Writing with “Steak”

• Cover all the bases by setting up all the journalistic questions – who, what, where, when – and answering them all completely.
• Respond to what you can sense, see, hear, smell and touch.
• Write deductively, using generalizations to build to a specific conclusion.
• Structure the writing around logic, reason and order.

Bringing the Sizzle

• Go beyond what an observer would experience and bring in feelings and intuition.
• Introduce unexpected elements: a colorful metaphor, inspired poetry or flowery language expands the reader’s imagination.
• Explore the topic inductively, building to universal principles from specific examples.
• Build in the fanciful, the fantastic and the flashy.

Why choose Oberlin College? Because of their over-the-top unofficial web site.  The boldest marketing efforts are generally the most memorable.

A new way of looking at higher education fund raising. Think of alumni as champions, friends or acquaintances. The next logical thought from that set of audiences: tailor messages, frequency and intensity to each audience based on affinity to the college.

Proverbs, axioms and idioms via PR Daily. Not to be confused with metaphors, similes and onomatopoeia.

Admissions is not sales, a response to Admissions…should think like a sales team. I have to come down on the side of “not sales.” I think recruitment is more like a courtship – dating, if you will. Sales is transactional, but admissions is about a relationship, interpersonally between a recruiter and a prospect, then growing to encompass the faculty-student dynamic, and ultimately the brand-student/alum relationship.

Creating compelling content for an organization presents a challenge for even the most seasoned writers. Working in higher education, I’m lucky to have several audiences to supply stories. Student achievements, faculty accomplishments and notable alumni all go into the metaphoric hopper to be spit out as stories, web content, testimonials and pitches.

Read the whole story at The Agency Post, and follow them @AgencyPost.

(And as a side note, I need to start doing a better job of practicing what I preach…)

Looking back at the seven years that have passed since I finished it, some sections are cringeworthy. I warned you.

Introduction

Internet research exists on a spectrum from content-oriented areas of hypertext
theory, rhetoric, and hyperlink network analysis, to human-oriented fields like computermediated communication and human-computer interaction, and on to technology-oriented topics of online presence, information transmission, and innovations. Weblogs manifest elements of each of these areas, as they represent a way to publish content, a channel for communicating with individuals and groups, and an information distribution mechanism. The question, how do bloggers use hyperlinks?, will be answered by drawing upon citation analysis and Internet research on hyperlinks and web sites. This research will involve a series of focus groups that will ascertain the behaviors and motivations of bloggers in practice.

The advent of blogging as a media technology and a communication method
offers an alternative to broadcast media models and an opportunity to extend traditional theories of mass communication. Weblogs represent a convergence of mass, interpersonal, and mediated communication. The presence of weblogs on the Internet provides their authors with a limitless, easily accessible audience. Weblogs feature for interpersonal communication tools that facilitate social interaction. The intrapersonal aspect allows individuals to express inner thoughts through text, images, sounds, and hyperlinks, and to engage in self-exploration.

Hyperlink Use on Personal Weblogs

State of being verbs: is, are, has been – the entire conjugated set of verbs from “to be.” The utility of using these words does not make up for their utter lack of imagination. Taken as a whole, they cause most weak writing examples that I see. Try and write without using them, or use them sparingly, and your writing will improve immediately.

It pains me to type these words. Anyone who has visited my office may have noticed this sign on my wall. I implore you: make your own and tape it near your keyboard. You’ll become a better writer.

state of being words
somewhat
literally
actually
basically
indeed
although
seems
key
holistic
bandwidth
ideate
utilize
whatsoever
leverage
marry
optimize
myriad
plethora
-centric
tipping point
perfect storm
solution

I won’t give the content away before it’s published there, but I will divulge that no chickens were harmed in the writing of the article.

I. Catalog Description of Course
This course will provide students with an opportunity to write and create content for publication on web sites and distribution through electronic media. Students will explore communication theories, trends and technologies and apply them to written work.

II. Goals
a. This course introduces students to current terminology, topics and technologies in electronic communications.
b. This course explores communication theories related to mass media, technology and convergence.
c. This course provides intensive writing experience with close attention to grammar, spelling, form, content and delivery.
d. This course permits and encourages students to develop professional-quality portfolio content.
e. This course will expose students to careers in electronic communication.
III. Objectives
The student will be able to
a. Describe, explain, and analyze current communication terminology, theories, topics and technologies.
b. Define and understand web site audiences and web site use.
c. Describe and explain web site architecture and search engine operation.
d. Write, edit and critique web site content, electronic newsletters, and related content.
e. Use current technology tools and software.
f. Choose and implement online marketing tools.
g. Publish written content.
IV. Outline of Course Content
a. Defining communication and media
i. Print vs. Web – how is web writing different than other types of writing)
ii. Geek Speak: technology terms
b. Theory
i. Describe, explain and analyze theories of media, technology and convergence
ii. Discuss Rhetoric, theory and practice
c. The 24-hour news cycle
i. Define current trends in media, communication and technology
d. Web site content and architecture
i. Define text content, graphic content, navigation, meta content
ii. Search engine operation
iii. Google bombing
e. Writing and Editing Techniques
i. Brainstorming
ii. Freewriting
iii. Organizing, outlining and chunking
iv. Scanability
v. Editing 101
f. Web site critiques
i. The elements of Bad
ii. The elements of Good
g. News and Reporting
i. Parts of a blog – content and comments
ii. Social media releases
h. E-newsletters
i. What makes for a good (or bad) newsletter?
i. Online Marketing and Promotion
i. Software
ii. Web sites
j. Careers in Electronic Media
i. Guest speaker(s) TBD
ii. Marketing Yourself Online
k. The future of Electronic Media
i. Content
1. Personalized Contextual
2. Customized
3. Immediate
ii. Delivery
1. RSS
2. Kindle
3. Cell Phones
4. Semantic Web

V. Suggested Texts
a. Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Usability, Steve Krug, 2005
b. Killer Web Content: Make the Sale, Deliver the Service, Build the Brand, Gerry McGovern, 2007

VI. Suggested Modes, Media and Techniques of Instruction
a. Lecture, in-class writing, blog writing, student discussion, multimedia presentation, individual presentations
VII. Instructor References

Benkler, Yochai. (2007). The wealth of networks: How social production transforms markets and freedom. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Berners-Lee, Tim, Hendler, James & Lassila, Ora. (2001). The semantic web. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00048144-10D2-1C70-84A9809EC588EF21

Bernstein, Mark. (2002). Ten tips on writing the living web. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://alistapart.com/stories/writeliving/

Blood, Rebecca. (2000). Weblogs: a history and perspective. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html

Griffin, Em. (2008). A first look at communication theory. New York: McGraw Hill.

Fisher, Claude. (1994). America calling: A social history of the telephone to 1940. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Hourihan, Meg. (2002). What we’re doing when we blog. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/javascript/2002/06/13/megnut.html

Kilian, Crawford. (1999). Writing for the web. Bellingham, WA: Self-Counsel Press.

Krug, Steve. (2005). Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to web usability. XX: New Riders Press.

Lasica, J.D. (2001). Blogging as a form of journalism. Retrieved March 1, 2008 from http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1017958873.php

McGovern, Gerry. (2007). Killer web content: Make the sale, deliver the service, build the brand. London: A&C Black.

Miller, Daniel and Slater, Don. (2001). The Internet: An ethnographic approach. Oxford: Berg Publishers.