Blog: Wordsmithery
News and views from me, Charlie Hobson, about all things Wordsmithy-related.
From copywriting and comms trends to grammar pedantry, things I’ve learned from our latest client projects to inspiring people and resources, I’ll share it here in my fairly frequent, shortish blog posts. I hope they help you get to know me better.
Monty: love him or hate him, you have to respect him
The John Lewis Christmas ad has occupied screeds of social and traditional media commentary in the last few days. Monty the Penguin seems to be garnering a lot of love and provoking some amusing and at times controversial discussion. Whatever your personal feelings...
Long lead times: Christmas came at Easter!
I sing with Tamesis, a small, semi-professional choir based in Reading, and to my great joy, we've recorded a Christmas CD this year - our third professional recording in the ten years I've sung with them. The experience of spending a weekend in the studio resplendent...
Are you red carpet-ready?
Been to any good awards ceremonies lately? We might not have much chance of making it to the Baftas or Oscars, but most industries hold their own equivalents which can be almost as much fun! It's always a boost to be recognised by peers and industry experts for what...
Polish it up for a glossy finish
There seems to be a lot of demand for our copy editing and proofreading services at the moment: it's fantastic that so many clients recognise that small things can make a big difference. A truism when I worked in the supermarket business was "retail is detail" - the...
What’s your story?
Buzzwords come and buzzwords go, but I have a feeling this one is going to be around for a while. Out meeting clients this month, we've talked a lot about "storytelling." Google "business storytelling" and you'll find an explosion of recent features, blogs and...
Short and sweet
This month has been all about brevity here at the Wordsmithy. A few years ago I was often asked to write content for length company brochures detailing the full range of services and products on offer as well as background about the organisation. I've been talking to...
Language and culture
I've been doing some interesting work recently with a client going through a transformation process. It's impressive how clearly the team grasps the fact that the way they communicate their new culture and values is just as important as the content of what they say....
Styling up the Wordsmithy website
Here I am practising what I preach. Thanks to the wonderful Susie Tobias at Wise Genius, I have a newly formatted website with brand new content and most importantly, a blog that I can update easily whenever I want to. I often talk to clients about the importance of...