Don’t Just Avoid It:
How to Counteract Stereotype in Writing

People are sensitive, and that means not only that they are easily hurt, but that they perceive a great deal of subtlety and are often influenced by nuances of which they aren’t even consciously aware. In writing, outright bigotry is often easy to spot and avoid, but sometimes we subtly support stereotypes, stigmas, and dehumanization without even realizing it. Here are two techniques for increasing your awareness of how writing can either embolden stereotypes or replace them with humanitarian concepts.

Persuasive Verses:
How Outreach & Marketing Copy Are Like Poetry

This title might seem just about as strange to you as “How Polar Bears are Like Toucans,” since we tend to see poetry and marketing/outreach writing as utterly different creatures living in different environments. Indeed, I never expected that studying poetry back in college would be the slightest bit useful commercially; I enrolled in poetry classes simply for the pleasure of playing with the written word. Yet, years later when I started professionally writing outreach and sales materials for nonprofits and mission-based businesses, I immediately found myself applying many of the lessons I learned in my college studies of poetry.

The 8 crucial lessons poetry teaches to outreach and copy writers: