How to tell Bad Content

Rumblebuffin

Rumblebuffin

Professional Copywriter
Sep 27, 2012
31
1
0
UK
Hello, my name's Rumblebuffin and I am a writer.

Over the years I have written journalism, poetry and content. Lots of content.

I see crap content every day and I end up re-writing a lot of it.

Obviously, we can all tell content that is written by someone who can barely speak English. But what about content that is bad in more subtle ways?

Let's take a look at this:

You know how it is: one day, you walk into your living room, guest room or office, clap eyes on that clapped-out sofa, and you think: enough's enough! That shabby, saggy piece of furniture has got to go
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How does that sound to you?

The actual idea isn't bad. The use of "you" puts the reader into the state of wanting a new sofa but, by God, the style is terrible. The grammar too.

Take a look at this:

You know how it is: one day, you walk into your living room, guest room or office, clap eyes on that clapped-out sofa, and you think: enough's enough!
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This is just one sentence. It's too long. The exclamation mark looks unprofessional and childish. And "clap eyes on that clapped-out sofa"? It's just trying too hard.


Here's how I would re-write it:

You know how it is. You walk through the door, clap eyes on that ragged sofa, and think enough's enough.
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With writing, especially online, less is more. Here endeth the lesson.
 


just write anything dude...
there are just many more readers than writers...

and if 50 shade of shit can hit it off so can other shades of shit too... you just have to have the same luck an EL James.
 
Both for me look quite fine except the first example got all these colons, etc. The exclamation mark is acceptable and even gives a reader a feel that their sofa is a crap which needs to be replaced.

P.S. My native language isn't English so I may be judging wrong.
 
Like I said, the difference is subtle. But the subtlety of tone is what marks average writing apart from good writing which is was the scope of this post.
 
Rumblebuffin said:
Take a look at this:

You know how it is: one day, you walk into your living room, guest room or office, clap eyes on that clapped-out sofa, and you think: enough's enough!
Click to expand...
This is just one sentence. It's too long. The exclamation mark looks unprofessional and childish. And "clap eyes on that clapped-out sofa"? It's just trying too hard.


Here's how I would re-write it:

Quote:
You know how it is. You walk through the door, clap eyes on that ragged sofa, and think enough's enough.
Click to expand...
With writing, especially online, less is more. Here endeth the lesson.
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Here's how I would rewrite it (and I'm not a writer)

"Enough is Enough"

Its even shorter than what you wrote and better for veiled sales letters from writers who think they are very smart ...
 
nmridul said:
Here's how I would rewrite it (and I'm not a writer)

"Enough is Enough"

Its even shorter than what you wrote and better for veiled sales letters from writers who think they are very smart ...
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Thanks for your feedback.

Here's how I would rewrite it:

"Enough is enough.

There, that's shorter than your post and better than a thinly-veiled sales latter from a writer who think's he is oh-so-smart"
 
The best measure of content is if it's adequate for its intended audience. If it's suited for the recipient then it has met some of its qualifications. You wouldn't expect a piece written for the Harvard Law Review to appear at a comedy website and vice-versa.

Microsoft Word has a utility that works with the Flesch-Kincaid ease of comprehension / academic grade level scoring that provides an idea of target audience suitability.

I've heard talk of Google using Flesch-Kincaid to gauge content directed at certain occupations to help resolve the trust/authenticity/authority of the writer.

Oh, BTW, I am not fishing for any work...just wanted to contribute.

Snoogle
 
I will say this, as someone who is somewhat a grammar pedant, I tend to look down on poor written English, however that doesn't necessarily mean I will use perfect English for content copy, it really does depend on who the target audience is.

As a writer - perhaps you could give us some examples of different styles you would write the same information in? I know this is something I struggle with sometimes - an immediate example I can think of is a site I built aimed for north London "yoofs" - I really found it hard writing the rudeboy style but keeping it in English, not slang... if you know I mean.
 
I see crap content every day and I end up re-writing a lot of it.
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And you call yourself a writer? English is not my first language and I see how crappy your writing.
"I have written journalism, poetry and content." - what the fuck is this?
I have written journalism! Fuck. go back to school.
 
Everyone has their different style and preferences. Less is not always more.

Personally, I don't really mind with either of those sentences... the only thing that I hate is content where I have to sit and think about what they are trying to get across...because their word usage sucks
 
KeepSuth said:
Everyone has their different style and preferences. Less is not always more.

Personally, I don't really mind with either of those sentences... the only thing that I hate is content where I have to sit and think about what they are trying to get across...because their word usage sucks
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Right. I think clarity is more important than style in 85% or more of web writing. Most people aren't looking for beautiful prose; they simply want information, and they want it now.

I see the purpose of good content as delivering desired information in a clear way that also accomplishes the needs of the site owner. Brevity may or may not have anything to do with it.
 
I agree with you dude! Writing in a simple yet clear is the most important since readers are better appreciated those writings that they understand well and clear. Good grammar is the basic component of achieving good writing so this shouldn't be spoiled.
 
Even all the lines are easy to understand but third one is very clear to normal reader. But I think when you are writing like a story or a novel etc you should looking for more and more completing sentences than the normal one, and that is called the creative writing my bro, But your point is valid
 
people all have the right to free press, so no matter how bad the content is, there's little we can do to eliminate them
 
wcgriggs said:
people all have the right to free press, so no matter how bad the content is, there's little we can do to eliminate them
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Not entirely true. Mods can "eliminate them" for padding post counts by bumping half year old threads with mindless drivel...
 
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