Writing easier is possible, let's find out how.

Writing easier is an act of courage and an act of love. For your brand and for your readers. And yes, it's a dense journey, sometimes a Homeric undertaking, but the result always offers breathtaking views.

Complicating is easy, simplifying is difficult. To complicate, just add everything you want: colors, shapes, actions, decorations, characters, environments full of things. Everyone is capable of complicating. Few are capable of simplifying. To simplify you need to remove, and to remove you need to know what to remove , like the sculptor does when he takes away from the stone block all that material that is more than the sculpture he wants to make with a chisel. [...] Removing instead of adding means recognizing the essence of things and communicating them in their essentiality . [...] Simplification is the sign of intelligence, an ancient Chinese saying goes: "what cannot be said in a few words cannot be said in many".

Taken from "Creativity Lessons" by Bruno Munari.

Many times - still - I meet companies and professionals who slip on a well-rooted, yet wrong conviction. They believe that to communicate their authority they must adopt a lavish tone of voice and a language that seems to play hide and seek . Or they believe that professionalism requires a cold and detached tone of voice and a language that uses technicalities, neologisms, foreign terms. All those -isms that already speak for themselves in the name: they are hysteria .

People want simplicity and closeness

Professionalism can express itself even if it brings people together. Authoritativeness can be told better with simplicity.

The real problem is that writing simplest is the hardest thing . For two reasons. The first reason is that writing simple doesn't mean trivializing the content or even the form, it doesn't mean playing on a lower level or losing value. Far from it, it means creating value . The second reason is that too often we have a wrong preconception : we believe that simple writing communicates littleness and/or that it is unable to tell our personality. Nothing more misleading. Simplicity tells of a certain and sure presence , it embraces and expresses closeness: everything people are looking for today. Even in digital.

The benefits of simple writing

Whether you're a Copywriter or a brand, you have a duty to the people who will listen to you: you have to speak and write easier . And you have to because simple writing:

• it is inclusive. Speak to everyone, exclude no one
• it is democratic. No wicked gesture of authority or discrimination
• it requires no effort. She is there ready to be read, listened to and understood. And it does so without asking in return for that cognitive effort which punctually ends up generating anxiety or even anger in the reader.
• welcomes. It welcomes people, welcomes their emotions, sensations, fears, desires, fears and hopes
• it makes itself understood, without cognitive effort, useless obstacles and tortuous roads that we will abandon
• clarifies, suggests, fills
• takes care of people
• generates trust. If I easily understand what you are telling me, I trust you
• she is empathetic .

And, again, depending on the emotion that the person feels:

• if the person is anxious, writing simple helps us reassure them
• if she's angry, it allows us to make ourselves understood and to mitigate negative emotions.

When we are aware of the simplicity necessary for writing, we are really able to write for the user experience , for people, for the experience they will live and for their emotions. As Simon Sinek writes, start from why to understand, make yourself understood, let yourself be inspired and inspired .

What is simple writing

Simple writing begins with people's mental models and emotions and takes them on a journey full of wishes fulfilled, thoughts surprised, truths conquered, dreams fulfilled.

If you want to write easier you have to connect with the mental models of the people who will read you, with their thoughts and their language. The mental model represents our way of seeing and experiencing reality and arises from the experiences we have lived over time. Our thoughts originate right in our mental model and language is the tool we have at our disposal to express and share them. That's why to write easier you need to get to know the people you're addressing in depth .

• What do they think?
• What do they feel?
• What are they feeling in this specific moment of the Customer Journey?
• How do they talk? What words do they use?
• What scares them? And what reassures them?
• What do they really want to achieve beyond the material purchase?

Only if you can answer these questions deeply and empathetically can you connect with people. And write for them.

How to write easier

Do you remember the legendary Mary Poppins magic bag? This is kind of the tool that the Copywriter needs. Yes, because writing easier is only possible if you pull many different skills and competences out of the hat:

• If you are familiar with the mental models of the people you talk to
• if you master the language and know how to handle it well
• if you have a large amount of words e
• if you can identify yourself with the people who read you and understand their emotions
• if you succeed in the fundamental action of removing and then removing MA at the same time of enhancing the communicated content and the shared emotion. How can you do it? Hearing what the people you're talking to are hearing, using words that are of daily use to your interlocutor, building simple sentences and speaking clearly.

The 4 missions of the simplest writing

Writing is really easy for people when:

• it prevents all people's doubts
• answers their questions exhaustively
• leaves no gaps in communication
• arouses the emotions that, in that given moment, it is right to arouse . For example, add to cart, purchase and post-purchase reassurance; joy if we participate in a promotion that exploits the gaming mechanism; confidence if we are about to perform an action, etc.

12 tips to write easier

They are super useful and concrete. They are a guide that will help you simplify without trivializing.

1. SVO – Subject, Verb and Object in single file

The first tip is this: respect the order of sentence construction. SVO = Subject – Verb – Object must always be inserted in this precise order, because the Italian language is so structured and this is the construction that people mentally expect to read .

Also keep in mind that during the reading phase our eye is used to scanning what comes immediately after and that the elements of a sentence we look for first are the subject and the verb.

2. Short is beautiful

Simple writing means preferring short sentences, which can be read quickly and understood easily. The ideal length of a sentence is 20-25 words, maximum 30.

Short periods have the ability to make us dwell on words, slow down the race and lead us to reflect.

3. What about long periods?

Long sentences are useful and valuable when you want to make your readers soar. The risk , however, is that they can get lost in the tangle of words that you have gathered for them.

Long sentences can lead people on a beautiful journey, but to do so you have to know how to use words with wisdom and mastery, you have to take them by the hand and never let them go. (And yes, what you just finished reading is a long sentence).

4. Parataxis is your friend

When you write simple you have to prefer parataxis. In this case the structure of the period and of the sentences is made up of several main ones (subject – verb) linked together by coordinations . The coordinations can be conjunctions (for example the and ) or punctuation (for example the comma).

5. The wonder of action verbs is that they act

Action verbs are beautiful: they do, they act. Simple writing means preferring precisely this type of verb, which reinforces the message and gives concreteness to the content. Action verbs are present and are persistent (in memory). Love them, use them.

6. Avoid gerunds, especially at the beginning or end of a sentence

Having traveled a thousand miles without finding a soul, Sal decided to stop and rest for a while.

This is the kind of sentence that requires extra cognitive effort. When a sentence begins or ends with a gerund, it punctually ends up complicating the readability and comprehension of the message.

My advice? During the rereading phase, eliminate all the gerunds you can and replace them with relative, coordinated sentences or even with a full stop and a new period. Your message will be louder and clearer.

7. Parallel structures, my beloved

I am an unconditional lover of parallel structures. They give the message a cadenced rhythm , prepare the reader, get him used to a certain linearity , are recognizable and make the message clearer. Many strengths that a good Copywriter must know how to exploit.

8. How to use the engraved?

The engraved, if well positioned, can have a great effect on the rhythm of the sentence and also on the effectiveness of the message. What matters is:

• choose the right position in which to place them
• never separate the subject and verb of the sentence
• that they are short
• that add meaning .

9. First the main information

We are often tempted to start a sentence with a subordinate clause and this implies that we end up communicating the main information at a later time. Before you start writing, ask yourself: What is it that my reader really wants to know? What is the focus of this sentence? And it starts there.

10. Avoid set phrases, especially at the beginning of a text

The cliches are trivial , they don't arouse interest, they are obvious. This is why it is very important to avoid them, especially in the initial part of a text, when it is essential to intrigue the reader to capture his attention and his interest.

11. Parenthesis: yes or no?

The parenthesis is a pause, a stop that fragments the message and the reading. Use them with caution, therefore. There are cases where parentheses are useful, such as when we want to change the tone of the communication or add a personal comment. What matters is that the brackets:

• do not contain important information
• are short
• better if placed at the end of the sentence.

12. Order and rhythm

The text must have a precise order so that it is understandable for the reader. And the sequence with which you introduce the information must have a pattern and a reason that can be easily identified by the reader. This will contribute to the effectiveness of the message.

The pace of writing must also be consistent with the message you have communicated. How's the pace? Slow, fast, pleasant, harmonious? Does it contribute to understanding the message?

Typ. A very useful device is to give rhythm to the text by alternating short sentences and long sentences to create the right movement

Easier to write: a declaration of love and an act of courage

Choosing to write easier is a declaration of love you make to yourself and your reader. Making yourself understood easily communicates respect and trust , helps to establish a relationship with those who read your words and choose to create the right space for them in their own head and heart.

And yes, writing easier is an act of courage that always finds the right reward.