Write Out Loud

I wrote last week that I never received better than a B+ in any English or Writing class… that I’m writing for a living not on natural talent, but on guts. Well, the main point is still valid, but I stand corrected on the grade thing: I got an A- in a Junior-year college writing course. The class was titled “Writing Out Loud,” and while I spent most of my time eating cookies and writing about construction workers, quite a bit from that class still sticks with me.

Namely, the writing concept at the core of the course: not writing for a stagnant page, or stagnant professors. Writing like you’d talk. Or, writing out loud. Of course, the stuff was solid, and followed basic rules, but you get the point. And really, looking at my own work and at the good startup copy out there, that’s how it reads. It’s casual, engaging, and real. It respects the reader, not as superior to the writer, and not as inferior. As a friend.

I’ve written this before. Startup customers don’t want to be sold. They just want to know who you are, and what you made. Don’t tell them like you’re a great American author, and don’t tell them like you’re an idiot. Just, well, tell them. Write out loud.