Be direct, emphatic and don’t equivocate

by Bill Wren on March 7, 2010

I’m reading Seth Godin’s most recent book, Linchpin, and I was thinking today about how he writes. In this book, his style is a bit different than in the past, though if you’ve read some of his other books you can see how he has evolved into this style.

In Linchpin, the style is more direct, more emphatic and more personal than in the past. The key word in that sentence is “more” because it isn’t as if he hasn’t written that way previously. It is simply more.

Other people also write in this way and there is a good reason for doing so. I see it best illustrated by setting it against my own writing in blog posts.

I have a bad habit of equivocating. That isn’t an issue in Linchpin. Godin is direct and doesn’t fudge his statements. That makes for greater impact and thus effectiveness.

I think there are a few reasons why I equivocate. The first is the really bad reason. I don’t want to make a firm commitment to a statement I’m making. That is so very bad. I hope I don’t do that too often.

Another reason is a good one, but done to excess becomes a problem. I want what I write to be conversational. I don’t want my writing to come across as academic or formal. I want it to read in a way that you can “hear” someone speaking it in conversation. So I put in the odd conversational phrase, more or less, kind of … Like that, at least every so often. It’s okay occasionally, but done too much it undercuts what has been written. (Those italicized words are an example of what I do.)

The last reason is because I want to remain open to other perspectives. I don’t want to be dogmatic. This may be a well-meaning reason but it undermines the writing, makes it come across as non-committal and just reads as namby pamby. You can’t be all things to all people all the time. Take a position and live with it.

Godin does this in Linchpin and the book benefits. It is effective and engaging – partly for what it is about and partly for how it goes about it. It is direct and doesn’t equivocate.

If you’re writing, don’t be like me. Be like Seth.

  • Pingback: Social Media Storytelling Marketing PR Technology Business Curated Stories Mar. 6 and 7, 2010

  • http://broadcasting-brain.com Mark Dykeman

    It depends on what you're writing though, doesn't it?

    I notice a difference in Seth's style in Linchpin compared to his other books. I have found his writing very polished but a little too… controlled or contrived at times. Linchpin seems more urgent than other books.

    Taking a firm stand can be quite gripping at times, but the danger is that you fall into a dogmatic, preacher-like tone where you brook no argument. That's the downside.

  • http://writelife.net/ Bill Wren – Writelife

    Yes, it is the downside and it does depend on what you're writing. It's interesting that the writing doesn't always seem dogmatic — if you agree with it. But if you don't? Then it comes across as very dogmatic.

    It's generally not a style I use though I get frustrated with myself sometimes for not using it a bit more often (as the post suggests). With Linchpin, I'm taking Seth's style as a way of making his statement, urgently and almost dogmatically, with the idea of saying, “It's like this. Don't agree? Let's talk about it. Let's debate.” Of course, I could have his intention all wrong. :-)

  • http://writelife.net/ Bill Wren – Writelife

    Yes, it is the downside and it does depend on what you're writing. It's interesting that the writing doesn't always seem dogmatic — if you agree with it. But if you don't? Then it comes across as very dogmatic.

    It's generally not a style I use though I get frustrated with myself sometimes for not using it a bit more often (as the post suggests). With Linchpin, I'm taking Seth's style as a way of making his statement, urgently and almost dogmatically, with the idea of saying, “It's like this. Don't agree? Let's talk about it. Let's debate.” Of course, I could have his intention all wrong. :-)

Previous post:

Next post: