Insights archive
Red Pony is a team of writers, editors, Microsoft Office template developers and communications trainers. We have been writing about our areas of expertise for over a decade in our Red Pony Express newsletter.
This collection features the best articles from the last 10 years.
Listening for the joy of language
Ever wondered why we call it a trailer when it comes before the movie? Or why we refer to anonymous or unknown people as John or Jane Doe. These and many other topics to do with language are the heart and soul of A Way with Words, a podcast that’s all about ‘language and how we use it’.
How to make gravy
In his ode to a particularly Australian style of Christmas, Paul Kelly gave a recipe for How to make gravy (‘Just add flour, salt, a little red wine / And don’t forget a dollop of tomato sauce for sweetness and that extra tang’). For Christmas lunch, I will be in charge of the Christmas ham, as well as making the seasonal drink using Adam Liaw’s delicious cherry chinotto cordial recipe. All of this got me thinking about the art and science of writing recipes.
Blank space
In broadcasting, you’re instructed to avoid ‘dead air’. If you’re applying for a job, you may be dreading the question about that gap in your resumé. Why are we so scared of a little blank space?
So many books, so little time. Is Blinkist the answer?
The tower of unread books on my bedside table is growing. And with it, my guilt. I consider myself a ‘reader’, not someone who smugly displays books but never cracks the spines!
Author as editor: Ann Patchett revisits her own novel
By going back to a novel written more than 20 years earlier and annotating it by hand with what she liked and what she would now change, author Ann Patchett offers a fascinating insight into the creative writing process.
Rearranging slide decks on the Titanic
PowerPoint’s inventors imagined a simple aid to verbal communication, yet now it has mutated into its own genre and embedded itself in the DNA of corporate and government communications. Is PowerPoint doomed to an eternity in the icy depths of workplace ennui?
How to make an editor happy
We editors get a bad rap. We appear as nothing but a series of crossings out, rewrites, annoying demands (please review), irritating questions (please clarify) and suggestions for changes that, at first glance, look very similar to what was there in the first place. It’s no wonder you might think of us as grumpy pedants whose only joy in life is finding and correcting other people’s mistakes.
False formality
The saying goes that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. The same is true for writing. Style – in how we choose an outfit or structure a sentence – evidences our desire to be taken seriously. People notice when we ‘make an effort’ with writing, the same way they notice when we wear a freshly ironed shirt.
Structural integrity matters
When a 12-storey apartment building collapsed in Miami in 2021, killing 98 people, many observers couldn’t understand how previous building inspections had failed to avert the disaster. We now understand that while faults were obvious, inspection reports failed because they obscured them.
Making writing enjoyable
The average human has 70,000 thoughts a day and it has never been more difficult to organise these thoughts onto the page and construct a piece of writing worth reading.
Inventing a language of peace
When the French used their veto to vote down a resolution at the 1921 Assembly of the League of Nations, did they unwittingly thwart the world’s best chance to foster world peace and international understanding?
Finding your flow
This is the first in a series of pieces to better understand how we can reach this ‘flow state’ to make writing and editing less painful and more rewarding.
Don’t fear the ghostwriter
Q. When is a writer not the writer?
A. When they’re a ghostwriter.
The perfection of a good cartoon
When I think about my top 5 dream jobs, the occupation of ‘political cartoonist’ always makes the list. It’s not because I have a talent for drawing (I don’t). But I love the idea of being paid to come up with a witty and thought-provoking image that succinctly sums up the issue of the day.
Notes on transparency
If we take transparency to be a feature of good journalism and reporting, does that mean euphemism is an enemy of ‘good writing’?
Using headings to create impact
Whether you are writing a 100-page report or a one-page fact sheet, effective use of headings can greatly enhance your document.
Origins of punctuation
Regular readers will know that we’ve written a range of articles in the past about the purpose of different punctuation marks and how to use them in your writing. This time, I want to talk about the origins of punctuation itself.
Command centre: using imperatives in copywriting
Of the four kinds of English sentences – declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and imperative – the imperative might be the one you use least in your writing. It can be tricky to tell someone what to do without sounding blunt, even rude.