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 since 2009 in our Red Pony Express newsletter.
This collection features a selection of our best articles.
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.
Letting the words come
What goes through your head while you’re writing? For many writers, this internal voice is negative, like author Haruki Murakami who said in an interview, ‘When a writer develops a story, he is confronted with a poison that is inside him.’
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.
Don’t fear the ghostwriter
Q. When is a writer not the writer?
A. When they’re a ghostwriter.
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’?
Tips for curing writer’s block
As a professional writer I occasionally get stuck with that dreaded affliction called writer’s block – the feeling of being stuck and unable to write. Most writers experience this feeling at some point, and it can last for anywhere from minutes to years.
Too many notes – tips for succinct writing
Writing succinctly isn’t easy. Here are my top tips for trimming those excess words.
Version control: keeping track of collaborative editing projects
Whether you’re writing for yourself, as part of a small team or a large government agency, version control is an essential part of the drafting process. Editing is no different.
In short: literature condensed
In short, a good summary will provide the right level of crucial information for a general audience, while also inviting the reader to go deeper if they wish. Condensed forms of writing can paradoxically be the best way to expand our knowledge of a subject.
And the word of the year is...
Each year the Macquarie dictionary announces its choice for Word of the Year. The winner, and indeed the shortlist of candidates, offers an insight into the events of the previous 12 months and how our society is changing. 2022 was no exception.
The difference between copyediting and proofreading
When you’re outsourcing a content project, what services do you need and how do you tap into the right level of editorial expertise?