writing Tag

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Copyeditor with an Attitude; photo by Free To Use Sounds on Unsplash… I’ve noticed an odd writing habit on LinkedIn — and I’m not talking about my pet peeves, the abuse of “authentic” and “humbled”…Read More

Q: Dear Freddy: Can you recommend any books that would help me with writing techniques for marketing? Or does your writing come mostly through a lot of practice? — KC at USCRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Creative Strategist… OK, let me get this straight: A sports fashion brand run by savvy marketing pros and brilliant designers creates a text-driven promo piece… then ruins it with bad typography?Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Honored to be Humble… Every day I challenge my computer to chess. “Bring it on!” I say. And every day I vow, “Today’s the day I turn the tables on that non-sentient tormentor!” But every single day my computer beats me soundly. That humbles me. Sometimes I look in the mirror immediately after a workout and think, “Not bad, old man.” Then I look in the mirror immediately after I wake up in the morning and think, “Age is aRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Misses Alternative Newspapers… I used to read the L.A. Weekly (the alternative newspaper of Los Angeles) when it was the size of deep dish pizza — and almost as delicious, filled with no-holds-barred political screeds and small-theatre reviews and creative writers who wouldn’t get a shot in any other L.A. publication. Big plus: it was free. The Weekly came out every Thursday, and my friends and I would rush out and grab a copy before they were all snappedRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Believes The Pen Can Be Mightier Than The Sword… You know what product attribute doesn’t get enough hype? Tactility — how something feels to the touch. While today’s manufacturers obsess over size and weight, promising us larger and larger capacity and lower and lower weight, that’s fine for phones and planes — but not enough for us creative professionals. In fact, sometimes we want our tools to be heavier and less modern. Whether the instrument is a keyboard, camera,Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Doesn’t Travel Nearly Enough… If a storm like this hit Los Angeles, the local news would cover it all day — make that all week — with sodden reporters stumbling around and calling it something like Mega Tempest 2017™. Here in Ireland’s aptly named Wild Atlantic Way, the locals refer to it as “a Tuesday.”Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Knows Jargon Enough To Avoid It; image by Mabdul via Wikimedia Commons… Quick, can you guess what this company is selling? “We provide a platform for market-moving dialogue by connecting decision makers through actionable exchange, revolutionizing the way 21st century companies create value.” Although reading that is like chewing sand — but not as fun — too many execs think such jargon makes them sound “professional.” Instead, it makes them sound like con artists. I take that back: aRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango, Professional Writer, and Professor; photo by Pwlps via Wikimedia Commons… Dear Class, Please evaluate the first sentence from this recent academic-journal article, “Progressive Mastery Through Deliberate Practice: A Promising Approach For Improving Writing”: “There is virtual agreement across all sectors (policy-makers, researchers, educators, parents, employers) that there is a crisis in literacy internationally, not only in reading – which has been the focus of policy and research in recent decades – but also – a more recent focus of attention – inRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Editor Who Can’t Resist… It’s a common mistake: writing “baited breath” instead of “bated breath.” I just didn’t expect it in the official publication of the American Marketing Association (October 2016 issue). But there it glared at me from an article about Apple’s born-to-be-lost AirPods. Of course, we all know that “bated” means anxious or excited, while “baited” refers to a loaded trap. Whenever I see “baited breath,” I visualize someone with a worm on a hook dangling in their mouthRead More