Writing Is the Family Business

The author deploys a red crayon in one of her first editing assignments. (Photo by Philip Dorf)

Writing is in my blood. I don’t literally have ink flowing through my veins, but there are always words swirling around in my head. It’s practically a medical condition: let’s call it thesauracephaly: thesaurus on the brain.

You might say it’s a family business. My dad was a writer and editor. You won’t find his work. on Amazon or even Google, however. That’s because 99% of the articles he wrote were distributed under someone else’s byline. He was a PR exec on Madison Avenue. It wasn’t as glamorous as those episodes of “Mad Men” — but I digress.

My brother is a writer and editor. He published two business books and an untold amount of content of every type. His wife was a magazine editor. who became a novelist and playwright.

Empathy Guides the Message

Pretty much everyone in my family who is not a writer is a psychotherapist. I don’t have those credentials myself, but I use some of those analytical skills in my own work. It’s all about empathy. I deployed it, big time, when I was a manager, and more so when I worked as a teacher, a tour guide, or a camp counselor.

That empathy, the ability to “grok” someone else’s perspective, is what separates your average wordsmith from an accomplished, professional writer. That’s true in any genre, including B2B content.

To be truly effective, a business writer must address the reader in his or her own language. I may shape the “voice” to match my client’s brand image, but the messages must resonate with the reader.

Words Build Bridges

I build a bridge between the client’s brand and the prospects’ needs. My words cross that chasm only when prospects feel that the brand cares about them and will solve their problems. As a writer, it is my job to understand and express the business — and often social — benefits of the client’s solution so that each individual prospect and customer identifies with the scenario.

Then my words need to guide those same people on a path of some kind. It may lead one to a purchase decision, while another is merely researching alternative solutions, and a third is doing the web-based version of “just looking.” For each of those steps, I find the right words to coax them forward on their journey.

I prod and nudge them, ever so gently, to a new destination. I’m a tour guide again. I’m a teacher and a counselor. I’m a daughter, a sister, and a trusted friend. Underneath it all, I’m a writer.