White Paper Pundit

The popular blog site, Copyblogger, had an interesting post the other day entitled, “Why Cutting Clichés From Your Copy is as Easy as Pie”. The gist of the piece discussed why the use of clichés should be avoided in professional writing projects. As quoted in the post:

Clichés are the words and phrases that come to your mind when you write your first draft. They are the very first thoughts that occur to you about an idea, and they help you quickly figure out what’s on your mind. They are the language you hear and use when gossiping with your pals. Put simply, in writing, clichés are bland and overused phrases that fail to excite, motivate, and impress your readers or prospective buyers.

Is this a bad thing? After all, if clichés represent the first thoughts that come to a writer’s mind, shouldn’t those expressions also be the first things that come to the reader’s mind as well? If the use of clichés helps build a greater affinity between reader and content, that’s a welcomed feature and not something that should be avoided in a white paper project.

According to Copyblogger, writers should replace clichés with more energetic, invigorating, and exciting phrases. Phrases that give your copy a unique aura and hypnotize your readers. Here’s one example that was provided:

Cliché: Our product sold like hotcakes.
Original: We sold out the whole stock in just a week.

To me, one of the critical problems plaguing white papers is the tendency to turn them into text-based “white bread”. In other words, an all out attempt to cut straight to the bottom line and provide the reader with “just the facts”, eliminates the opportunity for building greater reader appeal and affinity. The use of colorful expressions, analogies, and clichés eliminate reader boredom and monotony, enhancing reader retention of key business concepts.

For example, I could indicate in a white paper that “business executives sometimes have to decide between two difficult alternatives”. But doesn’t the expression, “a Hobbs Choice” make the same concept easier for the reader to digest? I think so.

Now, obviously it’s difficult to use clichés when you’re writing about the developmental benefits of Java servlets in content management applications. But since the vast majority of white papers fall into the “hybrid” variety that are focused on the business benefits of complex solutions, the use of clichés seems to be appropriate in those circumstances.

The bottom line is this: While being an exceptional writer is certainly a requirement for a good white paper, writing skills alone aren’t enough. You also have to be a good communicator. The use of techniques such as clichés helps communicate key concepts to the business reader, making your white papers more effective.

And you can put that in your pipe and smoke it!

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 10:37 am and is filed under White Paper Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.