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.
Social media language in the workplace?
It only takes a work commute to realise how constantly we connect to the web. Next time you’re on public transport, have a look at what others are doing. Never before has there been so much information, so readily accessible, at the tap of our fingertips.
Four writing styles and when to use them
If you were to read the instructions for operating a nuclear reactor, you would expect it to be written very differently to a novel about a nuclear accident, or a newspaper editorial about the merits (or otherwise) of nuclear power.
Nouns for the masses
Noun words are members of an extensive family, but their variety can be confusing.
Where words go when they die
The current online version of the Macquarie Dictionary lists 138,000 words and 210,000 different definitions. According to an online survey of 2 million (admittedly self-selected) people, the average adult has a vocabulary of 20,000–35,000 words. Which begs the question, what happens with the rest?
One idea for better writing
It sounds a bit simplistic to say to that one idea will improve your writing, doesn’t it? But it’s true. Just one idea can make a big difference.
Developing a lifelong love of language
When my daughter started school a couple of years ago, one of the first things she was given was a list of ten words she was asked to learn to spell. Over the next few months more words were added until she had mastered one hundred different words.
Tenders, funding applications and award submissions: different sides of the same coin
When it comes to writing a tender, business proposal, funding application or an award submission the purpose is the same – convincing the reader that you are the best proposition based on your capabilities and achievements. One technique to help you achieve that is to apply a ‘what, how, where’ model to your writing.
A body of writing: good bones are just the beginning
When someone says a house has ‘good bones’ we tend to think of a solid structure, or a floor plan that can be used or improved without major renovation. In writing, ‘good bones’ also implies a sound structure, providing clear direction and logical flow of information. However, I actually think of this as the skeleton rather than the bones.
Is English becoming toxic?
Despite a global push for the use of plain English to boost reader understanding and accessibility, recent language trends and buzzwords suggest that English is actually becoming less accessible for the average user.
A Style manual for the digital age
Whenever I find myself editing a document, there are two resources I keep close at hand – a dictionary and the Australian Government Style manual. Unlike the dictionary, which I can access online (depending on the version required), the Style manual has always been a physical publication. Hopefully that is soon to change.
The global language of Christmas decorations
Many years ago I spent my first (and to date only) Christmas in Europe, where I experienced the winter-themed decorations adorning the streets and shopfronts in their original context for the first time.
The real magic of a letter to Santa
In a time when communication is primarily digital, and mostly informal, the seemingly simple act of writing a letter to Santa retains a special significance. Children once wrote regularly to people such as grandparents, other family members and penfriends. Now, a letter to Santa may be a child’s only experience of formal correspondence.
Sans Forgetica: the font to remember
Why would anyone design a font that is deliberately difficult to read? The answer is simple: to help people retain the information they are reading. A team of designers and behavioural scientists at RMIT University has created a new font for the specific purpose of aiding memory retention. It may seem counterintuitive, but by […]
Words are cheap but jargon comes at a cost
Most professions and industries have their own jargon – words and phrases that have a specific meaning within a particular group but a different meaning (or none at all) outside the group. To those who use it regularly, jargon can be inclusive. It’s the kind of language you hear at […]
Editing with artificial intelligence
Futurists predict that many of the jobs we do today will cease to exist when human labour is replaced by artificial intelligence (AI). Is the occupation of professional editor likely to be one of them?
Writing that’s ‘fit for purpose’
To determine whether something is fit for purpose, it must first be clear what the ‘purpose’ is. What are you intending to use the product for? The same applies to writing. All writing has a purpose or particular objective for a specific audience.
Time for a good segue
As I join the Red Pony team, it seems the perfect time to write about segues. A segue is ‘an uninterrupted transition from one piece of music or film scene to another’ in musical terms or, more generally, a ‘smooth transition from one role, state, or condition to another’ (Oxford Dictionaries). The second of these […]
Is writing a dying art?
Whenever he conducts a business writing workshop, our trainer asks participants what proportion of their workday is spent writing (e.g. emails, reports and presentations). The answer is usually somewhere between 50 and 75 per cent.
How to identify fake news
The result is that people have become more sceptical of all forms of media, and less likely to accept information presented to them, no matter how credible. It's therefore more important than ever to practise 'critical reading', something we may have first learnt about in school.
Experts vs beginners: know your audience
You cannot write well if you don’t know your audience. It’s one of the first questions we ask our clients. The same point can and should be conveyed completely differently, depending on who will be reading it.