How to inject a bit of fun into your writing

--> part 1: the Aside

One way to get more people reading your emails and coming back for more is simply to make your emails a fun read.

Obviously your main goal is to send something useful. If every email is just fluff your readers will eventually drift away.

But that doesn’t mean you have to ram an encyclopedia down their throats every email. They already have access to tons of useful information and often they’re reading your emails as a pleasant break from the pressures of the day.

So a winning email is one that gives your readers a useful idea or practical tip - but that also makes them smile, snigger, or just not have to fight to keep their eyes open as they read it.

And the good news is that the bar isn’t all that high.

The reason I sent my Molesworth takeover email on Sunday was that I’d had my fill of uber-serious po-faced emails dropping in my inbox. Almost every expert these days seems to feel the need to present their stuff like they’re some kind of omniscient sage without a shred of self-doubt (or self-awareness, it seems).

I long to get something useful but lighter instead.

I’m sure a lot of your audience does too.

And it turns out that some of the techniques for lightening up your writing are surprisingly easy. For example, the Aside.

An aside is where you briefly break from your main narrative to make a side comment or observation (like this, except funnier).

Asides are often written in parentheses - or sometimes after dashes like this.

Sometimes I’ll do them on a separate line in italics.

Like this.

You can use asides to clarify or expand on your points. But I mainly like to use them to say something a bit tongue-in-cheek or snarky.

I sometimes compare it to a game of football (that would be soccer to you heathens).

Or

(Quick aside: has anyone *ever* learned how to be a better manager at business school rather than just becoming consultants or bankers?)

How do you come up with asides?

Surprisingly easily.

Often when you write something or read it back, you’ll find the aside just naturally jumps into your head. The trick is to be brave enough to write it down for public consumption.

For example, when I wrote “omniscient sage without a shred of self-doubt” I immediately thought “or self-awareness” and smiled to myself. The same happened when I was writing about how I went to business school to learn to be a better manager and remembered that I came out as a consultant instead.

When you find your writing triggers a thought that makes you smile, write it down. It’ll usually make your readers smile too.

Other good ways to use asides for comic effect are:

Exaggeration: for example “It was the worst sales meeting I'd ever had (I'm pretty sure I saw the customer's wallet sprouting legs and running for the hills halfway through my pitch.)"

Self-deprecation: “It was the worst sales meeting I’d ever had (which is saying something given I once had a meeting where the potential client only uttered 4 words in total)”.

A pop culture reference: “It was the worst sales meeting I'd ever had. (I felt like I was trying to sell a Krusty Burger to Lisa Simpson during one of her vegetarian fads.)”

Irony: “It was the worst sales meeting I'd ever had. (Naturally, it was right after I finished reading 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' for the third time.)”

You have to pick what fits with your style. The examples of exaggeration and self-deprecation would work well for me I think. The Krusty Burger and Dale Carnegie ones less so.

And don’t overuse them. One or two per email is enough. Any more and your readers lose the flow of what you’re trying to say.

And as I say, the main thing is just being brave enough to try one. Of realising you don’t have to be deadly serious for people to take you seriously.

- Ian