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Writing is a skill that you must possess and constantly work at if you want to be a successful PR communicator. But good writing does not happen naturally. There are some key ideas that can guide your writing and make your PR communications fresh and exciting.
![Jonathan Rick](https://www.prnewsonline.com//wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Jonathan-Rick-226x226.jpg)
At PR News’ recent Writing Boot Camp at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Jonathan Rick, communications expert and president of the Jonathan Rick Group, shared some rules to follow to become a better PR communicator.
- Break up noun clusters. A string of nouns together in a title or sentence impairs readability.
- Make every verb count. The right choice of verbs gives your sentences power and direction.
- Embrace analogies. Analogies can sometimes better illustrate a concept than a straight explanation.
- Humanize big numbers. Saying the federal budget is $4 trillion a year doesn’t carry as much weight as saying that the federal government spends more in one second than two average American families spend in a year.
- Surprise your readers. Great writing shakes up expectations to add emotion or emphasize a point.
- Write the way you speak. Difficult concepts are best understood in everyday prose.
- Favor contractions. They make your writing flow better and make it more accessible.
- Avoid walls of text. Break up big blocks of text into smaller paragraphs, lists or tables to increase readability.
Follow Jonathan Rick: @JonathanRickGrp
Follow Richard Brownell: @RickBrownell
What editing book do you recommend?
Agree completely about making large numbers more relatable. I used to work for a large product testing company that developed more than 19,000 safety standards. When giving tours, I would tell people that’s about how many seats are in our local hockey arena.