If your dog does a poo, please put it in a bin.

Have you ever wondered why we often meet people we recognise but can’t figure out who they are? Sometimes it’s even people we know pretty well, but we still can’t remember how we know them. I call it the ‘out of context syndrome’.

We tend to associate people we know with certain situations so when we see our doctor in the supermarket, or our postman in the pub, we say hello but we can’t always place the face and it bugs us all day until we eventually remember.

Context plays an enormous role in communications, and woe betide the communicator who gets it wrong.

Take my headline. We know it doesn’t mean put the dog in the bin, but it’s a great example of context. We know we’re meant to pick up dog mess so we instantly understand the message. We also know that “Caution Animals Drive Slow” doesn’t mean that animals are slow drivers, but it still makes me smile every time I see signs like this.

The Oxford English Dictionary describes context as “the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement or idea; the parts that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.”

The much used, but rarely recognised, ‘dangling modifier’ can provide a highly amusing lack of clarity. Dangling modifiers (often referred to as hanging or dangling participles) are sentences where the second part of the sentence doesn’t refer to the subject in the first part. Humorous examples include:

• Fresh from the oven and smothered in butter, my husband loved my homemade bread.
• On entering the surgery, the skeleton immediately caught my eye.
• If found guilty, the FA could fine the players and the club.

Fortunately, our common sense tells us what poor writing doesn’t!

Unfortunately, out of context doesn’t always make you smile.

I once attended an automotive awards dinner where the guest speaker (a popular national TV news reader) told several jokes about second-hand car salesmen and sheepskin coats. Not only did nobody laugh, but with each new ill-advised quip, we grew more and more irritated. Humour relies on context big time.

So the next time you’re editing a piece of writing, just imagine your intended audience hearing or reading your words from their point of view. Do those words that you so clearly understood/enjoyed really make sense/entertain out of context?

 

10 ways to beat writer's block

Even the best of writers experience writer’s block from time to time when they cannot think of anything to write – or they ditch what they have written believing it to be ‘rubbish’. So here are ten ways that could help you beat the dreaded ailment.

1. Find the root of the problem – lack of information, bored with the subject, no new ideas and lost confidence through over criticism are just some of the common causes – you need to establish yours before you can start to tackle it

2. Stop trying to write the piece that’s troubling you and write something else – even if it’s only an email to a friend moaning about not being able to write!

3. Keep a writing diary and learn from it – note what happened in the lead up to the good days, when the words seem to tumble out by themselves, and the bad days, when everything was a struggle
4. Imagine you’re talking to a friend or relative and tell them (out loud if you’re alone or don’t mind being seen talking to yourself in public) what the piece is about – use your own natural spoken words – do not try to ‘sound good’

5. Force yourself to write something (anything) every day – it’s the habit of writing, not the quality, that’s important – the quality will come afterwards in the editing process

6. Recognise the difference between drafting and editing – the first draft is not supposed to be good – think of it as the brain dump only

7. Come at the story/brochure/email/web page/briefing document from a different angle – stop trying to write it from the client’s/organisation’s/hero’s point of view and write it from the customer/employee/villain’s point of view

8. Ask lots and lots of questions – don’t settle for the answers to ‘who, what, where and when’ – the most interesting stuff comes from asking ‘why’ and ‘how’ – for most business communications you need to know “why would my readers be interested in this?”

9. Use fairy tales or read ‘The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories’ by Christopher Booker to see if what you’re writing about can be adapted to incorporate the theme or storyline of one of the classic plots

10. Give yourself a break – it is the clichéd answer but that’s because it works – trying too hard or beating yourself up inhibits creativity so give yourself permission not to write – do something different, ideally something mind-numbingly dull, and let the subconscious take over – only be careful not to let this become a habit or you’ll then be dealing with procrastination instead!