Improve your writing using bucket brigades

Hola,

How’s it going?

Good week?

Me? I re-started lifting this week. My hands feel like someone tied invisible concrete blocks on them while I slept.

But the show must go on.

Here’s what work looks like for me most of the week:

Let’s get this show on the road.

How to use bucket brigades to improve your writing

As writers, we often get told, “write as you talk,” with no guide on doing that.

And it can be frustrating.

“Do you mean I should also add in all the ahems, ohs and ooohhs when I write?”

Well, one way around it is bucket brigades. I believe it was originally called grease-slide copy till some grammar nazi termed it “bucket brigades.”

I don’t even know what that means—a brigade of water buckets?

These beautiful phrases are used mostly by copywriters when writing sales pages, but they can do wonders for your blog posts.

Bucket brigades draw your readers in, create transitions between sentences, and open question loops in your readers’ minds.

Does this sound familiar?

You bet it is!

See what I did there? Hahahahha

Bucket brigades are also great for encouraging your reader to pay attention.

Here are some examples:

• Check this out:

• You’re dead right

• You bet!

• So what?

• Ready?

• But that’s not all

• To top it off

• But how?

It really is that simple ( this last sentence was another bridge phrase 😀)

Here’s a great resource with tons of examples of bucket brigades you can swipe. 

Content tools

A content tool I discovered this week

If you look to discard the pompous words and phrases that are a mainstay in official writing, the A-Z of alternative words is a great place to visit. It isn’t as extensive as I would have wanted, but it does a great job.

Not Enough Writers

Today, my co-founder (Not Enough Writers) shared this image on the Telegram group. It sparked a beautiful conversation among members (especially option C).

Which reminded me of this post I came across on LinkedIn sometime this week.

I believe I am a builder. You?

And in some great news, we have Ross Simmonds lined up for our knowledge sessions. It’s happening the first weekend of September 🕺🏽

Content writing jobs (Remote/Freelance)

✅ Freelance Writer, Reel Mood | Apply here

✅ Digital Marketing Education Content Writer, Aptly | Apply here

✅ Freelance Writer, Justworks | Apply here

✅ Freelance Writer, Hinge Marketing | Apply here

✅ And here’s a Google Docs link that also includes high-paying pitching opportunities.

(Seeing that we all have been learning to pitch our skills, now it’s time to put all you have learned to practice. I’ll update the doc weekly)

All the best, folks. And please share with any of your friends/colleagues who might find this useful. 🙏🏾

My biggest takeaway this week 🚀

"It is impossible to get better and look good at the same time.

Permit yourself to be a beginner. By being willing to be a bad artist, you have a chance to be an artist, and perhaps, over time, a very good one."

Julia Cameron

What I’m thinking about?

You don’t need more time. You need to be more focused.

What’s your biggest content marketing challenge?

Reply to this email. Let me know what you’d like me to cover next.

I read every reply.

Plus, if you would love me to review your writing and give you feedback, you can book a time here.

Thanks for reading this far. I am grateful!

Stay safe and sane.

I’ll be back on July 30th.

Dozie

P.S: If you enjoyed this, please consider sharing it on LinkedIn or with a friend! If this was sent to you by a friend, get the next email by signing up here.