My Penis is a Super Hero

"My Penis is a Super Hero" so said our Writer Trainer, Alison Lestor. That was her opening line in her latest fictional short novel. It got your attention. Now Reel them in.

Hook. Passion. Personality. Give your writing some of this and it will get you noticed. People's attention spans are very short these days- so make every word count.

That's the same message for business style writing -" Give it simple and direct!" - said Shirley Taylor with the authority of a headmistress. There's no need to make it boring or filled with meaningless long winded phrases.

"What does this mean to you! - yes you", Yau-ming, the man with the chicken wing in his mouth!!!

Oh Gawd!! There they were - eyeballing me - I did my best to scuff it down - but now everyone was onto me - including all the scary dolls in the Toy Museum where we were holding the function. I muttered something barely intelligible. And Shirley gave me that look and said "Interesting reply. I'll talk to you afterwards about it."

* DOH!!!. But the chicken served at the function cum lecture was very tasty.

Apparently, using terms like "revert back", "Kindly", "abovementioned", "With regards to our previous communique" even "perusal" are extremely archaic - but used often in Singapore and Malaysia. Try using them with anyone overseas - America, Europe, Britain - and you will get laughed at. (Try telling that to your square headed Singaporean boss tho.)

Business letters don't need to sound so dead, lifeless, soul-destroying, soul-sucking. Instead of saying, "With regards to our previous correspondence, please find in the letter attached a copy of our latest catalogue for this current quarter April 2007. Your company purchased several samples of our products last month. Kindly revert to us if you require further details and information on the abovementioned catalogue. Regards Mdm. Chio Tung Hee".

Instead make it more direct, simple and personal:  We are pleased to present a copy of our latest catalogue. It has more of the products which your company was after. I look forward to hearing from you soon. With Regards, Tung Hee." ...