Because your aim is to bewitch and entice people with content, your words must be effective from the outset. There are some universal truths when it comes to writing well, and they really do apply to any kind of writing.

Writing should be: clear, interesting and make a point.

Writing should not be: obscure, overwritten, pretentious, repetitive or tired.

For some live examples, perhaps it’s best we visit the pop world…

Avoid tired

The very best songs can convey a range of emotions, telling us amazing stories about the state of the world, and of love and loss. But many simply come across as a bit tired, and dare I say it, are lyrically lazy.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s recent hit Love is a Camera is one example that uses tired-sounding language, despite its strong subject matter. The line ‘Every photograph is a cenotaph’ makes a valid point about looking at photographs of the dearly-departed, yet it’s horribly contrived, as if the whole song was written around the fact these two words rhyme.

Tip: Don’t start out with a concept and then hope to shoehorn your content into it.

Avoid repetition

I’m not a Bextor-basher per se: among the worst of the lyrical offenders were The Beatles – perhaps the kings of the twee rhyming couplet. They used them a lot, and the more you listen out for them, the more you will hear. The Beatles’ overuse of rhyme gave us gems such as ‘Baby you can drive my car, guess I’m gonna be a star’ and ‘Isn’t it good, Norwegian wood’. Luckily they composed clever melodies to cover their regular lyrical deficiencies, and thus sealed their status as eternal pop gods (for the record, I am a fan).

Tip: Don’t become known for repeating a style and expect to get away with it. Learn to vary your vocabulary and overall output, and in turn write to suit your clients individually.

Avoid dull

But at least The Beatles avoided being dull. When writing loses its way, boring can easily set in – spot it before it spots you. Publishing boring work leaves you open to ridicule. Take Des’ree’s 1998 hit Life, which regularly appears in lists of the worst lyrics of all time on account of this tedious segment: ‘I don’t want to see a ghost, it’s the sight that I fear most, rather have a piece of toast, watch the evening news’. I rest my case.

Tip: Step away from your content for a while if you can’t lift it away from the prosaic. Take a break, come back inspired.

Avoid over-egging the point

Something to avoid when eager to prove a point: over-egging it. Take Snap’s 1992 inexplicable number-1 hit Rhythm is a Dancer. Another regular in the worst lyrics of all time lists, the line ‘I’m as serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer’ was perhaps meant to convey some sense of the dedication and effort required to become a slave to rhythm. Instead it manages to be horrible and slightly awkward.

Tip: Re-read what you’ve written and make sure that it doesn’t hold any grandiose, or embarrassing, claims.

Avoid obscure

First up, does anyone remember this song lyric: ‘What’s she gonna look like with a chimney on her?’ I’m awarding 10 points to anyone who remembers that the song, Feel It, was recorded by The Tamperer feat Maya. There are 100 additional points on offer to anyone who knows what on earth they were singing about.

This catchy oddity reached the dizzy heights of Number 1 in the UK singles chart in 1998. Despite these Italian musicians winning armfuls of silver and gold discs for their efforts, there is something utterly impenetrable about this song. Even today, no one seems entirely sure what the chimney is all about. Is it slang for a black eye or a weird reference to adultery? Is it a dancefloor code for ‘dropping some house’ music? It’s obscure, but is that the point? In any case, you run the risk of alienating your audience by coming out with stuff like this.

Tip: Make sure your content isn’t obscure to the point of impenetrable. If you only just understand it, how do you expect anyone else to?