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Good writing has rhythm, structure, and intention.

Every choice you make shapes the story.

It can mirror or elicit emotions—sharp and staccato for tension, like Raymond Carver:

“He sat. She looked at him. He didn’t say anything. The clock ticked.”

Or, it can flow like music—melodic, immersive, and full of wonder—like Brian Doyle:

"What is it about the hum and thrum of a mother to her son and a father to his daughter that is unlike anything else in the universe, unlike anything else that ever was, the patient measured music of it, the heat and sinew of it, the clasp and hold and hush of it, the rock and sway and murmur of it, the sheer gravity of it, the enormous holy weight of it, the way it sings and soothes and hushes and heals and hums, the way it is a song beyond notes, the way it is the oldest song in the world, the way it is the answer to the question that no one asked but everyone ever born knows?"

It can create urgency and the desire to read on, like John Caples' legendary ad:

"They laughed when I sat down at the piano—but when I started to play!"

It can mess with our minds and pull readers in two directions at once—like Shakespeare.

Shakespeare’s signature was iambic pentameter—the heartbeat rhythm of unstressed-stressed syllables:

is THIS | a DAG- | ger WHICH | i SEE | beFORE | me
​ (da-DUM | da-DUM | da-DUM | da-DUM | da-DUM)

But he didn’t ALWAYS follow this pattern.

When we hear the Wyrd Sisters in Macbeth, they chant(sing?):

“Double, double toil and trouble,

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”

That's not iambic pentameter. It’s trochaic tetrameter—a flipped rhythm that sets them apart from mortal speech.

This was no accident.

This introduces ambiguity and opens the world up to interpretations of who/what these Wyrd Sisters are.

Did Shakespeare, appealing to the superstitious leanings of King James, write them as witches?

Or did he, using the same trochaic pattern as Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, cast them as fairies—goddesses of fate?

This is all to say…

…writing isn’t the act of running an idea through a prompt. Nor is it the act of celebrating brevity and placing one, simple word after another to sell an idea.

We have an orchestra of tools at our fingertips—structure, rhythms, word choice, tone, pacing, repetition, punctuation, white space, sentence length, imagery, metaphor, syntax, emphasis, alliteration, cadence, variation, parallelism, juxtaposition, flow, pauses, phonetics, sound patterns, and silence.

And, we can use all of these tools (creatively and strategically) to do what writing should/can do: connect in meaningful ways.

-Ashley R. Cummings​

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Expert Interview | Alyssa Towns

1. Tell me more about yourself and your journey into content.​
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It often surprises people to learn that I went to school for criminal justice and psychology (yes, I thought I could save the world and become a fancy lawyer, or a judge, or another authoritative figure). After graduating, I struggled to find a job and found my way into the world of executive administration and event planning.
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From there, I "officially" moved into digital marketing and joined a marketing startup in Denver. I worked client-side for the first few months before pivoting to the back office into administration. I became more involved in change management and internal communications only this time. I created many internal process documents, supported our internal communications strategy, and applied change management frameworks following mergers and acquisitions.
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I worked in this role during the pandemic, which is how I accidentally (maybe subconsciously?) fell into content and the world of freelance writing. In the early morning hours before my 9-5, I started publishing content (for fun) on Thrive Global, LinkedIn, an old blog that no longer exists, etc. I subcontracted for other freelance writers before landing a couple of my own clients.
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There's so much overlap between crafting internal communications, creating and documenting processes to help others do their work, and writing enjoyable content that allows readers to find the information they need. I realized I had always supported different types of content in some way.
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I worked my 9-5 and freelanced on the side for years, and left my full-time job in early 2024. I love working with brands building better workplaces (i.e., internal communications tools, employee engagement brands, productivity software, change management groups, etc.) to create helpful content, including SEO articles, unique campaigns, newsletter content, LinkedIn posts, and more.
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​2. What's one writing tip that helps content stand out?
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This isn't a tip that is always easy to follow (because clients, I have rules and standards to follow, I get it), but as much as possible: share your words in your voice and experiences uniquely YOU. Content feels boring and monotonous when it sounds the same as everything else. Give it some flavor, personality, and relatable human experience. Whether you want to believe it, readers can feel passion when they read, so use it to your advantage.

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Sharpen Your Skills 📝

I've long been a fan of Amanda Natividad. She's smart. This LI post is a great quick recap of her latest article on turning audience research into content ideas.

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The Best in Content This Week

1/ How to Turn Audience Research Into Content Ideas (Amanda Natividad/Sparktoro)

🚨 The skinny: This is Amanada's full article. It's really easy to just start creating content to fill up your blog or get stuck on the idea of ranking. But, the only content worth creating is content that resonates with what your audience is already interested in (and publishing on platforms where they consume). Amanda breaks the how down really nicely. It's like a cheat sheet (cheat blog?) for winning content.

2/ The Untapped Potential of Creator-Led Content on YT (emarketer)

👉 The skinny: Brands are already using creators for content, but there's still a TON of opportunity on YouTube shorts. Creators already have engaged communities who are your target audience. This report gives deep research into how (and how much) content people are consuming on YT Shorts.

3/ Why Does Pinterest Have A Cheif Content Officer (Next In Media)

👉 The skinny: It's easy to focus on other distribution channels, but Pinterest is a gold mine. Why? Lot's of reasons. Users come to Pinterest with high-intent. The content on Pinterest is A+, and "unlike traditional e-commerce, 96% of product searches are unbranded, making it a discovery-first platform for brands," according to the episode notes. This episode is worth a listen.

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New Jobs | Content Connect Job Board

• ​Freelance content manager at Betches Media
• ​Senior Writing, marketing at The NY Times
• ​Content marketing writer at New Story
• ​AI content writer at DataAnnotation
• ​Social media writer and researcher at Playbook
• ​Managing editor and writer at Students For Life
• ​Social media campaign manager at Proctor & Gamble
• ​Digital coordinator at M. Kohrs
• ​Proofreader at Symbal Ed
• ​Content specialist at Cella Careers
• ​Technical content writer at Odoo
• ​Manger, influencer marketing at Revlon
• ​GU content creator at Uniqlo

Browse all content jobs here

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