The Write Coach

31/08/2026

You know what you meant. Your reader only knows what you wrote.

That gap causes a surprising number of writing problems.

“The meeting has been moved.”
You know it’s now Thursday at 10.
Your reader doesn’t.

“This shows the character has changed.”
You can see exactly how.
Your reader needs you to explain it.

“We offer a flexible service.”
You know what “flexible” looks like in practice.
Your customer doesn’t.

Before you hit send, submit or publish, ask: What does my reader need to know that’s still only in my head?

24/08/2026

“I've been told to analyse more deeply — what does that actually mean?”

This can be an extremely frustrating piece of feedback, because it identifies the problem without showing you how to fix it.

In practice:

Description is like simply reporting what you see:

Explanation shows you have some understanding of what the creator was trying to do.

Analysis digs deeper – why were they trying to do that? How did it work? Why does it matter, anyway?

Told to “analyse more deeply” but not sure what that means? See the difference between description, explanation, analysis and perceptive analysis.

18/08/2026

13/08/2026

Your reader can't see what's in your head.

https://www.thewritecoach.nz/blog/seeing-your-writing-through-someone-elses-eyes

28/07/2026

Because that’s part of the persuasion.

Instead of simply telling us they’re careful with money, they create advertising that looks as though every dollar has been squeezed.

Whether or not that’s literally true isn’t the point. The campaign invites us to make that connection ourselves.

It’s a great reminder that persuasive communication isn’t just about words. Images, design and even apparent imperfections all send messages.

This reel is part of a series inspired by my July blog on how language shapes the way we think.

I’d love to hear your favourite Pak’nSave ad—or another campaign you think is particularly clever.

Read the full blog at thewritecoach.nz.

27/07/2026

What we should be doing with language is the opposite of what lots of us do for exams: aiming to understand it, not just to read it on a superficial level.
Every piece of language we encounter has:
* a purpose (What’s it for?)
* an audience (Who’s it for?)
* an intended effect (What does the writer want to happen?)
The trouble is that answering these questions is a lot of work! It's so tempting just to take words at face value and not consider what we're been encouraged to believe or do.

25/07/2026

What is Air New Zealand really selling?

On the surface, this campaign is about travel.

But look a little closer and it's selling something much bigger: adventure, possibility and the person you could become.

That's what makes it such a clever piece of persuasion.

This reel isn't about whether the advertising is good or bad. It's about learning to notice how language and images shape the way we think.

It's one of the ideas I explore in my July blog, where I look at the language techniques used in advertising and politics to influence us every day.

I'd love to know—have you noticed other campaigns that do this particularly well?

You can read the full blog at https://thewritecoach.nz/

23/07/2026

Four questions to ask yourself...

20/07/2026

If you are just recalling what you read, can you really understand what they mean? I'm sure I'm not the only person to have only a superficial understanding of a lot of what I studied!

15/07/2026

None of these are lies…
But none of them are saying everything either.

Drop your interpretations below.