One of the arguments I keep hearing for using blogs for just about everything from marketing to press releases is that they are written in a natural, authentic, human voice.
There seems to be an unspoken ancillary statement that says: No other voice is as good as the natural, authentic, human voice.
Huh.
My favorite writer is Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who writes in lyrical, magical prose that makes me jealous every time I read him. Why can’t I put words together like he can? He’s not using complex words or complex styles. He just has the ability to create music when he strings words together. But it’s not conversational by any stretch of the imagination. Anything wrong with that?
If you’ve never read William Goldman’s screenplay for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. You’ve never read such entertaining stage direction. Remember the scene, near the beginning, where Butch and Logan fight for control of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang? Goldman’s direction instructs Butch to deliver “the most aesthetically exquisite kick in the balls in the history of modern American cinema.” Isn’t that great?
What about the inverted pyramid? Is there never an appropriate use for a solid news story any more? Should the Pulitzer organization just eliminate the newswriting category altogether and replace it with blogs?
How about poetry? No! It’s not natural, authentic, human! Take it away!
In fact, all of these styles of writing are human, and authenticity does not derive solely from a converational tone. Humans have created many styles of writing that employ many different kinds of voice. There are appropriate times for each. Let’s use them all.
Shel Holtz is principal of Holtz Communication + Technology which focuses on helping organizations apply online communication capabilities to their strategic organizational communications.
As a professional communicator, Shel also writes the blog a shel of my former self.