No. 003                                             GO TO HOME PAGE

Dear Auntie M, What does it mean to "pump it up"?  And why do I have to do it?  My son says it is real important. Sincerely, Greta

Dear Greta,

Mmmmm.  I'm not sure, dearie.  Does he maybe mean that your language needs to be a bit zippier?  And if that is what he means, he may or may not be right.

It is a good idea to have someone else read your text and tell you what they think.  But different people react to different styles of writing.

There's a whole slew of copy writers who band together and tell the world how great they all are.  They do it with a phenomenal amount of profanity and testosterone.  Personally, I don't respond to that style of writing at all, and I wouldn't buy anything from them.  But young, equally testosterone-damaged young men do seem to respond to that.

So who are you writing for?  Gear your language and your approach to them.

For what it's worth, there are more women than men on the internet AND there are more older folks than younger folks.  That surprises you, doesn't it.  It surprised me too.

But there is something about the graying of the world.  And with that maturity comes sophistication and broader language skills.  We older folks don't seem to need to swear so much, or talk about our sexual conquests so much, or shout so much.

We are the gentler, kinder world.

So should you "pump it up"?  Maybe put a bit more pizzazz into it.

Best,

ps -- If, on the other hand he is referring to muscular development, I have no opinion.