The Draft
@thedraftwriters.bsky.social
A writing company founded by former No 10 chief speechwriter
Philip Collins. Thoughts on public language here and in our newsletter, First Draft.
info@thedraftwriters.com
thedraftwriters.com/newsletter
Philip Collins. Thoughts on public language here and in our newsletter, First Draft.
info@thedraftwriters.com
thedraftwriters.com/newsletter
First Draft No. 35 has just landed. Inside: Trump drops an F-bomb, the Bayeux Tapestry, and we wrestle with what it means to sound human. Join thousands of subscribers and get it here:
thedraft.substack.com/p/first-draf...
thedraft.substack.com/p/first-draf...
First Draft #35: a newsletter on public language
Trump’s F-bomb; 7/7 jargon lesson; "engaging stakeholders"; the struggle to sound human; Bayeux Tapestry; The Draft is hiring
thedraft.substack.com
July 14, 2025 at 9:03 AM
First Draft No. 35 has just landed. Inside: Trump drops an F-bomb, the Bayeux Tapestry, and we wrestle with what it means to sound human. Join thousands of subscribers and get it here:
thedraft.substack.com/p/first-draf...
thedraft.substack.com/p/first-draf...
Reposted by The Draft
First Draft 34 is here, where you can read my brilliant colleagues' writing, including a celebration of both Virginia Woolf and a railway line's recent decision to stop implying suicide. And then a little complaint from me, on politicians speaking like 19th c. foremen.
@thedraftwriters.bsky.social
@thedraftwriters.bsky.social
First Draft #34: a newsletter on public language
The rhetoric of free trade; levers; Mrs Dalloway; Conclave
open.substack.com
April 26, 2025 at 7:23 AM
First Draft 34 is here, where you can read my brilliant colleagues' writing, including a celebration of both Virginia Woolf and a railway line's recent decision to stop implying suicide. And then a little complaint from me, on politicians speaking like 19th c. foremen.
@thedraftwriters.bsky.social
@thedraftwriters.bsky.social
✒️"Perhaps more even than William Beveridge, Titmuss is the founding inspiration of Labour welfarism."
On the legacy of chronicler of social justice Richard Titmuss and Labour's rebellion over welfare cuts, by our founder Philip Collins in Prospect Magazine 👇
On the legacy of chronicler of social justice Richard Titmuss and Labour's rebellion over welfare cuts, by our founder Philip Collins in Prospect Magazine 👇
Richard Titmuss and Labour’s attachment to welfare
Labour, the party of work, is in rebellion over cuts to welfare. To understand why, turn to the thinking of Richard Titmuss, chronicler of social just...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
March 27, 2025 at 1:33 PM
✒️"Perhaps more even than William Beveridge, Titmuss is the founding inspiration of Labour welfarism."
On the legacy of chronicler of social justice Richard Titmuss and Labour's rebellion over welfare cuts, by our founder Philip Collins in Prospect Magazine 👇
On the legacy of chronicler of social justice Richard Titmuss and Labour's rebellion over welfare cuts, by our founder Philip Collins in Prospect Magazine 👇
✍️Word of the week: occasion
An occasion is a special event, but not in the corporate world where it can refer to almost anything. A snacking occasion, for example, by which we mean a bar of chocolate. This is a word added to ordinary events in the illusory belief that it makes them sound exciting.
An occasion is a special event, but not in the corporate world where it can refer to almost anything. A snacking occasion, for example, by which we mean a bar of chocolate. This is a word added to ordinary events in the illusory belief that it makes them sound exciting.
March 26, 2025 at 12:46 PM
✍️Word of the week: occasion
An occasion is a special event, but not in the corporate world where it can refer to almost anything. A snacking occasion, for example, by which we mean a bar of chocolate. This is a word added to ordinary events in the illusory belief that it makes them sound exciting.
An occasion is a special event, but not in the corporate world where it can refer to almost anything. A snacking occasion, for example, by which we mean a bar of chocolate. This is a word added to ordinary events in the illusory belief that it makes them sound exciting.
✒️Word of the week: no, not
It has been said that the ability to say no is the true mark of good management. It is often the mark of good writing too. A sentence such as “there was a complete absence of strategy” would be much better as “there was no strategy” or “they did not have a strategy”.
It has been said that the ability to say no is the true mark of good management. It is often the mark of good writing too. A sentence such as “there was a complete absence of strategy” would be much better as “there was no strategy” or “they did not have a strategy”.
March 17, 2025 at 10:30 AM
✒️Word of the week: no, not
It has been said that the ability to say no is the true mark of good management. It is often the mark of good writing too. A sentence such as “there was a complete absence of strategy” would be much better as “there was no strategy” or “they did not have a strategy”.
It has been said that the ability to say no is the true mark of good management. It is often the mark of good writing too. A sentence such as “there was a complete absence of strategy” would be much better as “there was no strategy” or “they did not have a strategy”.
✒️Word of the week: uptick
You mean increase. Saying that something has “ticked up” is already a sign that something is the matter. Saying “uptick” is an application to be locked up.
You mean increase. Saying that something has “ticked up” is already a sign that something is the matter. Saying “uptick” is an application to be locked up.
March 10, 2025 at 9:52 AM
✒️Word of the week: uptick
You mean increase. Saying that something has “ticked up” is already a sign that something is the matter. Saying “uptick” is an application to be locked up.
You mean increase. Saying that something has “ticked up” is already a sign that something is the matter. Saying “uptick” is an application to be locked up.
"Victorian certainty gave way to modern ‘doubt and conflict’. And as daunting as that was, it was a liberation, too."
The Draft's very own Lizzie Hibbert's essay in Engelsberg Ideas this week 👇
The Draft's very own Lizzie Hibbert's essay in Engelsberg Ideas this week 👇
The quest for the age of the earth
In the 19th and 20th centuries, geologists waged an epic struggle against the other sciences to uncover the age of our planet, and triumphed. Their scientific discoveries revealed the vast abyss of ti...
engelsbergideas.com
March 4, 2025 at 12:54 PM
"Victorian certainty gave way to modern ‘doubt and conflict’. And as daunting as that was, it was a liberation, too."
The Draft's very own Lizzie Hibbert's essay in Engelsberg Ideas this week 👇
The Draft's very own Lizzie Hibbert's essay in Engelsberg Ideas this week 👇
✒️Word of the week: catalyst
Usually a fancy way of saying cause. Not that it means “cause”. A chemical catalyst provokes a change but remains itself unaltered. See this example, from Santander: “Innovation and digital/technological transformation are a catalyst in our business model and strategy."
Usually a fancy way of saying cause. Not that it means “cause”. A chemical catalyst provokes a change but remains itself unaltered. See this example, from Santander: “Innovation and digital/technological transformation are a catalyst in our business model and strategy."
March 3, 2025 at 10:21 AM
✒️Word of the week: catalyst
Usually a fancy way of saying cause. Not that it means “cause”. A chemical catalyst provokes a change but remains itself unaltered. See this example, from Santander: “Innovation and digital/technological transformation are a catalyst in our business model and strategy."
Usually a fancy way of saying cause. Not that it means “cause”. A chemical catalyst provokes a change but remains itself unaltered. See this example, from Santander: “Innovation and digital/technological transformation are a catalyst in our business model and strategy."
✒️"Founded as a counterweight to New Labour, Blue Labour is socially conservative, economically leftist—and now allied with the populist right."
Our founder Philip Collins in Prospect Magazine today:
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/693...
Our founder Philip Collins in Prospect Magazine today:
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/693...
Maurice Glasman and the origins of Blue Labour
Founded as a counterweight to New Labour, Blue Labour is socially conservative, economically leftist—and now allied with the populist right
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
February 24, 2025 at 11:59 AM
✒️"Founded as a counterweight to New Labour, Blue Labour is socially conservative, economically leftist—and now allied with the populist right."
Our founder Philip Collins in Prospect Magazine today:
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/693...
Our founder Philip Collins in Prospect Magazine today:
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/693...
✍️Word of the week: wordsmith
Writers might object to the implication that they are tradesmen for words. They especially object to being told to wordsmith something. A blacksmith forges something and so does a writer, sometimes. A blacksmith does not blacksmith and a writer writes.
Writers might object to the implication that they are tradesmen for words. They especially object to being told to wordsmith something. A blacksmith forges something and so does a writer, sometimes. A blacksmith does not blacksmith and a writer writes.
February 24, 2025 at 10:18 AM
✍️Word of the week: wordsmith
Writers might object to the implication that they are tradesmen for words. They especially object to being told to wordsmith something. A blacksmith forges something and so does a writer, sometimes. A blacksmith does not blacksmith and a writer writes.
Writers might object to the implication that they are tradesmen for words. They especially object to being told to wordsmith something. A blacksmith forges something and so does a writer, sometimes. A blacksmith does not blacksmith and a writer writes.
✍️Words of the week are also posted to Look, Stranger!, the Substack run by our founder, Philip Collins.
Check out this week's edition below ⬇️
lookstranger.substack.com/p/blueprint-...
Check out this week's edition below ⬇️
lookstranger.substack.com/p/blueprint-...
February 20, 2025 at 1:58 PM
✍️Words of the week are also posted to Look, Stranger!, the Substack run by our founder, Philip Collins.
Check out this week's edition below ⬇️
lookstranger.substack.com/p/blueprint-...
Check out this week's edition below ⬇️
lookstranger.substack.com/p/blueprint-...
✍️Word of the week: purpose.
Every business is now set upon defining its purpose in terms that never mention material gain. There is some nobility in this, but don’t lose sight of Peter Drucker’s insight that “there is only one definition of business purpose: to create a customer”.
Every business is now set upon defining its purpose in terms that never mention material gain. There is some nobility in this, but don’t lose sight of Peter Drucker’s insight that “there is only one definition of business purpose: to create a customer”.
February 17, 2025 at 1:51 PM
✍️Word of the week: purpose.
Every business is now set upon defining its purpose in terms that never mention material gain. There is some nobility in this, but don’t lose sight of Peter Drucker’s insight that “there is only one definition of business purpose: to create a customer”.
Every business is now set upon defining its purpose in terms that never mention material gain. There is some nobility in this, but don’t lose sight of Peter Drucker’s insight that “there is only one definition of business purpose: to create a customer”.
Word of the week: monetise.
Let's get this straight: you mean sell. There is nothing wrong with selling. To turn something into money
sounds more vulgar than selling it, not less.
Let's get this straight: you mean sell. There is nothing wrong with selling. To turn something into money
sounds more vulgar than selling it, not less.
February 10, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Word of the week: monetise.
Let's get this straight: you mean sell. There is nothing wrong with selling. To turn something into money
sounds more vulgar than selling it, not less.
Let's get this straight: you mean sell. There is nothing wrong with selling. To turn something into money
sounds more vulgar than selling it, not less.
Today's Word of the Day: jump 🪂
The list of things on which you might jump is long. A bed, a pommel horse, or a sandpit, for example.
A call, however, is not one of them. You don’t sound informal, casual and fun. You sound mid-Atlantic, wannabe and weird.
The list of things on which you might jump is long. A bed, a pommel horse, or a sandpit, for example.
A call, however, is not one of them. You don’t sound informal, casual and fun. You sound mid-Atlantic, wannabe and weird.
February 3, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Today's Word of the Day: jump 🪂
The list of things on which you might jump is long. A bed, a pommel horse, or a sandpit, for example.
A call, however, is not one of them. You don’t sound informal, casual and fun. You sound mid-Atlantic, wannabe and weird.
The list of things on which you might jump is long. A bed, a pommel horse, or a sandpit, for example.
A call, however, is not one of them. You don’t sound informal, casual and fun. You sound mid-Atlantic, wannabe and weird.
✍️You can find more Words of the Week on the Substack 'Look, Stranger!' by our founder Philip Collins.
This week: Content, takeaway and gendered language.
Read and subscribe ⬇️
This week: Content, takeaway and gendered language.
Read and subscribe ⬇️
Content, takeaway and gendered language
Words of the Week will create a glossary of poor language usage.
open.substack.com
January 30, 2025 at 9:58 AM
✍️You can find more Words of the Week on the Substack 'Look, Stranger!' by our founder Philip Collins.
This week: Content, takeaway and gendered language.
Read and subscribe ⬇️
This week: Content, takeaway and gendered language.
Read and subscribe ⬇️
Word of the week: Metaphor
In one of his less distinguished moments Samuel Johnson once suggested expelling metaphors from the English language. That would be needlessly limiting. Try to keep control of a metaphor by thinking literally about what you are suggesting.
So if your argument...
In one of his less distinguished moments Samuel Johnson once suggested expelling metaphors from the English language. That would be needlessly limiting. Try to keep control of a metaphor by thinking literally about what you are suggesting.
So if your argument...
January 27, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Word of the week: Metaphor
In one of his less distinguished moments Samuel Johnson once suggested expelling metaphors from the English language. That would be needlessly limiting. Try to keep control of a metaphor by thinking literally about what you are suggesting.
So if your argument...
In one of his less distinguished moments Samuel Johnson once suggested expelling metaphors from the English language. That would be needlessly limiting. Try to keep control of a metaphor by thinking literally about what you are suggesting.
So if your argument...
Reposted by The Draft
"The conjuring trick, rhetorically, for every successful candidate is the extent to which he can maintain outsider status after an emphatic victory. That was the conundrum of Trump’s second inaugural."
✍️Our founder Philip Collins in The Spectator today:
www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...
✍️Our founder Philip Collins in The Spectator today:
www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...
Trump will now be judged like any other politician
The abiding question for the 47th President of the United States of America is whether he now, after running against everything that counts as orthodox in the way of politics, has suddenly become a po...
www.spectator.co.uk
January 21, 2025 at 11:56 AM
"The conjuring trick, rhetorically, for every successful candidate is the extent to which he can maintain outsider status after an emphatic victory. That was the conundrum of Trump’s second inaugural."
✍️Our founder Philip Collins in The Spectator today:
www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...
✍️Our founder Philip Collins in The Spectator today:
www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...
📖 Our word of the week is jargon.
The philologist Wilson Follett called jargon “mere plugs for the holes in one’s thought”. Here is a tip for avoiding jargon. Write down every word you use at work that you would never dream of using at home. Then tear it up and never use any of these words again.
The philologist Wilson Follett called jargon “mere plugs for the holes in one’s thought”. Here is a tip for avoiding jargon. Write down every word you use at work that you would never dream of using at home. Then tear it up and never use any of these words again.
January 23, 2025 at 12:05 PM
📖 Our word of the week is jargon.
The philologist Wilson Follett called jargon “mere plugs for the holes in one’s thought”. Here is a tip for avoiding jargon. Write down every word you use at work that you would never dream of using at home. Then tear it up and never use any of these words again.
The philologist Wilson Follett called jargon “mere plugs for the holes in one’s thought”. Here is a tip for avoiding jargon. Write down every word you use at work that you would never dream of using at home. Then tear it up and never use any of these words again.
✍️"The problem is even vicarious and secondhand experiences are, by definition, lived."
Jargon buster from a recent edition of our newsletter, First Draft.
Read here — and sign up to get the next to your inbox: https://buff.ly/40d3hQI
Jargon buster from a recent edition of our newsletter, First Draft.
Read here — and sign up to get the next to your inbox: https://buff.ly/40d3hQI
January 22, 2025 at 12:27 PM
✍️"The problem is even vicarious and secondhand experiences are, by definition, lived."
Jargon buster from a recent edition of our newsletter, First Draft.
Read here — and sign up to get the next to your inbox: https://buff.ly/40d3hQI
Jargon buster from a recent edition of our newsletter, First Draft.
Read here — and sign up to get the next to your inbox: https://buff.ly/40d3hQI
"The conjuring trick, rhetorically, for every successful candidate is the extent to which he can maintain outsider status after an emphatic victory. That was the conundrum of Trump’s second inaugural."
✍️Our founder Philip Collins in The Spectator today:
www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...
✍️Our founder Philip Collins in The Spectator today:
www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...
Trump will now be judged like any other politician
The abiding question for the 47th President of the United States of America is whether he now, after running against everything that counts as orthodox in the way of politics, has suddenly become a po...
www.spectator.co.uk
January 21, 2025 at 11:56 AM
"The conjuring trick, rhetorically, for every successful candidate is the extent to which he can maintain outsider status after an emphatic victory. That was the conundrum of Trump’s second inaugural."
✍️Our founder Philip Collins in The Spectator today:
www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...
✍️Our founder Philip Collins in The Spectator today:
www.spectator.co.uk/article/trum...
✍️ Labour and the case for dispersing power
Latest by our founder, Philip Collins, on Substack
🔗 Read more from Look, Stranger! here: https://buff.ly/3WjhNoX
Latest by our founder, Philip Collins, on Substack
🔗 Read more from Look, Stranger! here: https://buff.ly/3WjhNoX
January 20, 2025 at 12:05 PM
✍️ Labour and the case for dispersing power
Latest by our founder, Philip Collins, on Substack
🔗 Read more from Look, Stranger! here: https://buff.ly/3WjhNoX
Latest by our founder, Philip Collins, on Substack
🔗 Read more from Look, Stranger! here: https://buff.ly/3WjhNoX
🔊 Do you want your organisation and its people to communicate better?
In our 'Mini MBA' programme, Philip Collins teaches the theory and practice of persuasive communication.
👉 https://buff.ly/4alBQst
In our 'Mini MBA' programme, Philip Collins teaches the theory and practice of persuasive communication.
👉 https://buff.ly/4alBQst
January 19, 2025 at 12:05 PM
🔊 Do you want your organisation and its people to communicate better?
In our 'Mini MBA' programme, Philip Collins teaches the theory and practice of persuasive communication.
👉 https://buff.ly/4alBQst
In our 'Mini MBA' programme, Philip Collins teaches the theory and practice of persuasive communication.
👉 https://buff.ly/4alBQst
📝 Sign up to First Draft, our free newsletter on language
Latest issue: jargon buster, Rudyard Kipling, and populist truths
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Latest issue: jargon buster, Rudyard Kipling, and populist truths
🔗 https://buff.ly/40d3hQI
January 18, 2025 at 12:05 PM
📝 Sign up to First Draft, our free newsletter on language
Latest issue: jargon buster, Rudyard Kipling, and populist truths
🔗 https://buff.ly/40d3hQI
Latest issue: jargon buster, Rudyard Kipling, and populist truths
🔗 https://buff.ly/40d3hQI
We're a company of writers and experts in rhetoric: the art of argument and persuasion. ✍️
What we practise, we also teach – we train people to write clearly, concisely and persuasively.
Find out more: thedraftwriters.com
What we practise, we also teach – we train people to write clearly, concisely and persuasively.
Find out more: thedraftwriters.com
January 17, 2025 at 11:51 AM
We're a company of writers and experts in rhetoric: the art of argument and persuasion. ✍️
What we practise, we also teach – we train people to write clearly, concisely and persuasively.
Find out more: thedraftwriters.com
What we practise, we also teach – we train people to write clearly, concisely and persuasively.
Find out more: thedraftwriters.com