When the online realm is your workspace, you’re always chasing after some idea of “cool.” The constantly shifting Internet landscape means fads, ideas, slang, and even Fortune 500 companies flash hot for a brief moment and then burn out just as quickly.

As professional writers making the online realm our office space, we think a lot about what defines cool. But we also think a lot about words themselves — their definitions, what makes one more perfectly suited to a piece than another, and whether we’ve used them to their greatest effect.

Secret Definition of ‘Cool’

I recently saw an excellent short piece on “CBS This Morning” in which Derek Thompson, Senior Editor at The Atlantic, reported on a group of researchers’ newly coined definition for the word “cool.” Intrigued by Thompson’s reporting, I checked out his corresponding article, “Toward a Universal Theory of ‘Cool.’” Turns out the new definition appears in a paper from the Journal of Consumer Research, coined as part of a study designed to help marketers answer impossible questions about the most fickle force in the universe: consumers’ tastes. The paper defines cool as  “a measured violation of an illegitimate norm.”

Got a problem with that?

This definition encapsulates something that was previously missing when attempting to define cool: rebellion. And that’s why I like it.

When creating an online space in which to showcase the best of your business, it helps to have a little bit of a creative chip on your shoulder. It’s wise to branch out a bit and create copy and content that engages consumers and entices them to want to know more. Don’t you always want to know more about the cool kids?

In our interactions with clients, for whom we create written content across a variety of media and in disparate formats, we endeavor to instill that little je ne sais quoi element of “cool” that makes writing engaging. Even a lowly press release can have a bit of a twinkle in its eye if the writer and the client are willing to go there together.

These Walls Cannot Contain Me! Well, Sorta.

Here’s the thing about coolness though: it’s got its limits. When people push the boundaries too far, they quickly cross over from cool to contemptible. What’s trendy can quickly become tiresome. But coolness is timeless; that’s why it takes the dual disciplines of rebellion and restraint to get it just right.  When that perfect balance is struck, the subject soars.

Turns out to really be “cool,” you have to be courageous. In order to break the rules, you need first to master them. That’s what we’re going for when we work with clients looking to create written content that’s on the cutting edge. But listen: we also know how to craft a perfectly doctrinaire AP press release. We’re not called “Pros” for nothing.

In the end, our rebellion is against writing that is boring, clumsy, and laden with errors. Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of that kind of content online. So join us in the battle against boring writing – the real “illegitimate norm.” It turns out that even James Deen, the ultimate “Rebel Without a Cause,” needs some kind of cause against which to “rebel” in order to be truly cool.