| |
| |
|
Copywriting Information |
|
|
|
Three Steps To Pump Up The Drama In Your Copy
All the world's a story. Video games have storylines; newspapers report stories; country music lyrics tell a sad tale. At a quick glance it would appear that fiction writing and copywriting are two mutually exclusive disciplines. But it just isn't so. Fiction and copywriting share the same heart: emotion. What's the goal for a fiction writer? I mean a slam-bang Harry Potter series type fiction writer? To write best-selling novels. And what's the target for a copywriter? To write best-selling controls, of course. There are three fiction techniques that can pump up the drama in your copy:
Let's look at them one at a time. IMAGERY Imagery is defined as 'mental images' or 'figurative language'. What it does is create pictures in a reader's head through words. The best way to get an image across is to find some common ground with the reader. That's where similes and metaphors help. While some might think that this kind of writing has no business being in direct-mail copy, I'm here to disprove that. Here's an example for organic tranquilizer we'll call Calm-All: Take Becky: When she learned that Robin had won the award she rightfully deserved, she lost it. Came unglued. Threw Robin's staplers and boxes of paper clips. We've all, at one time in our lives, probably felt like Becky. And that paragraph gives us a visual image of how she's feeling. But what about Robin? How about this: Take Becky: When she learned that Robin had won the award she rightfully deserved, she lost it. Came unglued. Threw Robin's staplers and boxes of paper clips -- the ones that were all lined up -- just so -- like soldiers on a battlefield. The addition of 14 words, 'the ones that were all lined up -- just so -- like soldiers on a battlefield', added depth to the scene and gave us a mental picture of Robin without fully describing her. The soldiers on the battlefield simile sets up the tension. TENSION Tension can manifest itself in lots of forms. There are tension headaches, tension rods, and tension in fabric. One of the best tools a writer can have is the ability to create tension in a storyline. Now, this does not have to be the cliffhanger from Dallas -- it can and should be more subtle than that. It could be just a line. That's it, right there. The line right above where you are now -- a one sentence paragraph -- creates tension all by itself simply by disrupting flow. That's where you want something memorable, disturbing, thoughtful. How about Becky and Robin? What was the simile about the boxes of paper clips? That they were all lined up -- just so -- like soldiers on a battlefield. The tension started in two places in that phrase: 'just so' and 'soldiers on a battlefield'.
The icing on the tension cake is a line you haven't seen yet: Take Becky: When she learned that Robin had won the award she rightfully deserved, she lost it. Came unglued. Threw Robin's staplers and boxes of paper clips -- the ones that were all lined up -- just so -- like soldiers on a battlefield. She even wrote on the walls. Now, by itself, wall writing isn't that big a deal. After all, you probably did it when you were a kid or during that stint as a graffiti artist in San Francisco. So what makes it more? The fact that it follows the paragraph where Becky lost it, had a meltdown, when postal. And it makes you wonder just what she wrote. It creates tension because its behavior you don't expect from a rational adult. Why? Because society tells us that when an adult is angry and hurt writing on walls isn't acceptable. It's something a child would do and we can't be seen as having so little control. Okay, now Becky's a psychopath because she wrote on some walls. The reader will hold her breath on several levels with different emotions:
With 21 words, your direct-mail copy for Calm-All caused your reader want to order to make sure she never reacts like Becky did. And when she's held her breath long enough, you let her go. RELEASE This is the point in a work of fiction where the writer lets go of the reader's throat and lets her come up for air. And it's the thing that keeps readers turning pages whether they are bound in a book or enclosed in an envelope. Here's Calm-All's release: Take Becky: When she learned that Robin had won the award she rightfully deserved, she lost it. Came unglued. Threw Robin's staplers and boxes of paper clips -- the ones that were all lined up -- just so -- like soldiers on a battlefield. She even wrote on the walls. Hey, it's okay to make a scene sometimes. It's all right to get rid of pent-up frustration. It's just not your fault. The last two paragraphs following the tumult of Becky and Robin make the push for Calm-All a slam dunk: When you're on your very last nerve, reach for Calm-All. Just for fun, here's Becky and Robin as a scene from a novel: Becky lost it. Did exactly what her parents had warned her never to do: DO. NOT. MAKE. A. SCENE. Wisps of dirty blond hair stuck to the sweat on her face. Fury pounded her into the production room, all sense of business decorum lost. Finding Robin's things, her tools, Becky decided to destroy them as Robin had destroyed her. First was a wide tipped Magic Marker and next the graffiti on and over Robin's desk. Robin's boxes of paper clips - all lined up just so like soldiers on a battle field -- were cast all over the floor. And the stapler, pitched at just the right angle, shattered the glass on the frame of Robin's Ad Age Award. The award that was rightfully Becky's. The imagery is found in the third paragraph where we can actually see what Becky looks like at the point of explosion. The tension comes in the paragraph after that and the release is the last sentence. CONCLUSION Direct-mail copy's story is told through the needs and desires of a reader for an offered product or service. Elements of fiction -- imagery, tension, release -- can enhance direct-mail copy and make the sale. Remember:
About The Author Victoria B. Rosendahl mailto:rosendahlwrites@yahoo.com Overnight delivery address: 118 Mill Pond Road, Warner, VA 23175
MORE RESOURCES:
Pakistan-Based MSCopywriters Achieves Outstanding Growth as a ... - PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung)
Copywriting - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Are Long Copy Salesletters Scams? A passionate debate is currently raging in the Copywriters Forum about long versus short copy. (If you haven't joined, do so. 10 Tips for Writing Effective Web Copy On the Internet programmers and designers rule, not the writer. Yet words drive targeted traffic to your site, carry content, make the sale, convey marketing messages, persuade people to buy and make the difference between your site's success or failure. 3 Steps to Great Copy Nothing irritates me more than being told that there are '3 Secrets' to great copy. Worst still are those marketing promises that say something like, "3 Secrets that the copy gurus don't want you to know". Dont Forget The Copywriting Copywriting And Content CreationOne of the most important, but often overlooked aspects of marketing is copywriting. Businesses afford much attention, time and money, on graphics, mail formats and all of the website bells and whistles. Your USP is Useless One of the keys to writing good marketing copy is to differentiate your product or service from the competition with an effective selling point. And it is on precisely this element that many otherwise competent writers flounder and flop - and so does their copy. Ten Eye Popping, Jaw Dropping Ad Copy Secrets In order to make more sales and get more profits for your business, fist of all, you should have a good ad copy. Once you master the knowlege for how to get traffic, you will get a lot of visitors to your site. Magic Words That Sell and What Words to Avoid We all know words are powerful. Whether written or spoken, according to advertising legend David Ogilvy, some of the most persuasive words to use in marketing are:Now Announcing Introducing Revolutionary Offer Quick Easy Compare HurryTry to incorporate these powerful words into your brochures, web content, and however else you communicate with customers. Online Promotion Beats Traditional Ten-One While traditional marketing can work for the book author or publisher, the return is dim for the huge effort it takes. You must promote 90% of the time to even get a milligram of attention. How To Be Creative Network marketing is an art as much as it is an applied science. To take a blank sheet of paper or canvas and draw or paint an interesting picture, you've got to have an imagination and creativity. Want a Sticky Site That Sells? Forget Content! An interesting debate is currently raging among copywriters, web designers and content developers about the differences, if any, between writing copy for the web versus writing content.According to prolific copywriter Nick Usborne of ClickZ. Copywriting for the Web: Do You Have What It Takes? In the world of web copywriters, many will try, but few will succeed. What category will you be classified as? Hopeless failure, or smashing success?Well, that's a foolish question, right? You want to be successful, of course! You know that you can razzle-dazzle 'em with your knock-'em-out, drag-'em-down copywriting skills. How To Get Started With A Career In Copywriting Careers in copywriting are booming. Could it be that the new and ever growing market on the Internet has helped to fuel this demand? You can bet your sweet keyword that it has! With so many businesses looking to the internet for their freelance copywriters the demand for employees keeps growing. Copywriting Makeover: Search Engine-Friendly Can Also Mean Visitor-Friendly When it comes to search engine optimization, copywriting plays a big role. You want to have excellent copy that appeals to both your visitors and the engines in order to create pages that will rank highly. How Writing Radio Can Help You Become a Better Writer Knowing how to write, and write well, is a skill that will come in handy in all sorts of situations. And if you combine good writing skills with the persuasive selling tactics found in, say, copywriting, you'll be that much more ahead of your competition. 9 Tips for Great Design of Your Marketing Materials 1) Don't just hire a good designer. Hire someone who has had plenty of experience designing business collateral. Buy My Book for $27 and Ill Give You Bonuses Worth a Gazillion Dollars! Subhead.. Art Of Writing Profitable Classified Ads The art of writing profitable classified adsEverybody wants to make money. In fact most people would like to hit upon something that makes them instantly rich! And seemingly, one of the easiest to the fulfillment of these dreams of wealth is mail order or within the profession of the business, direct mail selling. Top 3 Rules for Writing Effective Copy One thing all successful Internet marketers have in common is that they're good copywriters. If you want to have a profitable online business, you need to know how to write a copy that motivates people to buy your product. How To Find Freelance Jobs - Writing About Food Did you know that jobs writing about food are available? These opportunities are available in a variety of areas. Employment in these fields is an exciting concept. 5 Ways to Instantly Improve Your Copy 1. Isolation technique It doesn't matter how good your copy is if they don't read it.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |