What Are You Really Trying To Say?
Writing is a strange art.
We have ideas in our heads and must first communicate those ideas
in writing so that (hopefully) our original thoughts will end up
in the reader’s head. Scary, huh? Only if there was a short-cut
to this process so we didn’t have to communicate in the first
place—telepathy?
At least most husbands I know wish so.
I mentioned this process of communication because a lot of what
is called copywriting involves selling an idea. But what I
discovered while reviewing a lot of my coaching students sales
letters is that the idea gets lost in the writing process. I then
have to dig through a lot of words to get the idea beneath
them—if it even exist.
One of the most important aspects of any sales letter writing is
clarity. That’s why I suggest to my students that they write out
in a simple ‘thesis’ sentence--what they are trying to say BEFORE
they actually say it.
I’ve taken a speed reading course in college. The real essence
of this skill is picking out the kernels of ideas from the
bushels of words. We really don’t need words if you can
communicate ideas. So if you can quickly look over a paragraph
for the main idea, (which is normally expressed in the topic
sentence) then you can quickly move on to the next paragraph.
As a copywriter, it’s easy to get caught up in all the parts of
the sales letter and miss the most important goal—“what are you
really trying to say?” If the reader cannot determine this very
early on, then you’ll confuse him and drain his patience. A
prospect reading an advertisement is not very patient, nor wants
to work hard at deciphering your words.
Now there are two levels of clarity as I see it: There’s the
micro-level and the macro-level.
At the micro-level you can add clarity to your writing by using
short sentences expressing simple ideas, using familiar words and
even appealing to the experiences of your readers. The use of
active instead of passive verbs and making your writing
conversational all add to reader comprehension.
On the macro-level, you are looking at the logical flow of the
ideas expressed in each paragraph and how to move towards a
certain goal. The familiar AIDA also gives a tried and true
order for presenting your sales pitch just as public speakers use
PREP--Position, Reason, Example, Position. The speaker first
states his position, and then gives reasons for that position
followed by a supporting example, and finally restates his
position.
Of course even if your macro-level clarity is intact but the
sentences are clumsily written your sales letter will still
suffer. While the ordering of ideas is easy to come by, most
writers still struggle with expressing ideas in simple
sentences.
And ‘simple’ doesn’t mean short. A sentence can be short in
length but mentally tedious because of the number of ideas it is
trying to express at the same time. Poets are experts at
expressing grand ideas in the most succinct form. But your copy
doesn’t have to read like poetry to accomplish the same goal.
The ‘not’ construction, for example, can often lead to
confusion. Consider the statement, “The sales letter was not
without its shortcomings.” Does this mean that the sales letter
had shortcomings or not? Was it good or bad? This
double-negative can better be expressed as a positive: “The sales
letter had shortcomings.”
I would recommend that every copywriter should own at least one
book on editing. An editor’s job is not just to correct grammar
and spelling but to ensure clarity. Brushing up on your own
editing skills will also help your sales letter writing.
(Caveat: The more ‘rules’ of editing you learn, the slower your
writing can become. Do not allow the editor in your head to slow
down your free flow of thoughts. Write first; edit later.)
In the final analysis, if your message is not understood then your
sales would suffer. I can’t begin to tell you the number of
“sales”-letters that I read through and the one question left in
my mind was, “What are you really selling?”
If you cannot give me the answer to that question in a few short
sentences I doubt you’ll be able to in a million. So be sure to
have the few short sentences written down before you attempt the
million.
-----------
[I’ve challenged myself to take my own advice and give the thesis
sentences for this article. They are, (1) Communication only
takes place when our ideas are understood by us as by our
readers, (2) Clarity is derived from two levels: sentences and
idea flow. (3) Editing skills are important for copywriters to
learn.
If you missed any of those ideas after reading the article then I
failed.]
-Ray Edwards
We have ideas in our heads and must first communicate those ideas
in writing so that (hopefully) our original thoughts will end up
in the reader’s head. Scary, huh? Only if there was a short-cut
to this process so we didn’t have to communicate in the first
place—telepathy?
At least most husbands I know wish so.
I mentioned this process of communication because a lot of what
is called copywriting involves selling an idea. But what I
discovered while reviewing a lot of my coaching students sales
letters is that the idea gets lost in the writing process. I then
have to dig through a lot of words to get the idea beneath
them—if it even exist.
One of the most important aspects of any sales letter writing is
clarity. That’s why I suggest to my students that they write out
in a simple ‘thesis’ sentence--what they are trying to say BEFORE
they actually say it.
I’ve taken a speed reading course in college. The real essence
of this skill is picking out the kernels of ideas from the
bushels of words. We really don’t need words if you can
communicate ideas. So if you can quickly look over a paragraph
for the main idea, (which is normally expressed in the topic
sentence) then you can quickly move on to the next paragraph.
As a copywriter, it’s easy to get caught up in all the parts of
the sales letter and miss the most important goal—“what are you
really trying to say?” If the reader cannot determine this very
early on, then you’ll confuse him and drain his patience. A
prospect reading an advertisement is not very patient, nor wants
to work hard at deciphering your words.
Now there are two levels of clarity as I see it: There’s the
micro-level and the macro-level.
At the micro-level you can add clarity to your writing by using
short sentences expressing simple ideas, using familiar words and
even appealing to the experiences of your readers. The use of
active instead of passive verbs and making your writing
conversational all add to reader comprehension.
On the macro-level, you are looking at the logical flow of the
ideas expressed in each paragraph and how to move towards a
certain goal. The familiar AIDA also gives a tried and true
order for presenting your sales pitch just as public speakers use
PREP--Position, Reason, Example, Position. The speaker first
states his position, and then gives reasons for that position
followed by a supporting example, and finally restates his
position.
Of course even if your macro-level clarity is intact but the
sentences are clumsily written your sales letter will still
suffer. While the ordering of ideas is easy to come by, most
writers still struggle with expressing ideas in simple
sentences.
And ‘simple’ doesn’t mean short. A sentence can be short in
length but mentally tedious because of the number of ideas it is
trying to express at the same time. Poets are experts at
expressing grand ideas in the most succinct form. But your copy
doesn’t have to read like poetry to accomplish the same goal.
The ‘not’ construction, for example, can often lead to
confusion. Consider the statement, “The sales letter was not
without its shortcomings.” Does this mean that the sales letter
had shortcomings or not? Was it good or bad? This
double-negative can better be expressed as a positive: “The sales
letter had shortcomings.”
I would recommend that every copywriter should own at least one
book on editing. An editor’s job is not just to correct grammar
and spelling but to ensure clarity. Brushing up on your own
editing skills will also help your sales letter writing.
(Caveat: The more ‘rules’ of editing you learn, the slower your
writing can become. Do not allow the editor in your head to slow
down your free flow of thoughts. Write first; edit later.)
In the final analysis, if your message is not understood then your
sales would suffer. I can’t begin to tell you the number of
“sales”-letters that I read through and the one question left in
my mind was, “What are you really selling?”
If you cannot give me the answer to that question in a few short
sentences I doubt you’ll be able to in a million. So be sure to
have the few short sentences written down before you attempt the
million.
-----------
[I’ve challenged myself to take my own advice and give the thesis
sentences for this article. They are, (1) Communication only
takes place when our ideas are understood by us as by our
readers, (2) Clarity is derived from two levels: sentences and
idea flow. (3) Editing skills are important for copywriters to
learn.
If you missed any of those ideas after reading the article then I
failed.]
-Ray Edwards
Expert Copy Editing and Web Editing :)