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Copywriting With a More Artistic Flair

by Best Seller
14 replies
I want to share with you one of my favorite quotes about writing from an author named Gary Provost:
"This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. Its like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.

Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals--sounds that say listen to this, it is important."
This is a beautiful example of how to write with a more artistic, musical flair. It makes you want to continue reading, doesn't it?

Copywriters can do the same thing with their marketing copy as authors like Gary do with their books. This will make your copy appear more professional which will, in turn, present you as more of an industry expert in your field. Advertising and marketing ... it's all about perception. And that perception can be altered in all kinds of subtle ways.

Does anyone else have any advice to add on how to make one's copy a little more artistic?
#artistic #copywriting #flair #gary provost
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  • Profile picture of the author SARubin
    Originally Posted by Best Seller View Post

    I want to share with you one of my favorite quotes about writing from an author named Gary Provost:
    "This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. Its like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.

    Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals--sounds that say listen to this, it is important."
    This is a beautiful example of how to write with a more artistic, musical flair. It makes you want to continue reading, doesn't it?

    it's all about perception. And that perception can be altered in all kinds of subtle ways.

    Does anyone else have any advice to add on how to make one's copy a little more artistic?
    I agree that variety is the "spice of life." But the example here is a little unfair, to be sure.

    The first paragraph (the one with only 5 word sentences) is subtly boring, regardless of the sentence length.

    It's using words like "monotonous," "boring," "stuck record." almost like it's subliminally telling you to be bored.

    The second paragraph is using words like "    create music," "pleasant," "harmony," " energy" and it also has a couple sentences that start with the word "And" which acts like a nice transition word to keep us reading.


    That being said... I agree that varying sentence length is important, to keep the writing flowing and more interesting. But even more important is writing something that's interesting to read in the first place.
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    • Profile picture of the author Best Seller
      Originally Posted by SARubin View Post

      I agree that variety is the "spice of life." But the example here is a little unfair, to be sure.

      The first paragraph (the one with only 5 word sentences) is subtly boring, regardless of the sentence length.

      It's using words like "monotonous," "boring," "stuck record." almost like it's subliminally telling you to be bored.

      The second paragraph is using words like "      create music," "pleasant," "harmony," " energy" and it also has a couple sentences that start with the word "And" which acts like a nice transition word to keep us reading.


      That being said... I agree that varying sentence length is important, to keep the writing flowing and more interesting. But even more important is writing something that's interesting to read in the first place.
      What you're saying is so true. As I said, perception can be altered in all kinds of subtle ways ... and that can be in the writing quality and the imagery that the chosen words create inside a person's mind. The more "artistic" your copywriting, the better your chance is at closing the sale. True art comes in many different forms.
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  • Profile picture of the author MortonHill
    A nice and inspiring article about writing. Making music with words.
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  • Profile picture of the author heaththompson
    Not a great self-advertisement, I admit but I kind of go crazy with my writing. I focus on Product Descriptions and I love it. It doesn't seem to matter how dull the item is I just love to write in a rather funky, unhinged way. I don't get that for any other type of copy I write but it seems to work for products.

    Now I go and lie back down in the box for a while
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  • Profile picture of the author Diana S
    Agreed! I've always thought of writing as an art in and of itself. Writing with an "artistic, musical flair" can make even the most boring topics sound interesting and resonate with your target audience.

    I've seen this quote before, but thank you Best Seller for incorporating it into the copywriting forum.

    As for advice on making your copy more artistic, consider the storytelling technique.
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    • Profile picture of the author Best Seller
      Originally Posted by Diana S View Post

      As for advice on making your copy more artistic, consider the storytelling technique.
      Can you elaborate on "the storytelling technique" for the people reading this thread?
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  • Profile picture of the author Diana S
    The storytelling technique involves literally telling a story as part of your sales message. Just like in fiction and every other type of writing, storytelling in sales copy paints a picture in the mind of the reader, something that they can relate to. A good storyteller can make the intended buyer truly feel that they would make the right choice if they buy a product or service.

    A very simple, random example would be:

    "Do you have a leaky faucet?" vs. "Imagine coming home to a leaky faucet. [Description of a specific scenario]"
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  • Profile picture of the author Pat H
    Besides the storytelling approach, conversational copy can be artistic. The conversational approach is written as if the conversation is between the copywriter and the prospect. For example: I know how you feel. I felt the same way. That all changed when I...

    Another artistic approach could be imaginative copy. Words like "Imagine" "Discover" or phrases like "Picture This" would work for this style.
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    I agree with the principal behind the OP's post. I recently did a job for a client and the material I was working on was to improve the quality of his site content. I noticed very long paragraphs at times, the use of overly long words when shorter ones would do, and a lot of missing punctuation.

    The true key with writing of any sort is that it must be easy to read. If the words are too long, some people will clock out of your site because they may not understand the word and so it's a hurdle. Remove anything that may cause the reader to exit your site and you'll enjoy greater success. We have all been guilty of this in the past, myself included.
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    • Profile picture of the author angelazar7
      I think that's the challenge, to bridge the gap between someone that knows and someone that wants to learn, and keeping their attention in today's world of distractions.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Jonas Phil VA
    When I want my copy to "sound" different, I read fiction that I know is good but something I wouldn't normally read for fun. Just to put myself into that head space and bring some of the tone and atmosphere into the writing.

    When writing copy for women's products, I immersed myself in romance novels for a month.

    When I was working for sports, I read a lot of thrillers and crime novels.
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  • Profile picture of the author Homewriting
    Love this sort of stuff. I remember when I first started breaking out in Copywriting, a bit of information that was given to me was "Don't sound too technical. Save that for instruction manuals.". Meaning that if I needed to engage people, to write with a bit of flair, and make it compelling.

    As far as advice, I've always found that making it sound like a story, even if it's nonfiction, tends to help a lot.
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  • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
    Make punches feel like kisses, I guess.
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