More on writing

Reading about the 5 paragraph essay earlier today and thinking about my just completed ad class got me thinking about writing.

When you write an essay you usually follow the standard thesis, supporting points, conclusion format. You assume that your reader will read the whole thing.

In an ad you not only assume that your reader won’t read your copy, but you assume that he will be actively hostile toward it and will go out of his way to avoid it. You have to grab his attention with an interesting headline, visual or combination of the two, draw him into your text and make sure he comes out with a positive impression of your product.

However, they are both attempts to persuade the reader. To get your point across.

This is just the type of writing Calpundit mentions as fitting the 5 paragraph (or really 5 section) essay.

The whole format is geared toward making a persuasive case, and how often does that come up in real life?

He says while ironically making a persuasive case as he does several times a day, very well, on his blog.

In some sense all writing is persuasive; even an instruction manual is trying to persuade you to operate your new machine correctly.

He also gives this advice:

…ignore anyone who tells you to write like you talk. This is possibly the worst writing advice ever to gain wide popularity. Honest.

This is indeed the first piece of advice I have seen about writing advertising copy and it isn’t wrong. It doesn’t mean to literally write the words as you would speak them. If you actually listen of a recording of a real conversation you would probably be amazed just how incoherent it sounds. But you have to listen to a recording or read a transcript for it to look confusing. When you are having a conversation it sounds natural and makes sense.

Writing like you talk means that your reader should feel as though she is listening to a conversation. It means you should avoid sounding stilted or confusing. Your writing should flow. It should be easy to understand and get your point across clearly. It should not sound like the typical academic paper or corporate memo.

Calpundit does this well. When I read him, I feel like I am listening to a persuasive argument, not wading my way through a policy statement.

The best advice I have heard on this comes from the copywriter Luke Sullivan:

Write like you talk.
Write with a smooth, easy rhythm that sounds natural. Obey the rules of grammar and go easy on the adjectives. Short sentences are best. One-word sentences? Fine. End with a preposition if you want to. And if it feels right, begin a sentence with “and.” Just be clear.

This is from Sullivan’s excellent book on creating advertising.

I am trying to be an Art Director, not a Copywriter, but I feel it is very important to understand writing ads if I plan on going into advertising.