Posted in Copywriting on June 24th, 2004 No Comments »
Here’s a curious one - an oxymoron, I suppose. One of the posts on Writelife came up in a Google search for "Too much brevity in writing." It struck me as funny, the idea of too much brevity.
Despite the seeming contradiction in the phrase, there is probably something to the notion of excessive trimming. Or […]
Posted in Copywriting on June 20th, 2004 No Comments »
While in a very broad sense I would say there is some accuracy to the term “brand journalism,†when I first saw a reference to it my hair stood on end. If you’ll pardon the language, it struck me as the usual marketing horse manure.
This is going to be a rambling, long-winded hodge podge […]
Posted in Copywriting on June 17th, 2004 No Comments »
Generally, people don’t read closely online. So it’s not a good idea to be too clever in your copy. We don’t pay attention and therefore we miss subtleties. I’ve seen instances where this is sometimes taken as meaning there are a lot of stupid people out there, but it isn’t this at all. Very intelligent […]
Posted in Copywriting on June 14th, 2004 No Comments »
Though I don’t generally like rules, I’ve always liked Steve Krug’s directive about writing for the Web: Cut what you write in half then remove half of what remains.
It’s not that I think a writer should follow the rule literally, but the rule highlights one of the ongoing problems with Web copy - there’s too […]
Posted in Copywriting on June 5th, 2004 No Comments »
One of the best habits I developed when I worked in radio was to read what I had written out loud. I find if you can’t read what you’ve written aloud, odds are it’s poor writing.
The application for radio is obvious. Radio copy is meant to be read aloud by someone - usually an announcer. […]
Posted in Copywriting on May 28th, 2004 No Comments »
I usually hang on to the documents I write. They get filed away, though not in a particularly organized way. There are a number of practical reasons for doing this but the main reason is because somewhere in my head I believe I’ll use them again and save myself some work.
It never works out that […]
Posted in Copywriting on May 22nd, 2004 No Comments »
While doing a Google search I came across a site about copywriting services. You could tell the person(s) behind the site came from an agency background. The home page was an annoying bit of Flash.
Not that Flash is by necessity annoying. But this thing took forever to go through its song and dance (which […]
Posted in Copywriting on May 18th, 2004 No Comments »
If you’re going to use copy have the good sense to make it stand out. Have it say something. And if you’re using it as wallpaper save money and effort by buying actual wallpaper. Don’t do what these clowns are doing …
Seth Godin points to this fine example of pointless copy - he speaks of […]
Posted in Copywriting on May 17th, 2004 No Comments »
I hate copy that begins with a question. It could be the start of a radio ad; it could be the beginning of a Web page. It might be TV; it might be print. Questions that begin the copy drive me crazy.
I don’t know whether this is just a personal dislike or if there is […]
Posted in Copywriting on May 16th, 2004 No Comments »
From Debbie’s blog … This is Copywriting 101: answer a few questions before starting. The same advice has been offered in about a gazillion forms but it all boils down to the same thing. It seems obvious but, in the rush to get things done, is often neglected - thus ensuring a project takes twice […]
