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copywriting :: Internet Marketing :: Copywriting
Cleaning Up Your Copy
The only way to keep up with the latest
about marketing is to constantly stay on the lookout for new
information. If you read everything you find about marketing, it won't
take long for you to become an influential authority. The more
authentic information about marketing you know, the more likely people
are to consider you a marketing expert. Read on for even more marketing
facts that you can share.
When you are beginning to write, you
gather as much data as you can. You continually add allied thoughts. .
You use your right brain, the creative side.
So when you have an idea and your mind says, “not relevant to my
core subject,” you ignore the doubt. You don’t cross anything out. You
behave as magpie.
To polish your copy, you do the opposite.Here’s how: shut the door
and banish distractions. Read your copy v e r y s l o w l y and
concentrate.
Better still, read the copy out loud s l o w l y. If reading out
loud is impractical say the words to yourself soundlessly. The instant
you sense “this shouldn’t be here,” cross it out.Trust your first
judgement. Trust your first judgement.
What “shouldn’t be here?”. Any material that is superfluous,
because you’ve said it before in a different way. Or because it is not
central to your main argument.
You should be removing words as well as ideas. You want to
communicate in as few words as possible. Shorter is better. Shorter is
richer. Shorter is more bang for your reader’s buck. Short sentences
are easy to read and understand.
If you are fond of a certain sentence, but you know deep down it is
not relevant here’s a tip to help you excise. Create a heading at the
end of your draft called “overmatter.” Whenever you are not sure
whether to cut or leave a sentence, cut and paste it into overmatter.
Later delete all the overmatter. Sometimes doing it in two steps is easier than one fell swoop.
As novices we love a certain word, phrase or musicality.
Don’t be distracted by that. Think only of your reader and the shortest
route to communicating your idea.
My mentor, Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones, says,“when
you go over your work, become a Samurai, a great warrior with courage
to cut anything out....be willing not to be sentimental about your
writing when you reread it. Look at it with a clear, piercing mind.”
“Clear writers have accepted the grim reality,” says John Trimble
that nine-tenths of all writing is rewriting...perhaps most important
of all, they are sticklers for continuity. They link their sentences
and paragraphs as meticulously as if they might face criminal charges
for negligence.”
Do you have a robust marketing plan? How persuasive is your website, brochure copy or direct mail?
To win more business,call Neroli Lacey NOW.
++ 612. 215. 3826
or email: neroli@beyondcommunications.com
About The Author
I'm Neroli Lacey of Beyond Communications Inc. in Minneapolis, MN.
I’ve been helping executives transform their businesses and their lives
with outstanding marketing materials since 1995. visa,
3M and Perot Systems are some of my bigger clients. I have worked with
clients in Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Austin, Minneapolis, London,
Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and Delhi. I used to be one of the top
journalists in Britain writing for The Times, The Sunday Times, The
Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, The Evening Standard,
New Statesman, Vogue and Tatler.
Before newspapers I was an investment banker. I grew up in London, England, studying Latin with Greek at Bristol University.
Please visit my website: www.beyondcommunications.com
Or contact me at: neroli@beyondcommunications.com
612-215-3826
Of course, it's impossible to put everything about
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