Well, not quite. But it was good to get a reply from the former US poet laureate Robert Pinsky to my comments on Quickmuse the other day.
Not all of the poets have found the time to be quite so forthcoming, but Mr Pinsky, or 'my pal Bob', as I'll now call him, was gracious enough to thank us for our responses to his recent 'agon' on www.quickmuse.com and even to answer my further comments.
With quickblog now underway as well, the Quickmuse site is coming to feel more and more like a community - and one populated what's more by the great and good. Or at least by the famous and talented!
Roy
Monday, October 30, 2006
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
From Headlines to Deadlines
Here are some more of the basic tips I put together recently, aimed at business people wanting to create compelling sales copy.
Once again, they're just as valid for you as a copywriter who's being paid to write it for them:
Naturally, you will start with an attention-grabbing headline. You have a few seconds at most for this to do its job, so it must strike a chord with your intended audience, by highlighting the main benefit of your product or service, which...
Eases pain
Reduces fear
Saves effort or time
Makes or saves money
And you simply must tell customers what you will do to help them, before you bore them with who you are and how your great-great-grandfather started the firm in his garden shed a hundred years ago...
In other words, benefits first. Always, or you've lost them already...
'You will impress customers with the quality of your service and your products and by the integrity of your dealings with them, not by the excessive verbosity or pomposity of your literature.'
So just say what you mean, and what your customer wants or needs to hear.
What they need to hear, and what you need to tell them, is what benefits they will get if they buy your product or service. Reduce this to its basest level - 'no more back pain' will sell far more than any explanations of how your painkillers or exercise programmes actually work, at least to start with. Some people will be interested or need convincing though, so have the detailed information readily available. Just don't lead with it.
Transfer ownership - that is, use 'you' and 'your' when you talk about your product and its benefits, so your customer can 'see' himself or herself enjoying the benefits rather than vainly aspiring to them - 'As you relax on your luxury yacht,' for example.
Build desire, by listing benefits, emphasising how easily those benefits can be obtained, and as a general rule by not leading with the price. Unless, perhaps, a new lower price for something you know they're already sold on is the main benefit.
Did I mention benefits?
And building desire, by listing benefits and transferring ownership?
Always close with a 'call to action'. Tell them exactly what you want them to do, and make it easy for them to do it.
And deadlines? Make them an offer they'd be crazy to refuse. Having sold them on the idea of buying, offer the product to them at a much lower price than usual, but for a strictly limited period. Or offer bonus items at no extra cost, but only if they order now.
Create urgency and they're more likely to act right away.
And countless studies show that if a 'prospect' doesn't act now they almost never act later and the sale is usually lost. So build on their fear of 'missing out' by repeating the deadline, limited numbers or whatever.
Make it very, very easy to act: a simple click on a website or email or a pre-paid envelope in a direct mail piece, and always offer them a cast iron money-back guarantee - the longer the better.
Whole books have been written about how to write sales copy. In fact probably hundreds of them, so I've barely scratched the surface here, but I hope it's given you a good start - and hopefully whetted your appetite to learn more. Believe me, it's a very lucrative business when you learn to do it well!
Roy
PS. Always include at least one PS which repeats the main benefit(s), repeats the fantastic offer and its urgency, and gives them one final chance to act.
That's really all for now!
Roy
Once again, they're just as valid for you as a copywriter who's being paid to write it for them:
Naturally, you will start with an attention-grabbing headline. You have a few seconds at most for this to do its job, so it must strike a chord with your intended audience, by highlighting the main benefit of your product or service, which...
Eases pain
Reduces fear
Saves effort or time
Makes or saves money
And you simply must tell customers what you will do to help them, before you bore them with who you are and how your great-great-grandfather started the firm in his garden shed a hundred years ago...
In other words, benefits first. Always, or you've lost them already...
'You will impress customers with the quality of your service and your products and by the integrity of your dealings with them, not by the excessive verbosity or pomposity of your literature.'
So just say what you mean, and what your customer wants or needs to hear.
What they need to hear, and what you need to tell them, is what benefits they will get if they buy your product or service. Reduce this to its basest level - 'no more back pain' will sell far more than any explanations of how your painkillers or exercise programmes actually work, at least to start with. Some people will be interested or need convincing though, so have the detailed information readily available. Just don't lead with it.
Transfer ownership - that is, use 'you' and 'your' when you talk about your product and its benefits, so your customer can 'see' himself or herself enjoying the benefits rather than vainly aspiring to them - 'As you relax on your luxury yacht,' for example.
Build desire, by listing benefits, emphasising how easily those benefits can be obtained, and as a general rule by not leading with the price. Unless, perhaps, a new lower price for something you know they're already sold on is the main benefit.
Did I mention benefits?
And building desire, by listing benefits and transferring ownership?
Always close with a 'call to action'. Tell them exactly what you want them to do, and make it easy for them to do it.
And deadlines? Make them an offer they'd be crazy to refuse. Having sold them on the idea of buying, offer the product to them at a much lower price than usual, but for a strictly limited period. Or offer bonus items at no extra cost, but only if they order now.
Create urgency and they're more likely to act right away.
And countless studies show that if a 'prospect' doesn't act now they almost never act later and the sale is usually lost. So build on their fear of 'missing out' by repeating the deadline, limited numbers or whatever.
Make it very, very easy to act: a simple click on a website or email or a pre-paid envelope in a direct mail piece, and always offer them a cast iron money-back guarantee - the longer the better.
Whole books have been written about how to write sales copy. In fact probably hundreds of them, so I've barely scratched the surface here, but I hope it's given you a good start - and hopefully whetted your appetite to learn more. Believe me, it's a very lucrative business when you learn to do it well!
Roy
PS. Always include at least one PS which repeats the main benefit(s), repeats the fantastic offer and its urgency, and gives them one final chance to act.
That's really all for now!
Roy
Friday, October 20, 2006
Quickmuse Agon Again
The latest Quickmuse ‘agon’, which took place yesterday, once again featured an unusual stimulus for the poets’ muse, as you’ll see if you log on to http://www.quickmuse.com/.
The poets this time were Glyn Maxwell and Robert Pinsky, both of them previous performers on the site.
As usual, I couldn’t resist writing my own piece, too. You’ll find my poem and the item that we were responding to, here: http://www.quickmuse.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=83&pid=335#pid335
You’ll notice my poem is very different to the two main protagonists’ efforts, as are theirs from each other’s.
Glyn Maxwell’s, especially, is well worth watching unfold in its entirety. See why when you take a look.
Enjoy!
Roy
The poets this time were Glyn Maxwell and Robert Pinsky, both of them previous performers on the site.
As usual, I couldn’t resist writing my own piece, too. You’ll find my poem and the item that we were responding to, here: http://www.quickmuse.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=83&pid=335#pid335
You’ll notice my poem is very different to the two main protagonists’ efforts, as are theirs from each other’s.
Glyn Maxwell’s, especially, is well worth watching unfold in its entirety. See why when you take a look.
Enjoy!
Roy
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Searching for a plot?
It's been said, more than once, that there are just seven basic plots which recur throughout the long history of storytelling.
They are: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth.
It's been suggested, too, that there may be thirty-odd resolutions of these basic plots, but that even the most elaborate Hollywood blockbuster can trace it's lineage back to the earliest stories is readily accepted.
A basic plot, though, can be summarised in a few words. It makes for a very slim volume on its own, so there's clearly a lot more to plotting a book than just selecting a basic plot.
How should you go about it, then?
Assuming you haven't been fortunate enough to stumble upon the eighth basic plot idea, complete with all its ramifications, character developments, romantic asides and suspense-building subplots, you might like to cheat...
There's one way of finding a fully-functioning, ironed-out and bestselling plot for your next novel: borrow it.
Just go to your local second-hand book shop, charity shop or library and buy or borrow a novel, about seven or eight years old, with the legend 'Best-Seller', or similar, on the cover. Note: not 'By best-selling author...' - these are the damp squibs that followed the best-seller, unless you are certain you know otherwise.
Having got your best-seller, read it (of course), then write down the plot in as much detail as necessary. That's all the pertinent points but ignoring setting, era and even characters' genders.
Now, change the era, the genre, the genders, even the species, and anything else not essential for the plot, and write your novel, using the exact same plot.
One of the seven basic plots will describe the essential mechanics, your best-seller's plot will provide the wheels-within-wheels to make it work. Your genius will bring it alive and up to date.
Don't worry. It's been going on since at least the eighth story ever told (after the first seven had been used up). Jaws is just Beowulf, Ziggy Stardust was Icarus revisited, Terminator borrows from The Epic of Gilgamesh etc, etc.
But an eight year old novel (or even 2001, A Space Odyssey), is a far quicker read than, say, Odysseus. Just don't set yours on a spaceship or use any jet-black obelisks - Homer won't sue but Mr Clarke might.
Roy
PS If you're new to writing, or looking for information, tips and resources that will help you make money as a writer, don't forget to take a look at the great new ebook I've been telling you about.
It's absolutely free, along with an ever-growing number of other guides and reports, and it's available here. Just a couple of clicks away; the most comprehensive and comprehensible guide you're likely to find anywhere.
Any problems, email me or leave a message here.
Roy
They are: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth.
It's been suggested, too, that there may be thirty-odd resolutions of these basic plots, but that even the most elaborate Hollywood blockbuster can trace it's lineage back to the earliest stories is readily accepted.
A basic plot, though, can be summarised in a few words. It makes for a very slim volume on its own, so there's clearly a lot more to plotting a book than just selecting a basic plot.
How should you go about it, then?
Assuming you haven't been fortunate enough to stumble upon the eighth basic plot idea, complete with all its ramifications, character developments, romantic asides and suspense-building subplots, you might like to cheat...
There's one way of finding a fully-functioning, ironed-out and bestselling plot for your next novel: borrow it.
Just go to your local second-hand book shop, charity shop or library and buy or borrow a novel, about seven or eight years old, with the legend 'Best-Seller', or similar, on the cover. Note: not 'By best-selling author...' - these are the damp squibs that followed the best-seller, unless you are certain you know otherwise.
Having got your best-seller, read it (of course), then write down the plot in as much detail as necessary. That's all the pertinent points but ignoring setting, era and even characters' genders.
Now, change the era, the genre, the genders, even the species, and anything else not essential for the plot, and write your novel, using the exact same plot.
One of the seven basic plots will describe the essential mechanics, your best-seller's plot will provide the wheels-within-wheels to make it work. Your genius will bring it alive and up to date.
Don't worry. It's been going on since at least the eighth story ever told (after the first seven had been used up). Jaws is just Beowulf, Ziggy Stardust was Icarus revisited, Terminator borrows from The Epic of Gilgamesh etc, etc.
But an eight year old novel (or even 2001, A Space Odyssey), is a far quicker read than, say, Odysseus. Just don't set yours on a spaceship or use any jet-black obelisks - Homer won't sue but Mr Clarke might.
Roy
PS If you're new to writing, or looking for information, tips and resources that will help you make money as a writer, don't forget to take a look at the great new ebook I've been telling you about.
It's absolutely free, along with an ever-growing number of other guides and reports, and it's available here. Just a couple of clicks away; the most comprehensive and comprehensible guide you're likely to find anywhere.
Any problems, email me or leave a message here.
Roy
Friday, October 13, 2006
A Few Notes on Writing For Business
I've put together a few tips for business people to use when writing their own material. It's just as relevant for professional writers who are being paid to do it for them, so here's an extract:
Except in highly specialised fields, language should always be as simple as possible, so long as it conveys meaning accurately and unambiguously.
Don't fall into the trap of 'near enough' synonyms, however - like using 'less' for 'fewer', for example. If in doubt, look it up - some of your customers at least will know if you get it wrong, and they won't be impressed if you do.
Keep punctuation simple. If you're unsure how to use them, avoid colons and semi-colons. Stick to full stops (periods) and commas. Dashes are okay these days, too, but never use a colon and a dash together, like this:- or this : -
Take great care with apostrophes! An apostrophe either indicates possession - David's shoes, for example, or indicates missing letters when a word is shortened or two words are combined and shortened, as in don't, wouldn't, etc. It should never be used for a plural (the famous greengrocers' apostrophe - Apple's 50p, for example).
For a plural possessive, the apostrophe comes after the 's', as with greengrocers' just then (more than one greengrocer, all of them guilty...). There are exceptions though - its, whose, yours, for example. Who's means who is or sometimes who has, it's means it is or it has. Yours is just yours to use as you like.
Sentences should be of varying length and rhythm, with at least some of them short and comma-free. Read your work aloud and see if you need to breathe halfway through a sentence. If you do, break it up. Don't worry about starting sentences with 'and' or 'but' - these actually add urgency and energy.
Keep paragraphs short. Four or five lines are ideal, though you should vary it, as with sentence length. Large blocks of text will intimidate many readers enough to put them off reading your piece at all. Only academics seem to want to plough through yards of unbroken text, though goodness knows why!
Unless you are very good at it, and very sure of your audience, generally avoid humour and never be offensive or insulting. Try to pitch your writing at the readership by reading other (successful) people's literature. Try to work out why some of it works for you and some doesn't, and copy the one that works. Generally, be chatty but not over-familiar and always concentrate on accuracy.
Always use a spellchecker, set to the correct form of English - UK for over here, US for over there, etc.
Oh, and keep exclamation marks to a minimum!
Roy
Except in highly specialised fields, language should always be as simple as possible, so long as it conveys meaning accurately and unambiguously.
Don't fall into the trap of 'near enough' synonyms, however - like using 'less' for 'fewer', for example. If in doubt, look it up - some of your customers at least will know if you get it wrong, and they won't be impressed if you do.
Keep punctuation simple. If you're unsure how to use them, avoid colons and semi-colons. Stick to full stops (periods) and commas. Dashes are okay these days, too, but never use a colon and a dash together, like this:- or this : -
Take great care with apostrophes! An apostrophe either indicates possession - David's shoes, for example, or indicates missing letters when a word is shortened or two words are combined and shortened, as in don't, wouldn't, etc. It should never be used for a plural (the famous greengrocers' apostrophe - Apple's 50p, for example).
For a plural possessive, the apostrophe comes after the 's', as with greengrocers' just then (more than one greengrocer, all of them guilty...). There are exceptions though - its, whose, yours, for example. Who's means who is or sometimes who has, it's means it is or it has. Yours is just yours to use as you like.
Sentences should be of varying length and rhythm, with at least some of them short and comma-free. Read your work aloud and see if you need to breathe halfway through a sentence. If you do, break it up. Don't worry about starting sentences with 'and' or 'but' - these actually add urgency and energy.
Keep paragraphs short. Four or five lines are ideal, though you should vary it, as with sentence length. Large blocks of text will intimidate many readers enough to put them off reading your piece at all. Only academics seem to want to plough through yards of unbroken text, though goodness knows why!
Unless you are very good at it, and very sure of your audience, generally avoid humour and never be offensive or insulting. Try to pitch your writing at the readership by reading other (successful) people's literature. Try to work out why some of it works for you and some doesn't, and copy the one that works. Generally, be chatty but not over-familiar and always concentrate on accuracy.
Always use a spellchecker, set to the correct form of English - UK for over here, US for over there, etc.
Oh, and keep exclamation marks to a minimum!
Roy
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Poetry Please(s)
I've been indulging myself with a little poetry writing lately, inspired by a superb artist whose blog I stumbled across a couple of weeks ago. Visual art doesn't always stimulate my creative urges, but this artist seems to paint a little like the way I write. Or I see poem ideas in her pictures, anyway.
Have a look for yourself on www.scrambolo.blogspot.com and see what I mean. You'll find a few poems of mine amongst the comments.
Also, I've been writing some 'flash poems' recently. I explain that term, and also describe a few other ways of finding inspiration, including using visual art, in my beginners' guide to writing poetry, a free ebook I'll send you if you just drop me a line by email or leave a message here. Remember I'll need your email address to send it to you.
Meanwhile, here are a couple of my recent 'flashes':
'Undone'
I'm wandering the streets unmade
amongst the puddled mess,
quite unemployed and quite unpaid
and in a state of dress
I wouldn't wish on anyone
except that they were me.
Undressed, unsatisfied, undone:
and lost to history.
It wasn't much to ask of life
that I may make my mark,
but that I must employ a knife
is miserable. Hark!
a Peeler turns the corner there
and I must slip away,
to shadows' quite caressing care,
to cut another day.
'Sea'
I must go down to the sea again
to see if it's still there
to see if the sea can ease this pain
or make me unaware
that my great loss is someone's gain
and I can't help but care.
I must go down to the sea again -
I wonder if I'd dare.
The titles are the trigger words - we can never know where they'll lead us!
Check out that website, though. It may well inspire you, too.
Roy
Have a look for yourself on www.scrambolo.blogspot.com and see what I mean. You'll find a few poems of mine amongst the comments.
Also, I've been writing some 'flash poems' recently. I explain that term, and also describe a few other ways of finding inspiration, including using visual art, in my beginners' guide to writing poetry, a free ebook I'll send you if you just drop me a line by email or leave a message here. Remember I'll need your email address to send it to you.
Meanwhile, here are a couple of my recent 'flashes':
'Undone'
I'm wandering the streets unmade
amongst the puddled mess,
quite unemployed and quite unpaid
and in a state of dress
I wouldn't wish on anyone
except that they were me.
Undressed, unsatisfied, undone:
and lost to history.
It wasn't much to ask of life
that I may make my mark,
but that I must employ a knife
is miserable. Hark!
a Peeler turns the corner there
and I must slip away,
to shadows' quite caressing care,
to cut another day.
'Sea'
I must go down to the sea again
to see if it's still there
to see if the sea can ease this pain
or make me unaware
that my great loss is someone's gain
and I can't help but care.
I must go down to the sea again -
I wonder if I'd dare.
The titles are the trigger words - we can never know where they'll lead us!
Check out that website, though. It may well inspire you, too.
Roy
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Some More Thoughts on Ghostwriting
So, you want to be a writer, right? Which probably means you think you've got something to say, something inside you waiting to be created and let loose on a hopefully grateful world.
The problem being, the world doesn't know you yet and doesn't seem that interested in getting to know you or your work. Certainly, no one is throwing bundles of cash in your direction, so how on earth can you make it as a writer, writing for money?
You can keep plugging away, submitting articles and outlines to magazines, publishers and agents. Nothing wrong with that, but meanwhile you're still doing the day job, or worse still, don't have a day job, and you really need this writing lark to start paying, or you'll have to give it up like so many hopeless dreams.
No: you're a writer, so you'll keep going. But there's a quicker way to paid employment as a writer, and one that's perfectly respectable and quite good fun.
It just might mean you have to swallow a little pride, compromise on your dreams for a while, perhaps put the great manuscript to one side for now - and write someone else's masterpiece instead. Or just their article, course or ebook, their company report or even their award acceptance speech.
The point being, it's their words and not yours, but they're not able, for whatever reason to write them for themselves.
They're the ones with the story or the specialist knowledge, the pressing deadline or the contract already signed, and you're the one with the writing talent and the time.
It's a perfect match, and writers around the world make a very respectable living from ghostwriting, but with none of the attendant glory. Rest assured though, publishers, agents, experts and celebrities know the value of a good ghostwriter, and the best of them are paid accordingly.
And once a ghostwriter is charging enough and is efficient enough to only have to work part of the time on other people's work, he or she can devote the rest of their time to their own.
And think about it: wouldn't you rather be writing - almost anything - than the job you're doing now?
The problem being, the world doesn't know you yet and doesn't seem that interested in getting to know you or your work. Certainly, no one is throwing bundles of cash in your direction, so how on earth can you make it as a writer, writing for money?
You can keep plugging away, submitting articles and outlines to magazines, publishers and agents. Nothing wrong with that, but meanwhile you're still doing the day job, or worse still, don't have a day job, and you really need this writing lark to start paying, or you'll have to give it up like so many hopeless dreams.
No: you're a writer, so you'll keep going. But there's a quicker way to paid employment as a writer, and one that's perfectly respectable and quite good fun.
It just might mean you have to swallow a little pride, compromise on your dreams for a while, perhaps put the great manuscript to one side for now - and write someone else's masterpiece instead. Or just their article, course or ebook, their company report or even their award acceptance speech.
The point being, it's their words and not yours, but they're not able, for whatever reason to write them for themselves.
They're the ones with the story or the specialist knowledge, the pressing deadline or the contract already signed, and you're the one with the writing talent and the time.
It's a perfect match, and writers around the world make a very respectable living from ghostwriting, but with none of the attendant glory. Rest assured though, publishers, agents, experts and celebrities know the value of a good ghostwriter, and the best of them are paid accordingly.
And once a ghostwriter is charging enough and is efficient enough to only have to work part of the time on other people's work, he or she can devote the rest of their time to their own.
And think about it: wouldn't you rather be writing - almost anything - than the job you're doing now?
Monday, October 02, 2006
Quickmuse and Flash Poetry
It's something of a shock to realise that it's over a week since I posted on here. Even more so to recall how much I intended to do in that time, but still...
I hope you've been able to catch up with Quickmuse and that you've found it as fascinating as I have. If so, leave your comments on the site, but let me know what you think of it as well. I found Andrew Motion's poem more intriguing this time, which surprised me.
Since Motion and Paul Muldoon 'appeared', Quickmuse has already featured another head to head, but with a difference this time in that the poets, Geoffrey Brock and Jonathan Galassi, were set the task of translating a short poem in Italian by Giovanni Pascoli. I'll let you be the judge of how well they did.
You can also judge my efforts here on MoreWriting.
Coming soon, 'Quickblog'!
On the subject of writing poetry quickly, you might be interested to know that 'flash poetry' is one of the techniques I use, especially when inspiration is short but the need to write is still there.
I'll tell you more about that and some of the other methods I use, as well as some more tips and general 'how to do it' advice in my mini guide to writing poetry, which is extracted from the full-length course on the subject that I plan to release soon. If you would like a free copy of the guide, delivered by email in ebook form, email me here, or leave a message right here on my blog.
Remember I'll need your email address to send it to you, but as I say, it's totally free.
Roy.
I hope you've been able to catch up with Quickmuse and that you've found it as fascinating as I have. If so, leave your comments on the site, but let me know what you think of it as well. I found Andrew Motion's poem more intriguing this time, which surprised me.
Since Motion and Paul Muldoon 'appeared', Quickmuse has already featured another head to head, but with a difference this time in that the poets, Geoffrey Brock and Jonathan Galassi, were set the task of translating a short poem in Italian by Giovanni Pascoli. I'll let you be the judge of how well they did.
You can also judge my efforts here on MoreWriting.
Coming soon, 'Quickblog'!
On the subject of writing poetry quickly, you might be interested to know that 'flash poetry' is one of the techniques I use, especially when inspiration is short but the need to write is still there.
I'll tell you more about that and some of the other methods I use, as well as some more tips and general 'how to do it' advice in my mini guide to writing poetry, which is extracted from the full-length course on the subject that I plan to release soon. If you would like a free copy of the guide, delivered by email in ebook form, email me here, or leave a message right here on my blog.
Remember I'll need your email address to send it to you, but as I say, it's totally free.
Roy.
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