Copywriters rely on writing formulas. There I said it. And if you write professionally, you know it’s true.
When you draft deadline-driven copy day in day out, month after month, year after year, you develop an arsenal of copy tricks. A set of writing rituals, rules and shortcuts that help you write copy on target and on time.
Nothing wrong with it. Copywriting formulas are useful. Even necessary. Up to a point.
Relied on too heavily, however, the same formulas that save your copy can sink it. They turn your once-sparking prose into boring boilerplate.
Want to keep your copy clear, fresh, relevant and on-point every time? You can do it by asking two simple questions.
I’ll explain in a minute, but first let’s think about how you fell into formulaic writing in the first place.
The slippery slope of formulaic copy
If you’re like most copywriters, you follow successful writers and bloggers online, collect copywriting tips and keep swipe files.
So one day you’re trawling the post of a legendary copywriter, scanning his “copywriting gold” checklist. You stumble on an intriguing nugget: He advises you to use the word “discover” instead of “learn” in your copy. “Learn,” he explains, connotes effort and toil. “Discover” implies adventure and excitement.
Hmm. Wonder if it works, you think.
You swipe and file the tip away. Next time you sit down to brainstorm headlines, you use the word “discover.” Yep, it makes your headline zing. And amazingly when you run the copy, metrics back up the veteran copywriter’s claim: that single word change makes a measurable difference in response.
Wow. Of course you want to replay the metrical magic. So you use the formula again. And again. And again.
Copywriting autopilot
You stop thinking whether or not this formula supports your brand story. You stop thinking if it speaks relevantly to your customers. You stop thinking if you’re using the right measures—metrics that have an impact on business.
You stop thinking.
Free your mind.
Here’s the thing about copywriting formulas: They work well most of the time and they make writing easier and faster. But they have to be used judiciously. They’re no substitute for clear thinking: Good copywriting requires logic, clarity and discrimination—not just wizard wordsmithing.
The secret to keeping your copy fresh: ask two simple questions
You can avoid formulaic, hackneyed copy by asking two questions. I can’t claim credit for this anti-formulaic writing formula—it’s from William Zinsser, the revered writing teacher and author of On Writing Well.
After you’ve finished your copywriting research—learned all you can about your product, features, benefits, customers, and competitors—and as you mindmap or outline your copy, ask yourself…
What am I trying to say?
Don’t go on autopilot, or fall back on glibness or formulas. Think hard.
What are you trying to say about connecting to customers as real human beings? About delivering value that’s relevant to them? About making it easy for them to take action and connect back to you? About positioning your product as unique?
Now write.
Take a break, come back and read what you’ve written. And then ask, did I say what I was trying say?
With each element of your copy—headline, lede, body copy, call to action—did you say what you were trying to say?
Or instead, as Zinsser writes, “Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it’s beautiful?”
Or falling back on copywriting tricks to fill the page?
If either, gently ask yourself again, what am I trying to say?
Rewrite, read, ask the same questions. Rinse and repeat until copy runs clear.
It’s not easy to kill your formulaic darlings.
Yeah, I know: It’s not easy. Even Zinsser will tell you, “Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident…If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.”
When it gets easy we need to worry—and ask two questions.
Great tips that really resonate, especially the part about hanging onto something useless just because its beautiful. We copywriters have a weakness for beauty, and I can’t say that’s a bad thing, but we have to stop and ask ourselves if our audience will have that same appreciation, and unless they’re writers themselves, the answer may very well be no.
That’s not to say that beautiful copy can’t be appreciated by everyone, but beautiful AND useful copy– that’s the holy grail we’re all after.
I love (and hate) Zinsser’s On Writing for setting me straight. Writing well is hard. I’ve never found it easy. It’s just that I was a little disappointed to learn that it wouldn’t get much easier. 😉
Something that I find helpful: I type out copy that’s good–not necessarily beautiful, or formulaic, but rather, that simply WORKS–and use its momentum to get my own going. Often when I read those tips and tricks my brain stops working entirely and I can no longer see the forest for the trees. Better to refer to them when you’re revising, I think.
The fact remains that very few of my homeruns came about without good sleep, good planning, and a lot of hard work. Hours more than I expected, at times!
@Melissa: Yes, there’s nothing wrong with beautiful copy as long as it says what you’re trying to say. Nine times out of ten, when I’m wrestling copy that’s not working it’s because I’m holding on to a favorite idea or turn-of-phrase instead of letting the copy be purposeful and say what I’m trying to say. And more often than I care to admit, I don’t actually know what I’m trying to say. I haven’t defined it. I’m just thrashing around stringing clever words together, hoping for copy magic. Not a very pragmatic approach to content creation.
@Lindsey: I know what you mean about the love-hate thing with Zinsser. But more and more I love him because he speak truth to power about the difficulty of writing well. Love your idea of typing up inspiring writing. You know this is a classic copywriting teaching method, yes? One well-known copywriting course–the grandaddy of them all–asks students to copy out sales letters. Three times. By hand.
Hi Lorraine,
My plan for the day is to thrash around hoping for copy magic and to use the word ‘discover’ as frequently as possible. Thanks for the tips!
And on a more serious note, you did make an excellent point about knowing what you want to say before you start writing it. Sound advice… which I frequently find myself not completely following. Today, however, those words will direct my sails!
And I’ll be listening to Spotify the entire time.
@John: We’re in the same boat. I find it takes a huge effort to think about what I want to say instead of typing out a string of catchy phrases that actually mean nothing . Or as George Orwell puts it, “… gumming together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug.” (Politics and the English Language)