Writing effective ad copy: an e-book

Bob — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:56:54 +0000

Sometimes smaller newspaper staffs need all the help they can get. If you are a writer, one of the best things you could do for your paper is to write better copy for the ads. I know, I know. This seems somehow out of your bailiwick, but if your paper could offer better and more [...] Related posts:

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3 things you must do right now

Bob — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:58:10 +0000

As a writer and freelance editor and designer, one thing I am very good at is creative work avoidance behaviors. From checking my e-mail to hitting the kitchen for a snack to re-arranging my sock drawer, I’ve done them all. At least twice.

That’s one reason I looked for a Muse. I needed someone to be my border collie and keep my worktime peregrinations to a minimum. More about the Muse’s latest in another post.

Anyway, to be successful at being a writer, here are three things you must do. Now. The rules also apply to freelance designers.

1. STOP READING THIS BLOG POST AND WORK. You are probably procrastinating, aren’t you? I bet you have been sitting there, chin on one hand, mouse in the other, clicking your way through link after link while the razor-sharp second hand slices away what’s left of your day.

WRITE. OR DESIGN.

2. PLAN FOR YOUR WRITING TOMORROW. Write down ideas before they slip away. If you have an iPhone, use the Notes or Voice Memo. Better yet, use a concept map. Draw a circle in the center of a piece of paper (or use free software, like CMap Tools) and put down your one good idea you have that is rattling around your mind like a BB in an empty tuna fish can. Then draw five circles around it and write down five related ideas, two of which must be opposites. Then draw two lines off each circle and put two more ideas based on that circle. One must be a positive connection to the circle idea and one a negative, or anti-, idea.

There. Now, even if some of them are dry holes, you have certainly enough ideas about what to do tomorrow, don’t you? Now get back to work.

3. THINK OF 3 PEOPLE you can connect with by end of day tomorrow who can help your writing or design consulting by brainstorming with you about story ideas, potential clients, or markets and marketing ideas. Get out their phone numbers NOW and write them down on a real or virtual Post-It and put it on your monitor or desktop. Call each before noon tomorrow. Ask each for the name and contact info of one other person who would be valuable for you to network with. DO IT.

Then get back to doing what you really need to be doing: writing (or designing!).

You’re welcome.

Gimme rewrite! Rewriting vs. editing

Bob — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 02:48:28 +0000

I like to worry about odd things. These thoughts usually come to me in that crease between falling asleep and being asleep. Sometimes the damn things actually wake me up.

The latest was the difference between re-writing and editing. Can writers edit or do they only re-write? If an editor does a heavy-handed job, is it really a rewrite? When does it reach a point that an editor deserves a co-byline? Should editors even be allowed to edit that much?

I worked one summer as a copyeditor at a ski magazine. The editor had accepted a freelance article that was so badly written I had to take a heavy blue pencil (yes, it was that long ago) to it. The story was as much mine as the writer’s. We should have sent it back to the author.

As a writer, I always re-write — probably too much. But do I edit my own work?

I know it doesn’t matter, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about it. I have to quit this post. The Muse just raised her head from the couch and inquired about proofreading.

Starting a book project

Bob — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:59:22 +0000

Starting a book project is work. Hard work.

I am organizing the notes and documents into a set of folders that follow the current, loose outline. I have to scan some documents.

I have to set up organizational and reminder software. I want to just start writing, to get into the “fun” work (HA!) of writing. This preliminary stuff is almost enough to make me kick the Muse off the couch and take a nap.

Is writing an addiction? Why do we writers willingly spend so much time suffering? We suffer to write; we suffer when we write. We agonize over the flaws after publication.

We write again. Ad infiwritum.

Writers and typographers

Bob — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:26:45 +0000

I have placed a book I wanted to read back on the shelf just because of bad typography. My friends give me an incredulous look when I tell them that. It’s true.

Bad typography, whether it is type size, line width or linespacing (and it’s usually a combination of those three), can make reading a book an almost painful experience.

I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for a writer to find his or her work basically ruined by a bad designer. I think it underlines the importance of writers, editors and designers working together as a team.

On this blog, I increased the linespacing a bit because the type is set pretty wide. Had I not done that in my CSS file, the type would clump into a ball of stems and strokes and not be as easy to read.

Writers: pay attention to typography. Don’t leave it all to the designer.

News Design School » Writing

Writing effective ad copy: an e-book

3 things you must do right now

Gimme rewrite! Rewriting vs. editing

Starting a book project

Writers and typographers