Christmas with the Copywriters

Posted on September 29, 2011 by

It is traditional at this time of year for supermarkets to stock their Seasonal Aisle with advent calendars, stollen and stocking-shaped packaging full of branded chocolate bars.  These corporate hogs must have an economic reason for doing so because they do nothing without the motivation of £££. 

Someone must be buying that stuff.  At least it allows the rest of us to roll our eyes and share a wry groan.

There are other folk who must, in this post-equinox heatwave, stare down the barrel of a yule log.  Copywriters like me are busy writing Christmas Gift Catalogues and web copy to help charities raise money for aid projects at home and abroad.

I can’t yet announce which particular charity I recently wrote for (because the project is not with the printers) but I will say that I enjoyed writing 23 product descriptions and surrounding copy for print and web.

I hope that many people will be moved to buy goats, toilets, blankets, chickens, mosquito nets and herb gardens for those in need this Christmas.

I wonder if Supermarkets would ever create a Charity Aisle in their stores, with virtual gifts that people could purchase at the tills.  It would be easy to do.

I’d promise not to groan.

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The Dangers of Self-publishing

Posted on September 19, 2011 by

Yesterday afternoon, I passed through Hay-on-Wye.  Naturally, I could not resist the legendary bookshops.  In the last, before reluctantly turning for home, I found a book that should serve as a warning to all self-publishing authors: you may be gilt-embossing your stupidity.

No amount of faux-leather hardbacking will make it better.

And no, I didn’t buy it – I snapped and ran.

Posted in Author, Writing | 4 Comments

Natural Selection, Stupid People and words

Posted on September 16, 2011 by

Language changes; that’s the way it lives.  If we insist on entombing specific meaning within a specific word, then we risk the death of language.

Change is good.  Mostly.

But just like the evolution of organic species, I hope that ‘survival of the fittest’ applies to language too.  Put another way, I hope the general English-speaking population of the world will naturally de-select the especially stupid uses of words.

Example: rape.

Facebook users have blended the words Facebook and Rape to create ‘frape,’ which means forcibly or stealthily entering someone else’s profile and changing it, most commonly by posting suggestive and homophobic remarks in their status.  This is old news.  Yet since it has become normalised in the language (to the point of middle aged FB-users using it), I have noticed other instances of the word rape being used in stupid and stupidly-offensive ways.

A friend recently complained “Ben&Jerry raped me again…” for their over-indulgence in ice cream.  Whilst looking at British Sign Language Videos online, I noticed one commenter thought it appropriate to ask of the deaf girl: “so whats the story behind your raped ears?”

Language is a tool for shared meaning and interaction in a fascinating world.  For this especially stupid person, the way you ask someone about their deafness is to suggest their ears have been raped.

May we respect the power of language and, hopefully, allow the Darwinian influence (of an angry deaf girl beating a troll over the head with his stupidity) to make our language more beautiful and meaningful than ever.

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Non-Verbal Communication

Posted on September 12, 2011 by

I have just signed up for a course in British Sign Language (Stage One) with a local provider.  I’ve always wanted to learn BSL and be able to communicate in a way that relies wholly on observation, interaction and empathy rather than memorising table after table of obscure grammar.

Of course, BSL has its own system of grammar and spoken communication employs a range of non-verbal tools to express meaning: body language, context, tone etc. The same is true for written communication (excepting body language).

Yet in all these forms, nothing is abstractly defined; and that’s the poetry of inexact language.  There’s room for people like me to play with words and fiddle with meaning.  There is a lot here to interest a writer and communicator, especially as these forms of communication all start from different places and have different strengths.

I rely on correct form and a professional exactness in writing so a language that prizes connection and shared reference over accuracy is intriguing to say the least.  I hope that it will push me to consider the neccessity of common ground in language in a new way and that this will benefit my writing.

A new perspective on the craft of writing is never bad.

The course starts in October so I’ll blog again on this subject mid to late October to tell you how I’m getting on.  For now, enjoy:

Posted in Copywriting, Writing | 2 Comments

Moments of Clarity @Greenbelt 2011

Posted on August 31, 2011 by

Last weekend (August Bankholiday) was the weekend of the Greenbelt festival.  This year was entitled ‘Dreams of Home’ and many of the charities exhibiting at the event had taken this theme to heart and expressed it through their exhibition stands.  Some didn’t bother and just went their own way.  There were even housing-related charities that didn’t bother pursuing the idea of a home-themed display stand.  Did they suffer a lower level of interest?  Not necessarily.  A catchy theme isn’t important; if it gets in the way of your message, it is actually damaging.

My copywriting service is called clearswiftcreative because I prize three virtues in writing above all others.  The first is clarity, and this is the lesson from the summer exhibition season, Greenbelt included.

Don’t try to be too clever – just say what you’re about.  Say what you’re asking.  But here’s the trick: say it in a phrase; say it in a breath.  Stick it on an exhibition display and you’ll do much better than 90% of the competition.

My old employer and client, Habitat for Humanity, was there and they made the best use of space out of everyone exhibiting at the festival.  Look at the photo and:

  1. tell me what you see.
  2. then tell me what they do.
  3. then tell me what they want you to do in response.

You see a life-sized, house-shaped frame.  You see a scattering of bricks stuck to the frame.  You might notice the shack on the banner to one side.

It wouldn’t take a genius to guess that they’re a charity that builds houses to replace shacks, and they want you to help them by adding a brick.

Of course there is much more to who they are, how they work and what you can do to help, but but but it is undeniably clear.

It is so clear, in fact, that you can see it from the other end of the field.  It isn’t subtle; on the contrary, it is very clear indeed.

This is good messaging because you understand it in a heartbeat.

Project-managing the creation of this house was one of my last tasks for Habitat for Humanity (as an employee) before I went freelance as a copywriter.  This, more than any of the busy, over-written stands in the exhibition area at Greenbelt 2011, shows the importance of clarity in messaging.

It is the kind of clarity that means you understood it the moment you saw it.  And that means you didn’t have a chance to ignore it.

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I explode with questions

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

Briefs.

I’m not talking about boxers, bloomers or drawers.  Neither am I referring to jockeys, keks, long johns, pants or undies.  I’m talking about that special document (drafted in conversation) which sets out the terms of our professional engagement.

It is designed to prevent the objective being lost amid the back-and-forthing of opinion, preference and inference that comes from serving a client through the writing of words.  More than that, it defines the goal that you want to reach; and it allows agreement between parties where a fierce single-mindedness is the strongest path to success.

When you ask me to write your fundraising appeal, your magazine or your legacy programme, I explode with questions. 

This is for both our sakes.

I would want to know everything there is to know about your work, your supporters and your goals.  I want to know if you have a messaging suite, what level of detail you have regarding your programmes and what campaigns you are running.  I would even like to know what kind of jam filling you like in doughnuts.

Without the exhaustive conversation that nails down the job, I will quote £sd for work which you will have changed your mind about between the (weak) briefing and the time I send you my copy.  You will think I’m not responding to your needs and I’ll think you don’t know what you want.  We’ll end up resenting each other because the time will drag on and the quality of the work will inevitably suffer due to being dragged off-target, mid-job.

So please tell me everything.

It isn’t going to hurt.  I’m not going to run to your competitors with a scoop on your latest campaign.  And I’m not nosy.

I just want to do my best for you.

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The Art of Adaptation

Posted on August 14, 2011 by

Yesterday Amy & I went to the gorgeous Charlecote Park to see Heartbreak Productions’… errr… production of Pride and Prejudice in the open air.

In a word it was Inspiring.

In three words it was Astonishingly Well-Adapted.

This was because five actors supplied all the characters in a narrative which demands that, at some point, every character interacts with every other.  Darcy and Mr Bennett were played by the same actor who – in the run of the story – would have to ask himself for his daughter’s hand in marriage.  This and every possible clash of characters was cleverly dealt with; indeed, the only occasions where such impracticalities stood out was when good humour was used to smooth it over.

The BBC version of the story is so familiar – probably more so than the book – that many in the audience might have hoped for a re-enactment of the beloved TV version.  Gladly, this did not happen.  The characters (and caricatures e.g. Mr Collins & Mrs Bennett) were given new expression, thanks to the talents of the actors and, significantly, the relatively unsung brillance of Mr David Kerby Kendall, the writer.

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