The article "Cleaning Up Your Copy" is about copywriting, it has been released by Neroli Lacey.
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 dobut. You don’t cross anything
out.
You bheave 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.
Betetr still, read the copy out loud s l o w l y. If reading
out loud is ipmractical 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 cause it
is not central to your main argument.
You should be reomving 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 sentneces are fast 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 laeve a sentence, cut and
paste it into overmatter.
Later delete all the overmatter. Sometimes doing it in two
steps is easeir than one fell swoop.
As novices we love a certain word, phrsae or musicality. Don’t
be distracted by that.
Think only of your raeder and the
shortest route to communicating your idea.
My mentor, Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones,
says,“when you go over your work, beocme 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, borchure copy or direct mail?
To win more business,call Neroli Lacey NOW.
++ 612.
215. 3826 or
email: neroli@beyondcommunications.Com
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