The chemistry of copywriting 21 July 2009
Many moons ago, when I were a lass, we had to write short reports on the experiments we attempted in school chemistry classes. We were told that these reports should be written only in the passive tense. And there should be absolutely no personal references. Or else.
I remember this rigid approach to writing bothering me even then. The old frustrations came back to me yesterday as I looked over an article a client had asked me to rewrite. I was suddenly back in the chemistry lab, looking in perplexity at the blackboard and wondering how long it was till breaktime.
It was all so familiar. There was the passive grammar – telling, but not engaging. There were the long, fact-laden sentences which lost you somewhere between first letter and full stop. And there, alas, was that feeling of being addressed by a robot. Which made the article all the more satisfying to rewrite. My client was pleased too. After all, who wants their copy sounding like it belongs in a laboratory?
Written by Camilla Zajac
Camilla Zajac is an award-winning copywriter dedicated to uncovering what’s exciting and unique about organisations and empowering them to communicate that with impact. Learn more about copywriting services from Green Light Copywriting.
