Long Copy Class Assignment #6: Take It Apart, Put It Back Together

I’m teaching a long copy class this quarter. This is the sixth in a series of exercises intended for that class. I invite blog readers to share their assignments. Let me know if you found this assignment helpful or interesting.

When I was in college, I worked summers in the IT department at Cincinnati Bell, mostly updating software and killing viruses. In my spare time, I dismantled and rebuilt computers at my desk (this was back when computers were simpler and their parts bigger). I didn’t know that much about computers when I started, but that process of opening them up and seeing how all the parts fit together helped me understand how everything worked. Anyone who has ever taken apart an engine or alarm clock, or dissected a frog can probably relate.

When I write copy, I go through a similar process. I pull phrases apart. I dismantle sentences, writing one sentence five or six different ways, trying different ways of stringing thoughts together. I go off on tangents, and explore random thoughts and connections. There’s always a point where I have the equivalent of a garage floor covered with engine parts. For one paragraph of copy, I might have 3 pages of random sentences, non-sequiturs and half thoughts. Then I can start going through and fitting together the best versions, most elegant transitions and essential ideas, discarding the other junk. To me, this is the best way to learn not just how to write copy, but how copy works.

For this assignment, you will need a partner copywriter. Swap pieces of long copy (at least a paragraph). Take your partner’s copy, pull it apart, rewrite it, and then put it back together. It probably won’t look the same (maybe not at all). You may have a few leftover screws. You probably tweaked some transitions, reordered some thoughts, or maybe strengthened some of the language and cut some of the fat. Now swap back and compare. Take note of the decisions your partner made. Do you agree with any of them?

If a brave soul would like to post a piece of copy here, we can try this experiment and all rewrite it different ways.

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Long Copy Class Assignment #5: Listen To Your Copy

I’m teaching a long copy class this quarter. This is the fifth in a series of exercises intended for that class. I invite blog readers to share their assignments. Let me know if you found this assignment helpful or interesting.

You know how your copy is supposed to sound. You wrote it. But is that really how it sounds? To a certain degree, any piece of copy will be influenced by the reader. They’ll hear a particular voice, and read it a certain way. But there are also things you can do to give your copy the sense of urgency, or the right emphasis, or the right tone, no matter who reads it.

For this assignment, give your copy to someone else. Don’t tell them how it’s supposed to sound, or what their motivation is. Just have them take a look at it, then read it aloud to you. Listen to where they pause, what they emphasize and what tone they assume as they read. Do they read it like you want them to? Why or why not? Is there something you can change to get them closer to how you want them to read it?

Long Copy Class Assignment #4: The Manifesto

I’m teaching a long copy class this quarter. This is the fourth in a series of exercises intended for that class. I invite blog readers to share their assignments. Let me know if you found this assignment helpful or interesting.

Awhile back, I posted about the Manifesto. This assignment is to write one. It’s a great way to establish a voice. And it’s surprising how many ad ideas you come up with when you’re fired up about your brand. When you read your manifesto, read it out loud. And stand up while you read, preferably using a megaphone in a city square.

LONG COPY CLASS ASSIGNMENT #3: COP A STYLE

I’m teaching a long copy class this quarter. This is the third in a series of exercises intended for that class. I invite blog readers to share their assignments. Let me know if you found this assignment helpful or interesting.

If you were writing novels, you could get away with developing one strong voice—your voice. But, as it is, you’re going to be writers of advertising, meaning that you’ll have to write in many voices. You might have an assignment to write an ad for gym shoes one day, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes the next and tampons the next. The voice for those brands is probably not the same voice.

There are two parts to this first assignment. The first is to pull three pieces of writing that you love. It doesn’t matter what they are—articles from The Onion, Poe, poetry, Public Enemy lyrics, whatever makes you wish you’d written it. Three pieces that have fairly different tones and styles. Read them carefully and pay attention to what distinguishes the voice in what you’ve picked. Look how the author constructs his sentences. Pay attention to the complexity of the language. The pacing. Does he or she write with long, meandering sentences or short succinct ones? Is it a mix? If so, what is the rhythm? What sort of descriptors does the author use? Adjectives? Metaphors? Why do you like it?

What writers turn you on? Expose us to something new.

For the second part, in class I hand out a classic David Ogilvy ad. Your assignmet is to re-write the copy three times in the voices of the three writing samples you’ve pulled. If you pulled a Richard Brautigan story, rewrite the ad as if Richard Brautigan were writing it. Rather than using an old David Ogilvy ad, use something you’ve written. Write three versions of it, in your three styles.

LONG COPY CLASS ASSIGNMENT #2: TELL A STORY

I’m teaching a long copy class this quarter. This is the second in a series of exercises intended for that class. I invite blog readers to share their assignment, or let me know if you found this assignment helpful or interesting.

THE MOTH
Awhile back, Greg turned me onto a podcast called The Moth. In a nutshell, it’s folks in NYC getting up on a stage and telling stories. They have no notes. They just tell them, as if they were sitting around with friends in a bar. Some are hilarious, some poignant, some terribly sad. But the thing that strikes me whenever I listen to these podcasts, is the amazing power of story to pull you in.

THE ASSIGNMENT
Whatever brand you work on, whatever medium you’re working in, the two greatest ways to engage people’s minds are to teach them something or tell them a story. Listen to a few of these Moth podcasts. Then get up and tell your own. Record it if you can, so you can listen to it later. It can be embarrassing to hear your own voice. Even when I’m alone, I feel uncomfortable listening to my own recorded voice. But listen anyway. There will be many times in presentations when you’ll have to tell a story. Get used to it. Listen to what about your story-telling works. Do you have any quirks? Any nervous words that you throw in (“Um…” “Actually…” “Like”)? Work on it. Telling a story isn’t easy. Doing it in front of a client isn’t any easier.

LONG COPY CLASS ASSIGNMENT #1: SHORT COPY

I’m teaching a long copy class this quarter. Students will be workshopping ads for future book pieces (hopefully). In addition, I’m giving a series of exercises to help students get in the long copy mindset. I thought I’d post them here. I invite readers of the blog to participate and post whatever they come up with.

ASSIGNMENT #1: The Six-Word Memoir
Long copy does not mean that you can just write until your pen runs out of ink. Any good prose is succinct. Don’t say in eight words what can be better said in three. When writing long copy, you should focus as much on the word choice as when space is limited (like on a billboard). In that spirit, write something short. Six words, to be precise.

The Legend
Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

The Project
A few years ago, SMITH Magazine re-ignited the challenge by asking readers for their own six-word memoirs. Write one for yourself. Focus on word choice. Spend some time and revise it. And consider that telling a very focused, specific story is usually more powerful than trying to encapsulate an entire life in one broad stroke.