Mermaid sells Cleaner

Clorox Mermaid Commercial





This is one of the best commercials I have seen in a long time.

3 Act Structure

Just put 'em through hell.

With the 3 act structure that is just what you will do to your protagonist. They start out happily living their sweet little life, when all of a sudden... BOOM! BANG! BASH! You hit them with three major blows. Those three trials are the 3 acts. Each act becomes more dark than the last and just before the end of the story you rescue your character from complete annihilation.

Maslow's Hierarchy

When a writer, of any kind, sits down in front of the computer to type up some copy they should keep Maslow's Hierarchy in the back of their mind. Not only does a writer need to address her audience carefully, she also needs to remember the basic needs and desire of every human, no matter what the demographics may be.

Points vs. The Mighty Dollar

So your joyful day arrives - you have signed a deal that will finance a film you are working on. You now have the power of the mighty dollar behind your creativity.

But! There may be one small problem that could bring all your dreams crashing down around you. If you did not pay careful attention to how the funds will be allocated after the project ends you may end up getting screwed.

You see, profit can be distributed by a set dollar amount or by a set percentage of the total. But, it can also be divied out by points. Points are different in that they are a percentage of a dollar. For example, 1point could = 25% of a dollar, 0.25$. But it 1point could also be worth .o1% of a dollar, 0.01$.

So, remember, a point is NOT a set amount. It holds whatever amount they assign to it.

Remember your Audience

When creating a commercial of any kind, it is crucial to know who you are addressing. Demographics become your best friend - Age, Race, Income, Sex, Economic Level. Depending on who are talking to you will need to change the way you seduce your audience. What may grab the attention of a 67 year old retired gentleman will obviously not interest a teenage girl.

They will sign for the MONEY

When asking a company or individual

to finance a project of yours it is important

to emphasize what kind of return they

will receive from the deal. The profit

they can look forward to is the only real

reason they will sign with you.

CALL OUTS!

There are many tools available to a writer when he is trying to keep his reader's attention. One such tool is a call-out. They are most popular in magazines but newspapers use them as well.

Matti Mattila wrote a blog post titled Simple call-out box.
Here is his explanation for what a call-out box does and why it is important:

"When writing a very long article with lots of text and only few or no pictures to enlighten the story, the reader’s interest must be captured somehow to read the whole text. Sometimes the caption itself does not lure enough, so there must be something else to draw the reader’s attention. Placing a call-out box in the middle of the text, like the one below, usually captures the reader to find out the rest of the story. Creating such a call-out box with markup language is relatively easy and there are many techniques to get the desired effect. Some people use tables and others use background images."

Abstract

So if something is not concrete, what does that make it? And should we throw out all non-concrete language?

This web site

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/abstract.htm

offers a good explanation for the difference and value of abstract language.

"We must understand how imprecise their meanings are, how easily they can be differently understood, and how tiring and boring long chains of abstract terms can be. Abstract terms are useful and necessary when we want to name ideas (as we do in thesis statements and some paragraph topic sentences), but they're not likely to make points clear or interesting by themselves."

Concrete

It is important to pour a solid foundation for every story you write. Using concrete language is one way to guarantee clear communication.

Here is a good definition found at: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/abstract.htm

Concrete terms refer to objects or events that are available to the senses. [This is directly opposite to abstract terms, which name things that are not available to the senses.] Examples of concrete terms include spoon, table, velvet eye patch, nose ring, sinus mask, green, hot, walking. Because these terms refer to objects or events we can see or hear or feel or taste or smell, their meanings are pretty stable. If you ask me what I mean by the word spoon, I can pick up a spoon and show it to you. [I can't pick up a freedom and show it to you, or point to a small democracy crawling along a window sill. I can measure sand and oxygen by weight and volume, but I can't collect a pound of responsibility or a liter of moral outrage.]

Cliche

Often times we write the way we speak with friends, and the normal American uses many different cliches. Using cliches is a great way to ruin a story. After writing your rough draft go back through your story with a fine tooth comb and see how many you have used.

It's a zoo out there!

Rising tide

The calm before the storm

A cheshire-cat smile

A good Lead

In news journalism or in a press release the Who What When Where Why and How should all be in the lead. The first line of the lead should be a catcher; it should grab the reader's attention and make them want to continue reading the article or story.

Deck

Well, that's not exactly what I had in mind.
What I'm talking about is the part of a features story that goes below the headline. It provides more indepth information. The headline will grab the reader. The deck will explain the headline.

What does a good Headline do?

A headline is the attention grabber. The headline should express the most unique element of the story.

Andy Rooney said, "Newspaper men and women who write headlines have a hard job. They have to make sense of a long, complicated story in just eight or ten words."

For his complete commentary go to: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/21/60minutes/rooney/main3857661.shtml


Just for fun.
An example of a headline gone bad:

Deaf mute gets new hearing in killing

Metaphor

Explain a situation. Explain a feeling. Explain a sent.

Use a metaphor.

ironic by
ALANIS MORISSETTE
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Business Letter refresher

Don't forget the all important WIIFM! This should be the unifying thread that runs through the whole letter. When reading your letter they should be continually be reminded about what they would benefit from working with you. If you don't entice them and flirt with their pride and desire for money, you will lose their attention.

Metaphor

Metaphor



My friend describes a part of the world by comparing it to another part of the world.



"I have to pee like a racehorse!"


She has always made me look at the world in a unique way.

Paint a Picture with Words

One of the best ways to spice up a feature story is to add description based on the senses. This transports the reader into the story and allows them to connect with what the characters are feeling.

A sent floating on a breeze. A crisp wind nipping the cheek. The creamy sweet taste of an ice cream cone. The dripping of water on a metal pan.

No, you can't die.

So, why can't you just knock off the lead character and end the story with a grand finally and tragic ending?

Because there has to be purpose. There has to be a redemption that results from the death. The sacrifice must not be in vain and the benefit must be for a worthy and justifiable reason.

Romeo and Juliet ended their story based on the sappy reason that life was not life without the other. The ultimate ending of a tragedy. But, Shakespeare wasn't exactly going for the Classic Hollywood Style.

The whole goal of the protagonist is to overcome the intense struggle against the antagonist. Using death as a last minute escape only relinquishes the power of the struggle over to the antagonist, and gives him the final upper hand.

What's In It For Me?

By nature humans are selfish beings. We are short on time, short on money and in search of comfort and pleasures.

So, as an advertising executive it is crucial to consistently deliver messages that quickly and concisely tell viewers/readers that you have something for them that they need/want.

AIDA

With the fast paced high tech business world pressing in all around us we have very short attention spans. This generation more than any other is learning how to process large amounts of information while continuing to be productive and make consumer choices.

When creating any form of communication it is important to keep this in mind. The copy must be concise and grabbing.

Using A.I.D.A., Attention, Interest, Desire, Action, keeps advertising focused and on target.

Within the first line the consumer's attention should be grabbed. They shouldn't want to change the channel or turn the page. Then, a personal interest should be created. If the target audience has been correctly evaluated this shouldn't be hard to miss. Once interested has be created, desire should be aroused. The consumer should feel as though they can't live without the product or service. Last, and most crucial, the individual should be driven to act. The ad or copy should explain how they should act based on the desire resulting ultimately in a sale and an increased bottom line.

The Fear Factor

With fear holding parts of our hearts in some unique way we are controlled by what we fears.
The root is a serious desire that each human can identify with. It is explained well by this quote from Dr. Erich Fromm:

"This is very apparent in all the deodorant ads; fear of body odor and all that.
But in a more subtle way, the general fear of not being loved
and then to be able, by some product, to be loved.
That's a subtle fear pervading most people, and the ads speculate on
that and show, in more or less drastic ways, here are the things which
will make you loved.
All that is sought to [play on] these unconscious fears."

Friday, April 4, 2008

The September 2007 issue of Vanity Fair displayed a joke of a headline, TERROR ALERT: JUDY GIULIANI.

The article explains his relationship with women and his current "princess"
bride of a wife. The way the title flipantly uses the word "terror" to describe an over-agressive and controlling wife is disrespectful to numerous families who have lost loved ones to acts of terror.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

There are few things as important to a writer as a peer critique. Having another set of eyes read over your work allows another world view to sift your thoughts.
No matter how open-mined a writer may think he is, he can never think with another person's mind. Each person approaches a story differently by filtering the characters and settings through their personal life experiences. Having more than one thoughtful critique is even better. The more individuals your storyline can be communicated to clearly the stronger its storyline is.