Mark Twain once said, “When you catch an adjective, kill it.”
Copy-writing legends throughout history have taken the limited adjective approach.
To see the power of this in action read the 23rd Psalm, the Lord’s Prayer or, Lincoln’s Gettysburg address or Ogilvy’s Rolls Royce ad. All powerful. All light on adjectives.
On the other hand, copy-cubs often use adjectives in place of selling ideas in headlines. You end up with a mouth-full of New, Now, Announcing, Greatest ever of all time, etc. But, New, Now and Amazing are not ideas.
All spice and no meat does not a good meal make.
Striping the adjectives out of your copy forces you to focus on the nouns and verbs that are the power behind great copy. Often, once the adjectives are pulled back, you find a skinny noun standing there naked.
Once you have a great idea - then an adjective can give it spice.
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2 Responses to “Mark Twain on Copywriting…”
November 8th, 2006 at 10:56 am
“A skinny noun standing there naked.”
LOL! And…..how true.
November 8th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Pam,
Thank you for your recent comments!
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