Organizing Your Data to Write Better Copy

Last quarter I talked about interviewing / gathering data. So now you've got several thousand words of notes, hopefully digitally recorded. What comes next?

GETTING ORGANIZED

I suggested organizing your interview questions into 4 groups. I'm going to label them for you A, B, C, D.

• what is the business problem? = A

• what is the high level solution? = B

• can you tell me more about the solution? = C

• why should I trust you (as my vendor?) = D

Any decent piece of writing has a beginning, a middle and an end. So before you start editing / writing you want a map, to show you where you are going. Take a blank sheet of paper, write four major headings and label them A, B, C, D, as above.

Now read your notes. When you find data relevant to "A" (the business problem), underline that copy and mark a big "A" in the margin (in red?) . Keep working through until you have marked up relevant copy for all four sections of your piece.

You will be leaving out anything that does not seem suitable as you go.

THE CUT AND PASTE JOB

Next comes a cut and paste job. Group together all the "A"s, then the "B"s, "C"s and "D"s.

Next, take a look at all the ideas you have in the A group. It helps if you take a new sheet of paper and write a list of the ideas or facts in the A group. Now prioritize. Be ruthless. And trust your first instinct. If an idea seems to leap out and have life, put it first. The less important ones come later. Weed out any repetition or weak data. Now you work on flow. Do you have a logical flow of ideas that your reader can follow? Are you telling him/ her a story that you yourself could believe in?

You will go through the same exercise with the remaining blocks of notes, ie "B","C" and "D".

EDITING IS PRIORITIZING

Editing is prioritizing. Often you will want to limit a list of ideas to 3. Three has a flow to it. And is about as much as any reader or listener can grasp at one sitting.

Finally you polish. Now you are reading for flow or musicality.You are cutting out superfluous ideas and words.

This is the long way to write.

THE SHORT WAY TO WRITE

The short way is to sift and prioritize all your notes in your mind ie you turn on your thinking tool. The key idea will pop into view, and hey presto, you begin writing about that one. You have a feeling for what comes next and what after that. You understand how to prioritize your ideas. Soon with a bit of jiggling ideas around the page, your story has a beginning, a middle and an end.

You can teach yourself the short way by writing the long way, again and again. Or by turning copy round in the middle of the night for an 07.00am deadline as I often had to do as a newspaper feature writer.

"When we encounter a natural style, we are astonished and delighted: for we expected to see an author, and we find a man." Blaise Pascal. Quoted with thanks to John R. Trimble, Writing with Style published by Prentice Hall.

Do you have a robust marketing plan to execute against? How clear and persuasive is your website, brochure copy or direct mail? Call Neroli Lacey NOW to win more business TODAY.

About The Author

I'm Neroli Lacey of Beyond Communications Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. I've been helping executives transform their businesses and their lives with outstanding marketing materials since 1995. VISA, 3M and Perot Systems are some of my bigger clients. I have worked with clients in Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Austin, Minneapolis, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and Delhi. I used to be one of the top journalists in Britain writing for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, The Evening Standard, New Statesman, Vogue and Tatler.

Before newspapers I was an investment banker. I grew up in London, England, studying Latin with Greek at Bristol University.

Contact me at: neroli@beyondcommunications.com

612-215-3826

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Copywriting Information:

Related Articles

Business Writing: When Not To Be Professional
It's time to write your next ad or brochure. Maybe some web content.
Copywriting Businesses - How You Can Get Started
Do you have the training and skills needed for copywriting?Are you looking for a way to get your foot in the door?Will you have what it takes to succeed with your copywriting businesses?For many, these three questions drive them day in and day out to become the person that people demand time with. Still for others, the business aspects of copywriting have just been easy to get.
11 Reasons Not to Hire a Freelance Copywriter (and Why Theyre All Poor Excuses)
Think you can take the Copywriting Challenge on your own? Allow me to convince you otherwise! Here are eleven reasons why business owners typically choose not to hire a writer, and my argument for each.Excuse 1.
A Quick Free n Easy Content Writing Course
I do not pretend that a one-stop shop solution to content writing exists, but my experience has taught me, that working toward a 100% effective writing formula isn't a complete waste of time.At my firm (a content writing business), we find it particularly useful to go through a number of steps before we put pen to paper.
3 Tips For Writing Better Headlines
The single most important element of your website's copyis the headline. Take away practically everything elseand you can still manage a sale (if the headline's good enough and you have a strong enough call to action).
5 Ways to Instantly Improve Your Copy
1. Isolation techniqueIt doesn't matter how good your copy is if they don't read it.
How To Be Creative
Network marketing is an art as much as it is an applied science. To take a blank sheet of paper or canvas and draw or paint an interesting picture, you've got to have an imagination and creativity.
Web Writing - Dont Lose Your Visitors Attention!
Did you know that your writing can have a huge impact on how successful your site will be?  If you're trying to sell a product or a service, what you say and how you say it is extremely important because you don't want to lose your visitor's interest before they get to your order form.Here are some tips to help you improve your writing skills in order to keep your visitor's attention.
Ten Eye Popping, Jaw Dropping Ad Copy Secrets
In order to make more sales and get more profits for your business, fist of all, you should have a good ad copy. Once you master the knowlege for how to get traffic, you will get a lot of visitors to your site.
Common Mistakes That Can Kill Your Web Copy
Sometimes learning what not to do is as important as learning what to do. Copywriting is no exception.
Top 8 Techniques - Secrets - Create Ad Copy For Your Business To Sky Rocket
Perhaps the most important benefit in the material that follows is its ability to provide you with the necessary concepts and constructs which are critical for becomingsuccessful by utilizing many of the high-tech, high-touch capabilities offered by the use of online marketing. Building your home business "Internet-Style" is not only exciting and challenging, it can also be very beneficial in more ways than can be imagined.
The Write Way To Grow Your Business
Hone your writing skills to project a more professional business image.The sales letter you can't put down?the advertising copy that makes you want the product?the resume that prompts you to call the job candidate this second?All these are examples of exceptional business writing.
Headlines That Pull, Persuade and Propel!
When writing direct response copy, there are a few things that can maximize the responsiveness of your message. The first and most important element that can turn any website, salesletter or ad into an action-generating mechanism is the headline.
Copywriting Makeover: Search Engine-Friendly Can Also Mean Visitor-Friendly
When it comes to search engine optimization, copywriting plays a big role. You want to have excellent copy that appeals to both your visitors and the engines in order to create pages that will rank highly.
Stop Chasing Away Customers! Bad Copy is Your Worst Enemy
Every day, more and more of us begin new online businessventures, hoping to make a better living or just a little extraon the side. And every day, more and more of us fail.
Bullshit Avoid the use of the word Bullshit
It is important in this new paradigm of political correctness to tone down the language a bit. In this present period if you use such words like Bullshit, even when you are describing something that definitely is complete and total BS; it makes you look just as bad as what ever you are describing.
Copywriter Trick Unveiled: How to Write Better Copy Faster
"Talent alone cannot make a writer. There must be a man behind the book.
"Super Adjectives" Boost the Power of Your Copy
Pretty or elegant? Good or scrumptious? Nice or delightful? There is power in the adjectives you choose. Just like Clark Kent and Superman or Bruce Wayne and Batman, some adjectives are plain, ordinary, everyday words.
How To Test The Body Of Your Sales Copy For Weaknesses
Your sales copy is the life source of your business. If your sales copy isn't pulling in a decent conservation rate, then your business is suffering.
How To Write An Effective Ad
A letter or postcard allows you to "talk" one-on-one to your prospect. That means you should use "I" and "me" and "you" in your sales letter.