"You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil."
In the book A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway has all sorts of gems like that... It's an incredible piece of work, chalked full of the author's first-hand stories about an ex-patriot group of American artists who lived in Paris during the 1920s that included Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce. The book was published posthumously in 1964.
In the book Hemingway also discusses his writing process. And, while all of it is interesting, what I found wonderfully-fascinating is what he did when he had trouble getting a new story off the ground... Apparently, he would say to himself:
"Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know."
He goes on to add: 'I was trying to do this all the time I was writing, and it was good and severe discipline.'
That's just fantastic. And insightful. Actually, I think it's the reason his writing is so unique. It's also something I wish marketing, advertising, and all public communication, would try to embrace more.
Our industry uses bankrupt words all the time. I mean, how often do we come across words and phrases in copy like: luxurious, great-tasting, friendly sales staff, new, hand crafted, most powerful and longest-lasting? How many times in creative briefs do we see words like: friendly, approachable and unique? How many brand strategies are out there that say something like "brand X makes life better for parents" or "brand X gives you back time to enjoy the things that really matter." ?? (Insert either an online financial service or pizza chain into either of the above.)
When crafting strategies, take the time to write the truest strategy you can about the product. It doesn't matter if it may seem flat... After all, the 1993 iconic Chevy's Fresh Mex campaign (Clio Hall of Fame) came from the strategy: "Our food is fresher than their's."
When writing copy, choose the truest words possible, such as Ogilvy's legendary: "At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this new Rolls Royce comes from the electric clock."
Today the industry apparently accepts headlines such as "Reward Yourself" (as seen in a 2006 Rolls Royce ad). After all, headlines like "Reward Yourself" are quicker to write and safer to approve.
Overall, marketing has become vapid. And maybe that's why consumers are so skeptical of it; they don't receive much value when they actually do pay attention to it. Like Hemingway's novels, it seems to me that the greatest marketing and advertising results when someone takes the time to write "the truest sentences they can."
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