Comments on: How to Write Copy That Keeps Readers Attention

By: Bamboo Forest - PunIntended

Bamboo Forest - PunIntended — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:47:28 +0000

@ Melinda: List posts can be done well, you’re right.

@ Marc: Good point… they do work. They have proven themselves time and again.

Bamboo Forest – PunIntended’s last blog post..Why You Should Accept Everything in Life Just the Way it is

By: Marc - WelshScribe

Marc - WelshScribe — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:02:48 +0000

@Bamboo I totally get what you’re saying and I have to agree that writing for the web can at times suffocate creativity.

The important thing to take away is that these formulas work. If you can take that and weave it into your own style of writing then perhaps you’re on to a winner

By: Melinda

Melinda — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:34:12 +0000

@ Bamboo there needs to be a balance in your style of posting. Readers need to be kept interested and just list posts won’t do it, as you have pointed out.

I think list posts can be interesting too, as long as the writer doesn’t just write a list but expands on each point and brings their style of writing, humour etc into each point.

By: Bamboo Forest - PunIntended

Bamboo Forest - PunIntended — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:10:59 +0000

Good stuff Marc.

I’d say this, though… Indeed headlines and subheadings can be very effective and beneficial for the reader, but with my style of writing, I only include these measures when the subject matter calls for it. In other words, I don’t make including these a matter of practice, certainly not.

Furthermore, list posts can get real old real fast. To me… sometimes… list posts take the art out of what is being written. Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I don’t just want useful information; I want more than that. I want writing that captivates me. Writing that I admire. Lists are so formulaic that they just seem to kill the art of writing, sometimes.

Bamboo Forest – PunIntended’s last blog post..Why You Should Accept Everything in Life Just the Way it is

By: Melinda

Melinda — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:50:11 +0000

Thanks guys. I’ve been away for six days, hence the guest posting. Back home now and ready to go next week. One last post from Marc coming up tomorrow.

@ Marc, I think he means a hammer and nail. As in the head of the nail.

By: Marc - WelshScribe

Marc - WelshScribe — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:20:51 +0000

@Janice – Thanks Janice. I was a bit worried when I wrote it that I wasn’t practicing what I was preaching

@Sean – I’ve been kind of lucky. I find identifying and fitting into patterns/formulas quite natural – well informative type writing, still need to work on fiction writing.

My English teacher always said I’d make a great journalist but I never took her seriously.

I can’t say I’ve heard of that saying about a hammer and my head, sounds too much like a headache

By: Writer Dad

Writer Dad — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:46:57 +0000

Another super job, Marc! I’ve tried to stay away from formulas for the last eight months, but alas, whenever I stick to them I do see the results. It appears my friend that your hammer and head are very well met.

By: janice

janice — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:34:26 +0000

This post was an easy read and a good length, Marc, so the suggestions work! I’ve been experimenting with doing all of those things in my guest posts, and more have been accepted, but the tone of my more flowing, personal posts changes completely if I use any of them; this technique works its magic best with information-based posts. That’s why I find non-informative posts so refreshing at the moment – anything from one quote wisdom to serialised fiction, just as a break from this tried and tested formula. It does work though, no doubt about it. (And hi, Mel – I miss you as much as WS!)

janice’s last blog post..Poetry, Wedding Vows and Gift Ideas for Loved Ones