Writing Tips at GarySpeer.com

In the “real” world, there would be absolutely no market for diet pills. In the “real” world, losing weight simply means eating less food and getting more exercise. Of course, in the world we live in, diet pills, diet plans, special foods, and various weight-loss groups still can’t accomplish lasting weight loss for most people.

In fact, if you write ad copy, you create the world we live in. No weight loss system hires copywriters to explain in plain, clear fashion that their products are unnecessary. None of the companies manufacturing special 30-day diets will hire copywriters to say, “Don’t spend all that extra money to buy our pre-measured, pre-packaged foods. Just buy good, fresh food, prepare it with a minimum of cooking, eat small amounts, and exercise regularly.”

Never underestimate the power of good ad copy writing. If you write content for a website, think about who you’re writing to, think about what your visitors are looking for, and you’ll “get it right.” Always emphasize benefits, not features. Now get out there and create the “real” world you wish to work in.

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Here’s an important lesson for beginning writers: Keep your eyes open, do your research, and you never know when something useful will pop up for your writing.

A few months ago I worked for awhile with a guy who used to do telemarketing for an online hotel reservation chain. You know the sort of business I mean, right? They arrange great hotel deals for people who use their online reservation service.

This particular company, as I discovered from talking with my coworker, was contractually obligated by the hotels they worked with to take care of all the guest’s requests if those guests had made their reservation through the company. (Awkwardly written wasn’t it?)

My coworker explained it this way: “If a guest needed extra towels, he would call the hotel desk. The desk would say, ‘Sorry, sir, you made the reservation through XXXXX.com. You’ll have to call them. Here’s their toll-free number.’ The guest would call us at the toll-free number, we would call the hotel desk, and tell someone at the desk that the guest in room such-and-such needs two extra towels.’ ”

How bizarre. But what a great idea to work into a plot. Next time you write something regarding a hotel stay, why not put in some bit about a guest getting frustrated about making toll-free calls just to relay the message and get extra towels?

Do your research well and you’ll uncover little oddities that make nice additions to your stories. Keep your eyes and ears wide open at work or around friends, and you never know when such a gem will drop into your writer’s bag of tricks.

Technorati Tags: advice for new writers, plot devices, story details, writing tips at garyspeer.com

I am sorry to say that, after doing this for several years, I’m sort of putting the blog into a state of “semi-retirement.”

Due to the 1) increased hours I must spend at my “day job,” 2) the lack of comments and/or participation by most of the people who visit here and read my ramblings, and, 3) increased time I must spend on my online marketing efforts, I will not be able to spend as much time as you and I might like on this blog.

I hope you’ve found some useful writing tips and writing information here in the years since I started this blog. I trust you’ll come back and check for new information, as well as use the “Search” function to find “old” info I’ve written about in the past. Those of you who’ve been around here awhile know that I went through most of a year when I did lot’s of “Useful Website” paid posts for everything from phone cards to weight loss pills. I trust you who are interested in writing ad copy might find that entire category useful — to learn how and how NOT to write ad copy, I guess.

And I really have appreciated the various comments and questions many of you have shared with us all over the years.

This isn’t “goodbye.” It’s not “farewell.” Think of it as sort of “see you again soon — but not as frequently as in the past.” I guess.

Let me append a big “however” to all this: Should some generous patron of the arts (!) or literature wish to offer me a “blog for money” arrangement with sufficient income to do this full time, hey, you’ve got me! LOL! (And that’s probably more exclamation marks than you’ll ever again see me use in a single post.)