If there is one ubiquitous phrase popping up in commercials that makes me batty, this would be the one. I’ve never understood it. And that includes the variations: We’ll treat your pet, or your car, or your home with the respect it or they deserve. Really? Well, of course you will, or I won’t pay [...]
Every now and then I make one of those ‘aha’ discoveries that are so obvious, that the only reason I didn’t make it sooner is that I must have been purposely avoiding it. In other words, I must not have wanted to discover it because it would probably mean a shift in the way I [...]
My wife and I like to play a game with TV commercials. We call it ‘Look Who’s Talking’, or ‘Name That Goon’ (They aren’t really goons, it’s just the best rhyme for ‘tune’ I could come up with). The object of the game is simple really. When a commercial airs, we try to see who [...]
In part one of this article, we explored the three basic rules to apply if you were interested in writing a cliche TV commercial. Judging by the number of these I see on TV in any given day, I think it is fair to assume that quite of few advertisements are put together this way. [...]
Sitting through a recent Twilight Zone marathon, I learned a few things. First, it’s still one of the best shows that ever hit the airwaves. Second, after absorbing hundreds of commercials, I discovered that a great majority of them could be written by almost anyone who could follow a few basic tenets. I would say [...]
Free writing is a great exercise to unlock your creative side, and like any exercise you will get better at it over time. However, just like in physical fitness, your technique can always be tweaked here and there to help you get the most out of the exercise. So here are a few of my [...]
Here’s why free writing helps you tap into the creative side of your brain. When we write, we must resist the temptation to edit and proofread as we go along. If we edit and proofread as we create, we limit the amount of original content we can create. The editor and proofreader are the [...]
In the information age, the winners are the ones who create the most…which means you have to write. Most people know the brain is divided into two hemispheres (three, if you’re Charlie Sheen): the left brain and the right brain. While the left controls all those logical functions we need to navigate the day and [...]