Copywriting UK | TENFOUR blog

This isn’t strictly a book about copywriting. But, it is a great read about telling stories, tips on what works in writing and what doesn’t.

McKee’s book is crafted around penning screenplays. Try this quote for size, though:

“When talented writers write badly, it’s generally for one of two reasons: either they are blinded by an idea that they feel compelled to prove, or they are driven by an emotion they need to express. When talented people write well, it’s generally for this reason: they’re moved by a desire to touch an audience.”

Thinking back to the first few points in our article about writing press releases - namely, (1) have you got a story?; (2) what is the real story people want to hear?; (3) who’s your audience - you’ll see there are gems to be discovered about any type of writing. Whatever you commit to paper, it should always:

• have structure
• tip its hat to the reader
• attempt to hold this reader’s attention
• sidestep cliche
• try to tell a story

And this is what the book attempts to clear up for us.

Why not pick it up and have a look next time you’re in a bookshop? You might be inspired to write a screenplay too - it’s about time someone took on Richard Curtis’ mantle, don’t you think?

Cockney rhyming slang, anyone?

Well, according to a new tongue-in-cheek guide by dictionary makers, Collins, it’s all about famous names nowadays. Perhaps most of us would recognise ‘Pete Tong’ (wrong), and a few of us would recognise Britney Spears (beers)… but there’s a new crop of celebrity names. Here are a few:

• Clare Rayner (trainers)
• Fatboy Slim (gym)
• Paul Weller (Stella)
• Winona Ryder (cider)
• Basil Fawlty (balti)
• Andy McNab (cab)
• Ayrton Senna (tenner)
• Ronan Keating (central heating)
• Melvyn Bragg (shag)
• Wallace and Gromitt (vomit)

Well, maybe it’s something you can use on your next night out?

The quality of words you use on your website is hugely important in terms of search engine marketing… so says Jason Duke, an SEO expert in this month’s .net magazine.

Writing good copy for you site - basing your pages and what you say around strong keywords - is the second most important part of getting your site seen by the search engines. Here’s a snippet from the magazine:

Content is queen

Search engines look for words to incorporate in their index. Words are important, I can’t emphasise this enough - if you don’t have them in a format that’s visible to the search engine, then you’re drastically reducing your chances of success. You may have noticed that I said content is queen, rather than the often touted phrase that content is king. This is because something else occupies the throne.

Links are king

Links, links, links and more links. Links are what make search engines find your page, and then they combine to rank it higher in the search engine results page than any other single criteria. The little blue text that you click on a page (taking you to a new destination) is the single most important aspect in helping your web page rise above the competition. This is the kind of thing you need to focus on getting absolutely right in order to reap the benefits of a high ranking.