I figured I’d continue the thread of hilarious family sayings from my last post with this one.
When we buy bottled water, we drink it, wash out the bottle, and fill them with filtered well water (and I don’t mean that I should have said “good water” instead).
Anyway, one time my brother drank some from a bottle that I filled up, and evidently hadn’t rinsed well. “It takes like Palmolive,” he told me.
Fast-forward a couple months, and I’m using the blue Dawn stuff to wash the bottles.
My brother drinks the water, and says it tastes like soap. When I apologized, he said, “Relax, man. It’s better than drinking Palmolive.”
My point here?
Thinking of things in more than one way (or asking for advice) is a huge part of the writing process.
And the life process (my brother says Seventh Generation, which smells like mint and lemon, is better than Dawn, which is better than Palmolive, as far as soap residue goes).
So if you think you might need another perspective on a subject line, character sketch, or what-have-ya, get the opinion of someone who writes what you write (short stories, email copy, novels…)
Or get someone whose opinion you trust to look it over, and ask them specific questions about what you think may be the problem, or the thing you’re stuck on (“Did you get lost?” “Did you want to read more?” “Did the subject line pull you in?” “Was it clear why character X stormed out of the room on page 10?”)
You’re looking for answers as best you can that are more specific than “Maybe,” or “I guess.” (Which is also why it helps to have more than one person, or group, to turn to. Remember to take what will make the copy or story stronger and more clear, and ditch the rest).
Until next time,
Ty
Fiction and Copy Decoded 