How’s it going? Something interesting happened to me yesterday, and I never expected a grocery store to inspire me to write about unfamiliar things.
Let’s get to it.
Every Friday, a grocery store in my area (they’re national, but they have something like 5 different names, depending on where you live) has a promo for a free coupon for something, usually a food item.
Well, last week’s was a protein bar. Usually the store puts the thing that’s free in the front of the store in a two-tier metal bin that looks like a double wire rack or thereabouts.
On Sunday, I went hunting for the bar, but no go–in either store (the town I go to actually has two of the same store).
So yesterday, to save myself some frustration, I decided to ask around at the store to see if they had any of this bar thing, after I’d looked again in the health food section and didn’t find it.
So the checkout lady referred me to the service desk lady, who made some calls. Then a third lady came by with two of these bars.
I expected chocolate with some nuts maybe. Instead I got…
My pick of two small slabs of meat.
They got the protein part right. I asked if it was food for humans, and they said yes. A fourth woman said she tried one of them, and it was pretty good. So I picked that one, paid for it, and left (yes, you have to pay, even though it’s free–probably so the code that run through to take the electronic coupon off everyone’s store card when they buy it).
And when I was shown the packages, I realized they were the same as the one on the website–showing an animal. Yeah, even a chicken on the package didn’t clue me in.
If you’re a writer, having clueless readers is something to avoid. If fiction is unfamiliar to people, as long as enough rules are followed (depending on your genre), readers will get it eventually. And they’ll have the familiar thing of characters going places and doing things to keep them company while they discover your story.
If you’re doing copywriting (emails, sales pages, or what-have-ya) and your solution is unfamiliar, you’ll have to work a little harder–here, though, the problem your prospects have will be the familiar thing for them.
A little like trying to find food in a grocery store–you know it has to be there somewhere.
Today is the first day of February, and tomorrow is Triple F. Make it a great month, and be sure to stop by for Fab Fiction Friday.
Until next time,
Ty
Fiction and Copy Decoded 