Here’s an old-school copywriting tip that can increase the effectiveness of your writing.
I recently ran across a study done by a couple of marketers who employed neurosurgeons to look at the difference in brain response between online copy and paper and ink copy. MRIs of people reading both versions of the text found that paper and ink activate more parts of the brain than reading on a screen.
They found that the parts of our brains that work out three-dimensional space are triggered by the paper in front of us in a way that they aren’t on screens.
What they learned was that paper in hand is more captivating to our brains than marketing viewed on a screen. Maybe that also explains why my “Red Pen Day” process is so effective.
Red Pen Day is a regular part of my writing process. It can only happen after what I’ve written has “marinated” for 24 hours to 48 hours. It is the final part of the writing process and elevates the copy, making it even more effective.
Red Pen Day became a thing for me when one of the first writing tips I got as I started my business was the idea of letting your copy sit a couple of days after you’ve finished the final draft. It sounded weird to me – after all that research, the labor of love that converting the research and knowledge into a coherent article was, knowing it was the absolute best that it could be, transformed into this perfect final draft.
Let it sit?
But like sourdough bread, when I do let the copy sit and come back to it after those two days of ‘fermenting’, a magical thing happens.
So now, when I finish that final draft, I print it out. And then I leave it sit on my desk for two or more days. I work on other things and do not think about it over those two days.
Then, on Red Pen Day, I gather the printout and a red pen and I leave the office. Over a cup of coffee, I sit in a space different from where I worked on the copy. Usually, this is my ‘coffee shop’ – the breakfast bar in my kitchen. Although sometimes I actually go to the coffee shop down the road.
Then I read my final draft and edit with my red pen.
What I find is that I ALWAYS find ways to make it better after I’ve been away from it for two days. And that means the copy I deliver to my client is going to be that much more effective.
When you are writing – whether it’s going to be consumed via screen or print, plan your project timeline to allow at least two days of ‘fermentation’. Give your brain a new way to view what you’ve written by printing it out. Wait a couple of days. Then take that red pen to the printed word and make your copy even better.
