Rewriting the cornerstone of quality copywriting

You may be copywriting for the first time, or you may be an experienced professional, but very often, when you write your first draft, the words just tumble out.

There may not be a great deal of structure. And that's fine for the first draft.

But then you move into the rewriting or editing phase. This is where you check that there is a logical flow to your work. Plus, you delete unnecessary words to make the writing sparkle with vigour and clarity.

Cutting words you don't need adds strength to your copywriting. So there is no need for ‘a general principle' where ‘a principle' will do. Not too many people look for a ‘feminine hair product for women'. ‘Feminine hair product' is just fine. And we don't need to ‘reverse backward' when we can simply ‘reverse'.

Quality copywriting always involves rewriting or editing. Some of the specifics to look out for include:

• Unnecessary words: cut where possible.

• Appropriate words: use strong verbs as much as possible and nouns, but avoid modifiers (‘the conference was very engaging and rather inspiring' - well that's lovely for you, but ‘very' and ‘rather' are not convincing me).

• Do a witch hunt on jargon and clichés (the latter can be ‘the kiss of death').

• Voice: brochure copy for a ‘big four' chartered accounting firm is going to have a different tone from an ad for a local radio station. Make sure you have it right.

For any worthwhile copywriting task, rewriting is not an extra that's nice if you have time. It is an essential ingredient. All professional copywriters embrace rewriting. In fact, it's the part of the job they love.

During the rewriting and editing stage, there is one very simple way to improve your copywriting. Dramatically. It is so simple that most beginners have difficulty believing in its power. And what are we referring to here? Cutting the length of sentences!
It's a technique that really works. And you can start using it from today.
Long sentences should be seen as the enemy. They create confusion for readers and they block clarity. And we all know how important clarity is. If you have a long sentence in your first draft, take the knife to it. Enjoy cutting. And don't be surprised if you end up with three or four sentences. Your readers will thank you for it.

In most writing workshops, the leader will talk about the power of shorter sentences. In most cases, attendees are inclined to be disbelievers. But when they try short sentences, their attitudes change. Most people can see for themselves that reducing sentence length leads to better communication.

Of course, like with so many guidelines or tips, common sense is needed. Copywriting that consists of all very short sentences will almost certainly be distorted and uncomfortable for readers. Using plenty of short sentences is important, but for effective copywriting a great variety of sentence length is essential.
One of the most important parts of the rewriting phase is to check that the length of your sentences is right.

Action Words is premium copy writing company in Melbourne. Action words not only offers business writing and letter writing, but also business writing courses and SEO copy.