Many clients will tell their ad agency “Anyone can write”.  Technically, this is true. Because we can all write. But writing badly and writing well are two different things.

Ask any creative, from Amanda Gorman, to Beyonce, to Ron Rael, and the late Dan Weiden, and chances are they’ll tell you that you shouldn’t trust the first thing you write. They know the first and most important rule of writing.

Copywriting Rule #1: The best writing is rewriting.

In the video below, Lin Manual Miranda talks about why it took him a year to write “My Shot” – the signature song for “Hamilton” – which is arguably one of the most popular Broadway plays of all time. Watch it to find out why he kept writing and rewriting, and rewriting, and rewriting… Let this be a lesson: if someone as talented and successful as Lin Manuel Miranda needed to rewrite and rewrite and rewrite in order to get to something good, the average copywriting student should plan to do the same.

Why does rewriting work? The truth is, the more you write, the better you write. And when you write and rewrite and rewrite you generate many options to choose from.

 

Rewriting: the S.T.A.R. Method

Why does rewriting work? The truth is, the more you write, the better you write. And when you write and rewrite and rewrite you generate many options to choose from.

It’s one thing to just keep writing continuously, jotting down anything that comes into your head. This method, called “Free writing” can be useful in the sense that you can use it to “warm up”. But it doesn’t necessarily produce anything you can actually use and build on. So in Copywriting, especially for beginners, I strongly recommend using specific rewriting methods. Here’s one to get you started: The S.T.A.R. Method of Rewriting.

The letters of S.T.A.R. stand for the following:

SUBSTITUTE

TAKE OUT

ADD

REARRANGE

It’s important when you’re using this method to silence your inner critic. DO NOT EDIT. The goal is to create as many options as possible. Many of them will be terrible. It doesn’t matter. You’re looking for multiple ways of saying roughly the same thing. Allow yourself to “play”, be silly, don’t rule out anything out. Check out the example below.

 

 

Imagine you want to write a song title. In fact, let’s pretend pop star Ariana Grande is looking for a new song title. Her first thought might be: Enough is not enough. So she writes it down. This is the “starter headline/title”. Now she wants to try to turn this sentence into something not so cliche. Into something less expected.

Step 1: write the starter headline/title: Enough is not enough.

Step 2: SUBSTITUTE a word. Let’s substitute the word “good” for the word “not”. What’s the new title?

Enough is good enough.

Is this an improvement? Or is it too dull for an Ariana Grande song title? Let’s keep going.

Step 3: Next, let’s TAKE OUT a word from Enough is good enough. Let’s take out the word “good”. The new title is “Enough is enough”. This changes the meaning. It could mean that you don’t need a lot. Or it could mean that you’re fed up. Either way, it’s still a bit cliche. And as it turns out, it was the title of a hit song by disco diva Donna Summer. So we keep going.

Step 4: Next let’s add a word. Let’s add the word “almost” to “Enough is enough” – which results in: Enough is almost enough. The title feels a bit vague but might imply something intriguing. Let’s keep going.

Step 5: Next let’s try rearranging the words. Move the word “almost” to the first position in the sentence. That gives us “Almost enough is enough”. I don’t know a lot about Ariana Grande but my instinct tells me that “almost enough” wouldn’t be enough for a global pop star. So I’ll keep going until I have some options I think she might like better.

I keep Substituting, Taking out, Adding and Rearranging. How many options do I need to generate to get to something great? As many as it takes.

In the end, these are my favorite options:

• Good is not enough.
• Almost is never enough.
• Enough is never enough.

Which is the real song title?

Almost is never enough.

Here are a few other Ariana Grande song titles:

Break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored.

Call me by my name.

 

Note: all three of these song titles are a bit unexpected. They all feel “real” and evoke emotion. I sense there’s a story behind each of them and I can’t wait to hear – and maybe download – all of these songs.