The Importance of Being Earnest: Writing Copy that Counts

Is it possible to write advertising copy that will truly resonate with a reader? To inspire someone to take action? To persuade a person to buy your product or service? Through words? 

Communicating appropriately and compellingly is not easy—but it can be done. To that end, I say the answer is yes. Yes, through words you can inspire, persuade, motive and even rouse introspection. Yes, you can provoke one to do the unthinkable: to change. And yes, you (who often doubts your writing abilities) can write well.  

My only rule is that you consider the importance of Ernest Hemingway and his unintentional—yet powerful—affect on writing for mass media. 

Ernest Hemingway pioneered a style of writing that was simple and direct.  His concise storytelling began with his first job as a reporter for The Kansas City Star. There, he was given a copy of  “The Star Copy Style” sheet, a single page of rules governing Star prose. Hemingway abided by these rules for the rest of his life.