Period.
You have to be bulletproof if you want to write for a mass audience. You're a constant target, and the trick is to keep the reader guessing where you're going next. The methods you utilize to pull off that trick are up to you. All that matters is that you connect to your audience. And that requires a willingness on your part to wear disguises at times. Obviously, it's difficult to inject a personal remark into a copywriting gig. But that's where the fun comes into play. It's also where we can work our own touch of personal subversion into everything we write.
Years ago, I wrote a script for a training film for a fast food chain meant to instruct employees as to how to conduct an in-store birthday party. It was an assignment boring beyond words. To make a long story short, I turned it into a parade of cliches, with the lead character, Timmy, uttering the immortal words, "This is the best birthday ever!!" as we fade out.
The client loved it - to the tune of a four-digit payment for what I wrote as a satire. My perception of the script and their purchase of it were diametrically opposed, but they loved it, and I ate for another month, and slept without any pangs of conscience.
Assignments like those leave me free to do what I want, to say what I think means something. Even at that, I still think in terms of reaching a global audience. Way back in the early '80s , I got it into my head that I could reconcile all the divergent aspects of pop culture in a single magazine. The resultant product was called Pulse (subtitled "Tomorrow's Trends Today') and while it lasted only five issues, it opened myriad doors to me.
I am by no means trying to tell people how to write here - there is no formula for that beyond the individual soul. I am going to tell you how to sell your work, though.
Care to listen?
Article comments
1 - diana hartman
I am pleased to tell you this article is being featured in the Culture Focus today, August 31st, and tomorrow, September 1st.
Diana Hartman
Culture Editor