reynoldswriting.com Blog

I pride myself on being a relatively “high-bandwidth” copywriter who can produce quality content while juggling multiple clients and jobs. Once in a while, though, if the pipeline becomes too clogged I have to refer a client to another writer. (I try to maintain good relationships with other writers, and I’m happy to send work their way when the opportunity presents itself.) The client will either nod and agree that it’s time to bring a second writer on board, or his eyes will bug and he’ll say, “Why don’t you want to work with me?” because he thinks I’m trying to dump him.

I don’t want to dump anybody. I’m happy to keep writing as much as I can for that client. But when the workload (his or mine) becomes overwhelming, I can’t continue as the only horse pulling that increasingly heavy cart. It’s time to hitch up the rest of the team.

Hey, when that day comes, congratulate yourself. If you have an ongoing need for marketing content, then your company is moving and shaking and promoting itself — or if you’re a marketing agency, then you’re building your business and gaining clients. Well done. But now you have to think about covering all your bases. A football team doesn’t consist of the bare minimum of people needed to take the field; there’s the first string, and then a second string and a third string standing by to replace a fallen player. Well, your marketing department needs depth too.

How do you maintain brand unity when you have multiple writers? Your marketing director acts as Editor-in-Chief and Head Branding Honcho, coordinating the writers’ assignments and making sure everyone’s work conforms to the company’s overall tone and message. You gain extra creative brainpower as well as the luxury of casting from strength — instead of putting all the burden on one generalist, you might have one writer who focuses on blogs, another who excels at brochures, and so on.

Best of all, the use of multiple writers allows your marketing agency or department to grow as big and as fast as you want it to. Once you have a team, and a plan for managing the team, the sky’s the limit. And if they’re all freelancers you can just assign them as you need them, growing at your own pace without having to add to your permanent staff.

In the meantime, if you only need one writer, you know where to find me.

For more about me, my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

“I have a great idea for a play.”

I’d seen many such examples of greatness as a script reader in the literary management office of the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey — greatness piled from floor to ceiling along all four walls, massive stacks of greatness that would take years to slog through.

But the actor persisted. “It’s my grandfather, you see. My grandfather has lived this amazing life….” He then proceeded to describe a lengthy succession of Munchausen-esque events that did indeed describe an amazing life. I don’t remember the details now, but I imagine that they included sailing on the Titanic, battling headhunters in the Amazon, scoring eight touchdowns in one game, discovering a fortune in diamonds, curing the pox — you get the idea.

I was impressed. “It’s an amazing life, you’re right,” I said. “But what’s the story?”

A story is more than a laundry list of events. It uses events to illustrate a continuous, shapely progression toward a destination. We’re clearly heading toward something, and at the climax we finally get there. All the pieces make sense in relationship to each other, allowing the author to build toward a culminating point. Otherwise you have what amounts to a six-year-old recounting his dream: “And then we got chased by a bear and made friends with dinosaurs and Santa Claus came to visit and we all ate cake and then the sun blew up….”

And the fact that you’re writing a website or brochure instead of the Great American Screenplay doesn’t get you off the hook — you still have to tell a story. I see many, many marketing pieces that just slap endless lists of features and benefits together randomly like darts thrown at a board during Happy Hour. You have to present your core theme, connect your supporting statements so that they keep your reader floating along in the right direction and at the right speed, and increase the interest and excitement levels until the reader lands at the climax — your call to action — and responds appropriately.

That’s when you’ve got a hit on your hands.

For more about me, my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.