By Jeffrey Hedquist
If you haven’t written this way, try it. The results will surprise you.
Write more than you need. Picasso, DaVinci, Stravinski, Dylan—all went through a lot of junk before they got to the great stuff they’re remembered for. Don’t be afraid to do the same. A lot of us stop early and put our junk on the air.
You’re going to create a great radio commercial. Once you’ve gathered all the information from your client, stated the advertising objective, decided on a clear, simple and relevant consumer benefit, delved deep into your memory for emotionally-charged experiences that will relate to the consumer benefit (You do all this, right?), then, put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and write.
Write without stopping for 5 minutes. Don’t lift your hand from the paper during that time. Write whatever your mind pumps out. If you go off in another direction than intended, just let go. Don’t try to control the process. Step out of the way. Keep your hand moving. With practice, you’ll find that the spot writes itself. You’ll also find it’s easier to develop multiple spot campaigns using this technique.
At the end of the 5 minutes, take a break, then come back and edit what you’ve written, so that it fits neatly into a 30 or 60 second window.
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(c)1999 Hedquist Productions, Inc.