The long and short of taglines

I'm not sure I'll ever be as definitive about anything as Al Ries is about most things. But I really enjoyed his recent take on slogans in Ad Age — Long Slogans Are Absolutely, Positively More Effective Than Short Ones.

I'm sure you get the gist just from the title. Ries argues that by fixating on the idea that shorter is better, copywriters are editing the emotion right out of our work. He compares "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken" to the fictionally truncated "Perdue, the tender chicken."

It's hard to disagree when you compare his list of modern shorties like:

• Ally Bank: Straightforward.
• Acura: Advance.
• FedEx: We understand.
• Ford: Drive one.
• Hertz: Journey on.
• Infiniti: Inspired performance.

To his list of longer classics like: 

• Las Vegas: "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." (7 words)
• M&M's: "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands." (8 words)
• The New York Times: "All the news that's fit to print." (7 words)
• Saturn: "A different kind of company. A different kind of car." (10 words)
• Secret deodorant: "Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman." (10 words)
• Smuckers: "With a name like Smuckers, it's got to be good." (10 words)

But I like some of the one he dismisses (American Express: Take charge is rather nice). And some that he likes sound like a mouthful to me (for example, Roto-Rooter: "That's the name and away go troubles down the drain"). 

Certainly, there are no rules, and Ries gives the only guideline that sticks at the end of his column. He writes that the tagline should be "long enough to reach an emotional connection in the consumer's mind." But I might shorten that to "long enough to connect." (After all, I'm an On Writing Well girl to the core.) 

Creative cross-pollination, or what I’ve learned about writing from unlikely sources

Grace Coddington

In The September Issue (which I highly recommend to any creative person, even if you aren’t into fashion), Vogue Creative Director Grace Coddington looks out the window of her taxi in Paris rather than hunching over a smart phone, as so many business travelers do.

She makes a point to do this everywhere because early in her career a mentor advised her to always look up and around for inspiration because you never knew when it would strike.

I agree wholeheartedly (even though I struggle to keep my iPhone tucked away). Not only does inspiration come from unlikely places, so do lessons about writing and creativity.

For example...

Cooking (or, hell, good eating)

Sweet is made interesting by adding spice, sour, or salt. Think Mexican hot chocolate or a salted caramel or Key Lime pie or, my recent favorite, the Mango Habanero Margarita at Takoba in Austin.

Photography

A photojournalist I worked with told me that the biggest difference between professional photographers and regular folks was that the professionals “take a hell of lot more pictures.”

Now, I don’t entirely believe that, but his point resonated with me. Want to get better at your craft? Do it more. Want to make sure you get the perfect shot? Take more shots. Want to make sure you get the perfect headline? Write more headlines.

Hair cuts

It’s much easier to trim than add more.

Fashion

Simple can be elegant, but there’s a fine line between that and boring. There is an equally fine line between elaborate and overwrought. In all cases, execution matters.

User Interface Design

It takes a lot more work on the back end to make things simple of the front end.

What have you learned about writing from unlikely sources?

How do you make time for your own writing?

I’m thinking about this because I’m planning my fall semester and wondering how to squeeze in everything. After a year of balancing full-time work and full-time school, I’m ditching work in a month to focus on school.

When I decided to quit, I daydreamed about mornings spent writing fiction, blogging, and reading and afternoons brainstorming with my campaign partners, writing copy, and going to class. Evenings would be for recharging.

Then I decided that I should do an internship, which (if I, cross-my-fingers, get one) will knock out of a few of my days and push much of my school and personal work into the evenings.  It all seems to fit into my artfully arranged Google Calendar—even a few hours of personal writing a week—but there’s not a lot of time for anything else.

So, can it work? Will I be energized from all the activity? Or will I be too zonked to write anything but ads this fall? If so, will that be okay?

Here’s what I’m going to try:

Scheduling hour-long “Creative Writing” appointments in the mornings.

A lot of people recommend writing first thing, but that’s my best exercise time, so I’m going to try writing a few times a week second thing in the morning. 

Committing to exercise, including yoga a couple times a week.

Adding something else to my plate sounds counterintuitive. But, for me, exercise is better than coffee. (I know, what kind of writer am I?) It wakes me up and clears my brain, so I'm trying to make it a priority.

Banishing the time-sucks.

This one is going to be hard. After a long day, I often think that I don’t have enough energy to do anything except veg in front of the TV. If that’s really true, I should just go to bed because The Real Housewives of Wherever isn't relaxing or stimulating. It's just a time-suck. Same goes of reading every last comment on Jezebel.com (I *love* that site) and obsessively checking Facebook/Email/Twitter/etc. 

Alright, I think that’s enough resolutions. I’ll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, how do you squeeze everything in and keep your energy high? Or do you not even bother with personal creative projects?

Also, three articles that inspired me:

• Writing Tips for Productivity: Make More Time to Write By Melissa Donovan
• A Case of the Creative Munchies & How to Feed Them by Kristen Fischer
• Five Tips for Finding Writing Time by Michael Stelzner