In the last post I came clean about my recent battle with writer?s block.
(I?m writing my first book based on the KLT sales messaging formula and although I know the material as well as I know my own children, I was struggling bad to get in the flow.)
Then I gave some clues about how I solved it, and you guys provided some excellent guesses.
Robert Michon really nailed it, correctly naming two things I have done in preparing to write this book ? transcribing the material from a presentation I?ve given about it, and having someone interview me about the subject.
Those are two excellent ways to get a book going? some people are able to complete entire drafts transcribing interviews or dictating into a recorder. If you pay well enough for an editor, you can even produce a quality book that way.
But, most ?dictated? books that I?ve read tend to come off a bit? fluffy.
Plus, my brain just doesn?t work that way. I?m not good at turning a mic on and dumping everything out in clean and clear passages. I need structure. And if I?m going to outline the chapters anyway, I?d prefer to be the one who fills it in with words.
After all, that?s the fun part.
Or so I thought.
In my last post I explained that I never believed in writer?s block because (as my friend and mentor John Carlton has hammered into me) it only means you need to do more research.
I blew this off because I new the material so well.
But? there?s a second half to the equation.
There?s knowing the material ? WHAT you?re writing about?
? and then there?s knowing your reader ? WHO you are writing it to.
And that?s where I was falling short. I hadn?t taken the time to really think about my reader? and create what we copywriters call ?the avatar?.
The avatar, as most of you know, is a character you create based on a person or combination of people, that represents a living, breathing human that you speak directly to as you write.
When done right, your avatar should come alive so vividly that you can see his or her eyebrows raise when you reveal something exciting and furl when you sound like you?re full of shit.
It?s an excellent way to keep your writing honest, and you?re language casual? like a good conversation over beer or coffee.
But, be honest, how often do we REALLY create avatars to this level?
I?ll ?fess up. It?s a step in the process I?ve gotten soft about.
My avatars usually get a short bio card (age, income level, product savvy, offer fatigue, likes, dislikes, desires, fears) but often get shortchanged on a name, an address and a face with real working eyebrows and crinkling foreheads.
This tends to happen when you?re up against deadlines and you?re writing to a market you?re already dialed in to.
But no excuses.
No piece of writing can be as good without a living avatar as it is when you?ve created one.
After all, how visceral can you get writing to a group of people, or worse yet a page of statistics?
Now because I?ve been teaching the KLT sales hook for over a year now, I could have easily gone into the member?s area and chosen any one of my students who have completed the course and submitted their new hook.
There are lots of great ones in here and I read every one of them.
But I wanted to start fresh with a fictional avatar that I could not only write TO, but write ABOUT, so readers of the book can have a ?live? example to follow along with.
So, I did. And then something really bizarre and alarming happened.
In the next post I?ll tell you what it was, and show you exactly how I created my avatar using simple stream of consciousness writing techniques.
For now, I?d love to hear about your experience writing to avatars. If this concept if brand new to you, how would you describe your avatar?
If you?re an advanced writer, what are some of your tricks for making avatars come to life?
Of course I?ll be reading and commenting with you.
This is the fun stuff?
Kevin
Source: http://thecopywritersedge.com/copywriting/ending-writers-block-2-revenge-of-the-avatar/
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