Page 202 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

sacred cows does put off one or two readers, the greater impact you
give your writing will more than compensate.)
For one particular client, I had to sacrifice my natural inclination to
pepper my copy with And. Their customers were almost exclusively
older than 60. Not only that but they were of a bookish turn of mind
and had very fixed ideas about “correct” English. So fixed, in fact,
that had we mailed a sales letter with And at the start of a sentence,
rather than placing an order, they would have written, longhand, to
the company’s managing director to complain.
Of course, anything done to excess is a vice, and beginning too
many sentences with And or But will quickly grate on your reader’s
eye. But in moderation, it is yet another sharp little blade in your
writer’s toolbox.

In practice

• If you have a long sentence with a semicolon halfway through,

or an “and” joining two thoughts, see if you can split it in two by
starting a second sentence with And.

• Always consider your reader. Will they mind? Will they even

notice? This matters more than your taste or my teaching.

100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS • 193