Page 125 - Hypnotic Writing - How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Words

HYPNOTIC WRITING
idea, then works to bring it into living form. And as E.B. White said, “There is no great writing, only great rewriting.”
You create Hypnotic Writing in the rewriting stage. You take what you have and you whittle it—sculpt it—polish it—to per- fection. Let me try to show you what I do with a few specific examples:
“The door was opened by Joe.”
Say that’s a line in an article you’re working on. It’s not bad, but it isn’t good either. It’s too passive. A minor tinkering can help this line out.
“Joe opened the door.”
Getting better, isn’t it? Now we have someone doing something. That’s active and much more involving. There’s life in the sentence now. But is it hypnotic? Nope. So let’s try again:
“Joe kicked open the door.”
That would grab your attention, wouldn’t it? But I think we can do better.
“Joe kicked open the door!”
Now we have an irresistible line! Start your story with that one and your reader is bound to go on to the next one.
Every line has to work to keep your reader’s attention. The radio is calling, the television is calling, the phone is ringing, the sun is shining, the refrigerator has food in it, there’s a new movie at the theater—your lines have to keep your reader nailed to the page, or you’ll lose them to any or all of the above. There are simply too many distractions in the world for you to offer mediocre writing. You don’t have a choice. You must rewrite your material to perfec- tion. You must!
Take my Thoughtline sales letter. Because my money was riding on the success of that letter, I needed it to work. If you come to your writing with the same attitude, that you must win, that your whole career is riding on this, then you will make it work.
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