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170 The Seven Lost Secrets of Success

together.” For Barton, the illustration, headline, and
body copy made up the layout, or visualization, of any
sales piece.

The Copy

“The introduction can be eliminated almost always.
The mind starts cold when you begin to write, and you
don’t get into high until the second or third paragraph.
Cut out the introduction, and then you have a good hot
start.

“Another elementary fundamental of advertising is to
make the copy fit the space. To this day, I never write a
piece of copy without counting the words. The picture,
the headline, and the layout should be set before you
begin the copy. To me, writing the copy before you have
visualized the layout is backwards.”

Adjectives

“After you finish a piece of copy, go back and cut out
all the adjectives. Henry Ward Beecher’s father was
once chairman of a committee to draw up resolutions on
slavery. One sentence in his resolution read: ‘It is an out-
rage.’ Someone suggested that it should read: ‘It is a ter-
rible outrage.’ Beecher said that was the way he had it in
his first draft, but he had cut out the word ‘terrible’ for
the sake of emphasis. Adjectives are like the leaves on
a switch. They make the switch look pretty, but if you
want to hit a blow that will cut, you take off the leaves.
Literature that cuts has very few adjectives. The greatest