DIE TRYING 003

Not too many years ago, former Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh announced that he would beat arch-rival Ohio State or die trying.

People laughed at him. The Wolverines had been unable to beat the hated Buckeyes for many years. Until they reeled off four consecutive wins in The Game after Harbaugh’s war cry.

As an obsessive Michigan fan, I adopt Harbaugh’s do-or-die proposition. I’m not trying to win at ball. Instead, I’m a plucky writer trying to sell my latest screenplay, publish it as a novel or die trying.

In DIE TRYING, you will get an unvarnished look at a bitterly honest writer struggling to make it. No soft-focus glamor closeups. No name-dropping or phoniness. Just the whole truth on what the media landscape really is like behind the curtains.

In TODAY’S ISSUE, we explore how screenwriting techniques can improve your sales game and how to command your reader’s attention when writing for business.

You are a seller in an anodyne conference room. You’re meeting with the prospective buyer after writing a proposal detailing the product cost.

Which approach is better to close?

A.)  “You’re a month into us doing your Google Ads. At 10pm on Tuesday, the kids are asleep and you’re in bed next to your wife, on the computer. But you’re not tweaking Google Ads. You’re researching a prospect who clicked on your ads and converted. You discovered their team just won a big football game. You look at their social media. They’re definitely an obsessive fanboy type. The time you gained from us doing your online advertising gave you an in to your next client. What more can you do with the time we give you?”

B.) “Thanks for meeting with me. Give me a sec while I power up this PowerPoint…hope you liked the proposal. Can I ask you a question? Do you have any questions for me? On the proposal? I wanted to start with this slide describing the benefits of our product and how it can transform your business.”

In my humble opinion, the first approach is better because it uses the screenwriting principle of en media res. 

Like the opening scene of The Social Network, we enter the scene with Mark Zuckerberg in the zesty middle, arguing with his girlfriend Erica. We don’t start at the mundane beginning with them arriving at the bar, ordering drinks etc.

Start with the prospect en media res of using and benefitting from your product. It’s more persuasive.

In copywriting, they teach you to grab the reader’s attention by collapsing piano wire around their neck and jerking it frantically.

A recent article by a New York Times reporter does just that:

The reporter Dave Phillips uses vivid adjectives and precise details to paint a picture of high drama – a clandestine mission. 

The ocean is not dark, but arrestingly “ink black.” 

Just mentioning the reclusive pariah state of North Koreas would get your attention, but we feel the cold, dark water in the winter and the craggy rocks on the shore that the SEALs climb up on.

With specific visual detail, the reporter makes it impossible for you not to continue reading.

Make your writing—whether it's business writing or writing for the screen—sing by painting a picture with vivid detail.

The Social Network screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Our question: Does becoming iconic like The Zuck make you an asshole or were you born one?

Get back to us and let us know YOUR thoughts.

See you next week!

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