The Lunatic Is On The Grass
Dear Friend,
I just returned from a very long trip to England.
Very long because I was gone for two weeks -- and also very long because we had three kids in tow. If you've been there, you know what I mean.
While I was abroad (That sounds awkward, doesn't it? I'd never say "while I was a broad" in person.) I got quite a lot accomplished. I am nearly finished with a product I've been working on, and I made another excellent product -- a series of Audio CD's and video DVD's about copywriting and direct-response marketing -- with a couple of very clever UK marketers, Neil Stafford and Neil Travers -- publishers of The Internet Marketing Review (http://www.internetmarketingreview.com).
Anyhow, I visited a few places over in the U.K., that reminded me of how important your writing "environment" is. I discuss this often when I'm doing consulting work -- http://www.kingofcopy.com/consulting -- so I thought I'd share some of this information with you.
Here's the deal: If you've been a subscriber of mine for a while now, then you already know I'm a big Pink Floyd fan. I've spent literally thousands of hours listening to them over the years and their music has meant a lot to me.
One of the places I visited while I was in England was Cambridge University. Cambridge University attracts students from all over the world. The school is made up of 31 different colleges -- each college is a place where students live, eat and socialize.
Kings College is one of the older colleges at Cambridge (one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited) -- it was founded in 1441.
And Kings College also has a chapel, which is fairly famous on its own, for it's gothic architecture.
Behind Kings College Chapel there is a medium-sized grassy field, just betwen the Chapel and the Cam River.
There are only 2 benches along this patch of grass and that is the place where Roger Waters, one of the lead singers from Pink Floyd, came up with the concept for the song "Brain Damage", which was the next-to-last-song on the bands legendary 1973 album, Dark Side Of The Moon.
Even if you're not a Floyd fan, you're probably familiar with the song's lyrics "The lunatic is on the grass. The lunatic is on the grass. Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs. Got to keep the loonies on the path."
Anyway, call me crazy, but it was pretty moving as my son Nick and I sat on those two benches, seeing the EXACT spot where music history was created, as we listened to that very same song on our iPods.
I can easily see how Waters came up with creative ideas while sitting at that location -- the site is one of the MOST relaxing places I've ever visited, and is TOTALLY conducive to creativity.
Another place I saw, and once I took it in, the first thing I said was "Wow, if I lived here, I'd come here and write all the time", was the Dunstable Downs.
My wife is from Dunstable -- a medium sized blue-collar town located in south Bedfordshire County. Dunstable's not particularly famous for anything outside of the Dunstable Downs, and their Fish and Chip shops.
The Downs are basically MASSIVE hilly fields of grass, holly, and farmland where people gather to relax, hike (we walked across the entire rim), fly kites, and watch the para-gliders (and they really are something else to see in person).
How massive?
Well, 510 Acres to be exact, but if you've never visited England, you really can NOT appreciate the breath of these downs (there are other downs throughout the country as well). I've never been there myself, but I suppose we have MILES of farmland here in the US that is like this, but in any case, it is breathtaking to say the least.
(If you want, check out the first three photos on this site here to get an idea of what I'm talking about: http://www.bedsbucksherts.org.uk/beds/dunstabledowns1.html)
Anyhow, writing sales copy is difficult -- and writing great sales copy is sometimes brutal.
So when you're sitting down and writing your sales copy, you need to get your mind into as relaxed state as possible. You need to be in a comfortable, "happy" environment... you need to have quiet... and you need to be able to have whatever tools you need -- whether it's a computer, paper, pens, ink, markers, sketch pads, or what have you -- immediately within arm's reach.
And since writers are somewhat quirky, some people even have "warm-up" rituals they go through.
Me, I'm kind of vanilla about all of this, outside of the fact that if I have to write a sales letter, I know I MUST have serious sleep the night before, because the actual day I'm writing, may wind up stretching VERY deep into the night.
One "ritual" I used to have, was to listen to a full CD of music before I started writing my sales copy (I often listened to The Foo Fighters, "There Is Nothing Left To Lose"), but now I'm so busy that I tend to listen to music while I'm working on my headlines (which I do first -- unlike most people), and then I just get totally focused and quiet, and then go balls-to-the-wall writing my order form and then the sales letter itself.
Plus, since I work out early in the morning now, by the time I "open up" and get started for my day, I'm already in a relaxed state, and I've gotten all the kinks out of my system by then.
Look, don't kid yourself about your writing environment -- it's very important. Just like you can't work out or go running in uncomfortable clothes, or uncomfortable shoes -- and then expect to have a productive run or a satisfying workout -- it's the same thing with your writing.
So see what you can do right now, to make your environment more conducive to relaxed and productive writing. You'll thank me later.
The better your environment is -- the more conducive to it being a place to stimulate your creativity -- the better your sales copy's going to turn out. I don't care whether you're writing a long-form sales letter, or a half-page display ad -- the proof will be in your results.
Anyway, I'm a bit out of sorts at the moment -- heads are tails and up is down -- so bear with me and I'll get my daily tips cranking again, as soon as I decompress from this trip.
Thanks for hanging in there and being patient.
Now go sell something,
Craig Garber
Any comments?
Send them to me by scooting over to the contact form on my "Here's How To Contact Craig" page, and maybe I'll publish them -- I appreciate your feedback!
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| “Craig Garber is America's top direct-response copywriter. Join the ranks of Garber's swelling list of global VIP's who subscribe to his unconventional weekly marketing moments, and discover how to dramatically boost your sales and improve the response to your sales copy, on his website at http://www.kingofcopy.com. Copyright © Craig Garber. All rights reserved.” |