It's Not Shakespeare - A Quick Guide to Scripting for Copywriters

Web copy, SEO web copy, leaflet copy, product descriptions, emails, sales letters, advert straplines… It seems like a copywriter’s lot in life is writing content for readers.

That’s certainly how most guides, books and blogs make it sound, with endless chapters on straplines and headlines and the proper usage of keywords. There seems to be prevailing opinion that freelancers deal with the page, while the big agencies get to have fun with stage directions, sound effects and ominous voice overs.

This isn’t the case. If you’re writing sales copy for clients, then for consistency’s sake, you should be the one to write video and audio scripts for clients.

But how?

Don’t worry. This post will help you get your head around scripting. After all, you don’t need to be Shakespeare to sell.

A Quick Guide to Scripting for Copywriters

Way back in the mists of time, I cut my teeth as a junior copywriter at a firm specialising in on-hold marketing. If at any point circa 2007 you were kept on hold while a booming voice over artist explained the merits of the services you could buy once someone actually answered, chances are I or one of the other writers at the firm were responsible. Since then I’ve written radio advert scripts and branched out into writing up video adverts.

It’s fun. It’s challenging. And you can apply a hell of what you already know about copywriting. Benefits over features, a tone of voice that resonates with your audience and a clear, direct call-to-action will all come into play here. So I won’t waste your time explaining how to suck eggs.

Instead, lets look at the way that scripting differs from written copy.

It All Starts with a Concept

A script lives or dies with the concept. When you’re writing a website, tried and tested can win the day. After all, if someone is on Google looking for a plumber, all they need to know is that your client will come and fix their sink before the cats drown. The same goes for a brochure or a sales letter – reinventing the wheel is a waste of your time and your client’s money, when a well-written pitch with a strong hook will do the job brilliantly.

With scripts, it’s a little different. Straight away, you’re dealing with a disengaged audience that may well be distracted. “Just like with a sales letter?” I hear you ask. Well, no. Nobody reads a letter while they’re driving to work or waiting for a YouTube video to load.

This means you’ve got to do something a little different. With most of your writing, you need to write to inform and persuade. With an audio or video script, entertainment barges into the conversation wearing a funny hat.

This means you need a solid concept first and foremost. And not just one. Because before you write a single letter of actual copy, the concept has to grab your client’s attention. If you can come up with two or three solid ideas and then steer your client towards the concept you think will resonate best with their customers, you’ve won your first battle.

The concept needs to be memorable, it needs to have impact, and it needs to be achievable. So get creative.

Learn the Difference Between Shorthand and Cliché

You’ve got your concept. It’s going to make an impact. Now it’s time to flesh it out.

The problem here is that you’ve got no time whatsoever to make your point. Remember that sales letter comparison I mentioned earlier? If you think it’s hard condensing a pitch into an A4 sized document, try condensing that same pitch into 30 seconds. If you’re scripting a YouTube video advert, that 30 seconds is now 15, because you’ve got to make as much of your point as possible before that skip button appears.

The clock is ticking.

So let’s look at ways to cut corners. Visual (or audio) shorthand is something copywriters don’t get to play with much, but now it’s time to fill your boots. You want to show your customers are businesspeople? Suits and ties to the rescue. You’re appealing to busy mothers? Time to see where you can fit some sound effects in – crying baby, babbling toddler, laughing child – just find the fastest way to make that point.

But steer clear of clichés if you can. Don’t fall into the quick and easy trap of “middle aged white man talks to camera” or “dickhead dad fails to operate Weetabix while target audience mum raises a long-suffering eyebrow to camera.” If you’re trying to at least use the illusion that you’re entertaining people, don’t go for hackneyed ad stereotypes.

Trim, Trim and Trim Again

This can’t be overstated. Most of the time you spend scripting is going to be spent editing the script down. And not just because of time constraints.

If you’re writing dialogue, you need to edit with a scalpel. Because natural, flowing speech is different to written copy. Even though we’ve all learned to “write like we talk,” the fact is that the sort of natural speech that’ll grab attention in an ad is like nothing you’d ever write on an email pitch or brochure. People don’t talk like that. People are slack with grammar, people are snappy and direct, and people don’t tend to speak using the marketing tricks that are a good writer’s bread and butter.

If a single word is wasted, you could be doing a better job with your script. So pull out the scalpel. And if that doesn’t work, a felling axe will.

Remember: You’re Not a Director

Here’s the one piece of advice I have that’s based on a hard lesson. When you’re given access to a script-writing toolkit, the temptation kicks in. You want to specify stage directions, and sound effects, and panning camera shots, and that shot from Jaws when the camera pulls out while it zooms in on Chief Brody in that deckchair, and every other bit of film-making fluff you’ve ever heard of.

Don’t.

There are two very good reasons not to give in to these temptations.

Firstly, you’re not a director or a producer. They’ll enjoy your efforts about as much as you enjoy an account manager asking you to use the word “solutions” more often in a piece of copy. You do what you’re good at – using words to tell a story that convinces and compels – and leave the rest of it to the experts. Be sparing with your directions, and don’t get too attached because…

Secondly, you’re not a director or a producer. The actual director or producer will have their own ideas. Getting attached to the image you have in your head, or the delivery your inner monologue uses, or a certain sound-effect is just setting you up for disappointment in the long run.

Have you written advertising scripts for radio or TV? Do you have any advice to share? If you do, let me know in the comments section below.