Who else wants to know how to use questions to write captivating copy?
Asking the right questions is half the work of writing great copy.
Take it from a Melbourne copywriter...
One of the first things I learnt as a fresh-faced journalism student at university, one hundred years ago, was the power of the 5Ws and How. The method was simple yet revolutionary to me — a tool that could be used to tease out information and to structure a piece of writing. As a seasoned Melbourne copywriter and writing coach, I still use this method daily.
The 5Ws, for those who don’t know, are WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHERE and WHEN. With HOW, they can be used as questions to interrogate a subject (With or without bare globe lighting. It’s up to you!).
For instance, if I’m writing a feature article on BMX bike riding, a topic I know very little about, I might simply ask:
What is a BMX bike?
Who rides BMX bikes?
Why do they ride BMX bikes?
Where does BMX bike riding happen?
When is the best time of the year to ride?
How does one master BMX bike riding?
The questions can be reworded, tweaked or built on to drill down to get the information needed. Often, this line of questioning disrupts your assumptions on the topic too, leading to unexpected places — which is where the colour for your piece can be found.
Here’s an example. Maybe, I assume that all BMX bike riders are spotty teenage boys. However, using WHO leads me to discover that a significant proportion of BMX bandits are in fact middle-aged women, who’ve taken the sport up with their kids...
In my role as a Melbourne copywriting coach, I recently passed this method onto a client who was equally impressed at its simplicity and effectiveness. We took a press release she was struggling with and restructured it using the 5Ws and How. Immediately, the purpose of the piece became apparent and the line of thinking, clear. The method allowed us to strip back superfluous material to discover the actual story. Once this was apparent, we fleshed it out again with relevant details.
The 5Ws and How is definitely nothing new, in fact it’s a classic, but I’m always surprised at how little it’s applied outside the realm of journalism. So, the next time you’re planning or attempting to pull a piece of writing back into line, give the method a go. It’s a guaranteed game changer and it almost rhymes if you sing it out loud.
Emily Brewin is a Melbourne copywriter, published author and writing coach. For help with SEO copywriting, LinkedIn profiles, creative projects, editing, proofreading and MUCH more, visit Emily Brewin Copywriter. Or get in touch via her Contact page.
To learn more about Emily’s novels, go to her Author site or straight to her publisher, Allen and Unwin.
For Melbourne copywriter courses, try the Australian Writers’ Centre who offer everything from SEO copywriting to building an effective copywriting business.
