Writing for the mind’s eye

June 15th, 2007 · 4 Comments · Tags: Copywriting · Persuasion & Influence · SEO Copywriting

As a copywriter, one of the most important skills you need to learn is to paint a movie in the mind’s eye of your readers. The more vividly you can paint your images or movies, the better your messages will be comprehended (and acted upon).

The human brain works of the stimulus it receives, and it is 100% literal. The input it gets comes mainly from our 5 senses and can process that information with ease. On the other hand, we also make it work with words and abstract concepts… and that’s the part that it almost always has trouble with.

For example… if I say the word “water”, your mind will instantly know what I’m talking about. An image will appear in your mind and you will understand what I just said. You have experienced water with all your senses; you have seen it, you have heard it, you have listened to it, you have tasted it and you have smelled it.

But that’s not it… the mind’s eye not only allows you to imagine things. It lets you live them! And the more descriptive the words are, the more vividly you’ll see each movie.

Imagine that you and I are in a well-lit room with the walls painted white and the sun shining magnificently outside. It’s all warm and nice. Picture me reaching into my pockets and pulling out a big yellow lemon and a sharp knife… now imagine that I slowly start to slice it in half, you can see blade of my knife cutting firmly through the ripe skin of that lemon and a few drops of its juice dripping down from it. I then take that lemon up to my mouth, give it a gentle squeeze and drink a sip of that juice; my face immediately wrinkles up with that delicious sour taste…

Not only you were able to imagine me slicing the lemon, chances are that even your mouth started watering when you read that description. That is the power of the mind’s eye. Your brain actually lived that short experience with me… based only on descriptive words.

You just saw what happened when I said the word “water”; but what happens when I say the word “leadership” instead? Your mind then goes through a completely different process and tries to put that abstract concept into images. It reaches within to search for movies or images that you have stored and are related to that word… and only after that, you’ll understand the word I said.

The brain has a lot more trouble understanding abstract concepts. In addition to that, the brain is “literal” and does not understand the word “no” (or any type of negation).

Let me give you an example to make things crystal clear. Imagine that you’re talking to me in person and I tell you not to think about a monkey with a tiny red hat, dancing in the street. Chances are that you already have a pretty vivid image of that monkey in your mind, even when I told you not to think about it. This is the reason of why when you tell a child “Don’t jump in that puddle!”, he does. His brain vividly lived a small movie with him jumping in… but didn’t hear the “don’t” part.

It has been proven scientifically that when a reader experiences something vividly through her mind’s eye, she will get emotionally involved with it; and this increases sales. This is why you should always charge your copywriting with glowing, vibrant and forceful words… and replace any vague copy you have.

Some of the best ways to make your copy livelier is by using: metaphors, similes, stories, action verbs, case studies, testimonials, comparisons, etc. All of which, I’ll be covering in future posts to this blog.

Recommended reading:

If you’d want to add instant shimmer to all your writing, I recommend that you take some time to read this powerful classic entitled “Movies in the Mind - How to build a short story” by Colleen Mariah Rae.

In this short read, Colleen teaches a fool-proof system to instantly embellish your writing with clear, lucid movies that vividly play in the mind’s eye of your prospects. Movies that shine and involve the reader, pulling her into whatever realm you’ve created.