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Before the final battle scene in Saving Private Ryan…
Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and Private Ryan (Matt Damon) are sitting, resting, talking about home:
“I can’t see my brothers’ faces,” Ryan looks down at his boots. “I’ve been trying and I can’t see their faces at all,” he looks up. “Has that ever happened to you?”
Miller nods and leans back in his chair, “you gotta think of a context,” he says, putting his feet up.
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“What does that mean?”
“Well, you don’t just think about their faces,” Miller says. “You think about something specific, something you’ve done together.”
Good copywriting (and storytelling in general) often hinges on the writer’s ability to put an image in the mind’s eye of The Reader. Because images — clear, relevant, vivid images — trigger emotions, which move people.
And like Captain Miller said, one way to achieve this is by giving some context, the specific circumstances surrounding the image you want to create. Not too much — just enough to provide a frame of reference. (The Reader’s imagination will fill in the gaps.)
“When I think of home,” Miller says, “I think of something specific. I think of my hammock in the backyard. I think of my wife pruning the rose bushes in a pair of my old work gloves.”
Ah, yeh, I can see it.
Can you?
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Hey there, thanks for reading. :)If you want more “micro” content, feel free to explore 100s of articles, interviews, courses, and series — all free. Enjoy!Eddie Shleyner
VeryGoodCopy, founderP.S. If you like VGC, you’ll love VGC Plus. Instantly unlock every post right here.
